Pat Butcher’s earrings were as big an EastEnders character as her during her 26 years on Albert Square.
But now actress Pam St Clement has revealed a huge secret about her character’s oversized accessories as she staged a return-of-sorts to the soap.
Pam is set to make an appearance on a new documentary to celebrate the show’s 40th anniversary fronted by fellow Walford legend Ross Kemp, who has also just reprised his role as Grant Mitchell.
On EastEnders: 40 Years on the Square, Ross catches up with Pam on an old London bus to get her reflections of her time playing Pat, during which she revealed the story behind Pat’s love of earrings.
The 82-year-old star recalled: ‘When I got the part of Pat like any actor I decided to do a bit of homework, I saw this bus conductress on a number 38 bus and she was wearing these most dangly earrings.
‘Pat always wears the earring that fit her mood.’
She continued: ‘You know those tool boxes you can get that fold up? I had one of those and a wall bracket with dangling earrings, but the interesting thing is most of them came from viewers.
‘They’d say – I saw these in the market and I thought they were absolutely right for Pat!’
Pam made her debut in 1986 and the arrival of Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) a year later led to the duo getting married and taking over the tenancy of The Queen Vic.
Pat’s final storyline saw her die from pancreatic cancer, shortly after she was reunited with son David Wicks (Michael French).
Pam has largely kept out of the limelight since leaving EastEnders back in 2012, but her character made one last appearance in 2016 as a vision during Peggy Mitchell’s (Barbara Windsor) final scenes.
Meanwhile, the documentary will also Ross catch up with many other beloved EastEnders faces, including his former on-screen wife Sharon Watts, played by Letitia Dean.
She later shares an emotional reunion with Anita Dobson, who played Sharon’s mum and the original Queen Vic landlady Angie Watts.
