Soap fans are once again calling for the impossible after a jaw-dropping twist in Emmerdale saw a supposedly dead character return from the grave, reigniting long-running demands for EastEnders to resurrect two of its most iconic figures, Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell.
In a mammoth crossover-style moment that has sent shockwaves through the soap world, Emmerdale confirmed that Graham Foster is very much alive, despite viewers believing for five years that he had been murdered. The reveal has prompted EastEnders fans to ask a simple question: if Emmerdale can undo a death of that magnitude, why can’t Walford do the same for Ronnie and Roxy?
Graham Foster, played by Andrew Scarborough, was thought to have been killed in 2020 following a dramatic whodunnit storyline that placed several villagers under suspicion. Characters including Marlon Dingle, Al Chapman and Charity Dingle were all revealed to have reasons for wanting Graham dead, keeping viewers guessing for weeks.
It was eventually confirmed that Pierce Harris was responsible. In brutal scenes, Pierce struck Graham over the head, fought him in the woods and then hit him with his car, sending him tumbling off a cliff. Astonishingly, Graham survived the fall, only for Pierce to deliver a final blow and cover his body with leaves. The case was closed, or so viewers thought.
Now, Emmerdale has revealed that Graham faked his death, resurfacing in scenes that show him driving a van with a woman named Jodie tied up in the back. While many questions remain about how and why he pulled off the deception, the twist has already had huge ripple effects across the soap fandom.
Almost immediately, EastEnders viewers took to social media to demand that the BBC follow suit and bring back Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell.
Ronnie and Roxy arrived in Walford in 2007 and quickly became two of the most talked-about characters the show had seen in years. The sisters, dubbed ‘ice and fire,’ were total opposites but fiercely loyal to each other. From running a nightclub and later The Queen Vic, to becoming central figures in the Mitchell family, they dominated storylines for a decade.
Their lives were packed with scandal, secrets and heartbreak, including multiple affairs, explosive family feuds and Ronnie’s turbulent relationship with Jack Branning. Despite everything they endured, it was their tragic joint death on New Year’s Day 2017 that left viewers truly stunned.
The sisters drowned in a swimming pool on Ronnie’s wedding day in one of the most controversial moments in EastEnders history. The backlash was immediate and intense, with many fans claiming the show had made a fatal mistake by killing them off.
To this day, calls for their return have never stopped.
Rita Simons, who played Roxy Mitchell, has previously revealed just how far fans have gone in their determination to bring the sisters back. Speaking about the ongoing reaction to Radio Times, she admitted that viewers still approach her daily, and some even send her full scripts explaining how Roxy could return from the dead.
‘To this day, I will get, whether it’s tweets or whether it’s someone in the street, “Why did they kill you? Why did they kill you? Come back, come back.’
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‘Yeah, I get it every day. I get scripts sent to me of ideas of how to come back from fans. Fans send me scripts that they’ve written. It has not stopped in six years.’
Despite Ronnie’s body being shown onscreen, fans have refused to give up hope that both sisters could still return. Rita herself has hinted that some of the ideas she’s seen aren’t as far-fetched as they might sound.
‘If you see some of the scripts I’ve seen, I mean, who knows?’ she said, adding that she couldn’t say any more.
Following the Emmerdale twist, fans have once again taken to X to plead their case, insisting they would happily overlook any implausibility.
‘I would so love for them to come back. To me, they were the biggest mistake that EE took. But I don’t think we’re winning on this one 😭’
Another wrote:
‘I am once again promising the @bbceastenders writers that we as viewers don’t mind how ridiculous it will be that if Ronnie & Roxy comeback after Jack helped them fake their death & have been with Sam in Spain all this time, we honestly will turn a blind eye. PROMISE. #eastenders’
A third added:
‘They didn’t show the bride’s identity, which means they can change their storyline however they want before next year, which means they can still resurrect Ronnie and Roxy #eastenders’
With soap history proving that no death is ever truly final, fans are now louder than ever in their demands. If Emmerdale can resurrect Graham Foster after such a brutal and definitive exit, viewers believe EastEnders has no excuse.
For many, Ronnie and Roxy’s deaths remain the show’s biggest misstep, and until the sisters are finally laid to rest in fans’ hearts, the calls for their resurrection show no signs of fading.
