Ellen Thomas - Claudette

[tammyy2j]

EastEnders bosses have announced that actress Ellen Thomas is joining the soap's cast as a new matriarch for Walford.

Show chiefs are currently keeping tight-lipped on exactly who Thomas is playing, but the new arrival will have various ties to Albert Square.

EastEnders actress Ellen Thomas
© BBC
Ellen Thomas

Thomas's character has been tipped to cause trouble with her "tough-talking" nature when she makes her first appearance on screen later this month, but how she is connected to the Square remains to be seen.

Speaking of her new role, Thomas commented: "This is one of the most formidable and complete characters I've ever played. I'm really looking forward to the delicious mayhem she's going to bring to Albert Square."

Thomas has been part of the EastEnders cast before, playing the role of Grace Olubunmi in 2010 and 2011. She also had a brief stint on the show as Pearl Chadwick in 1990.

EastEnders' executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins added: "Ellen Thomas belongs on EastEnders. Like many actresses before her, she's been in the show playing a different role - thank goodness Linda Henry didn't just play Mandy's mum - but this is the role she was born to play.

"Albert Square now has a new steely matriarch - with a few twisted secrets hidden behind her beaming smile…"

Thomas is best known for playing school secretary Liz in Channel 4's Teachers.



Could this be her???

Looks like she is lady friend of Les

[tammyy2j]

Ellen Thomas has revealed that her EastEnders character Claudette will be joined on the Square by members of her family.

The actress told Daily Star Sunday that - as Claudette has been fostering children for 30 years - there is scope to introduce several of her former charges.

"This character is the bee's knees. She's got bottle," she said. "We're filming scenes to introduce her family now.

"Claudette is a foster mother, she's fostered children for the last 30 years. She's fostered the kind of children nobody else wants - tough cookies.

"Now any challenge she has, she just calls them and they're in there."

Thomas added that Claudette's former foster children provide an opportunity for EastEnders to bring in several different types of characters.

"It's a brilliant opportunity to bring new characters in," she said. "We go from robbers, bad 'uns, to the high-ranking - bankers and execs - all different races, male and female.

"It's a brilliant idea. They're going to walk in and go, 'Mum'!"

When asked if Claudette could be compared to famous EastEnders matriarch Peggy Mitchell, Thomas said: "That's what we're thinking - let's wait and see!"


Claudette, who arrived on screen last month, has already been revealed as market stall holder Donna Yates's former foster mother.

[lizann]

so vincent could be her foster son

[Perdita]

​EastEnders star Ellen Thomas is still hoping that her character Claudette Hubbard's foster children will be introduced at home point.

Claudette has been fostering children for 30 years - including market trader Donna Yates- meaning that there is scope to introduce several of her former charges.

Thomas previously revealed that there were plans to introduce Claudette's extended family, saying that it gave the show an opportunity to bring in several different types of characters.

When asked if that was still on the cards, Thomas said to Inside Soap: "I hope so. That was one of the ideas they hooked when I came on board."

"It's an opportunity to bring in more people with diverse backgrounds, so I am hoping the producers follow through with it. I would love for all of Claudette's kids to turn up and say, 'Hello mum'."

Thomas also praised the recent scenes in which Les Coker revealed his female alter ego Christine to his wife Pam.

Claudette has been heavily involved in Les's ongoing story due to the fact she always knew about Christine, leaving viewers and Pam to initially suspect that they may have been having an affair.

Thomas said: "When I watched Christine's first appearance, I got a bit teary. Even though I had been there and filmed it, when watching I just thought about the people going through the same thing in real life.

" I hoped it would really move the audience as well - and from the feedback we have had, it sounds as if people have been really touched by Les's story."

Thomas recently ​revealed that ​Aunt Sal's return to Walford could spark big trouble for Claudette.

[tammyy2j]

I hope we get a nice flashback episode to 1981 to see what really happened to Henry Hubbard if Claudette killed him or he left her

[Perdita]

EastEnders star Ellen Thomas has defended the crazy twist involving Claudette Hubbard, insisting that her character's recovery is plausible.

The actress used her Twitter account to post a newspaper clipping about a woman who dug herself out of her own grave.

Thursday night's double bill (March 10) appeared to show Claudette meet her fatal end after she fell down the stairs and knocked her head amid a clash with Patrick Trueman.

Vincent later covered for Patrick (Rudolph Walker) by concealing Claudette's body under the floorboards of the basement, but it later transpired that she had managed to survive both the fall and the burial.

However, in a very strange twist, Claudette was actually admitted to hospital after being found at the side of the road - with paramedics explaining that she hadn't spoken a word and seemingly didn't know who she was.

Naturally, fans hit out at the plot - with many suggesting it was too far-fetched - but Thomas has proved otherwise with a new picture.


In a nod to her character's bizarre predicament, Thomas simply posted the newspaper clipping via her Twitter account after the episode aired last night.

So maybe Claudette's recovery is possible after all...

EastEnders will air the fallout of the dramatic episodes on Monday, March 14 on BBC One.

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/east...e-to-prove-it/

[Dazzle]

I didn't find Claudette digging herself out of a very shallow grave (If that is what happened) that unrealistic to be honest. I thought I'd read something to that effect in the news sometime. It's totally possible as long as the presumed corpse's face isn't completely covered with soil when buried so that suffocation doesn't occur.

I wonder if she really does have amnesia?

[lizann]

http://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-...l-before-death

her and peggy at war could she finish peggy off before cancer does she has killed before

[lizann]

http://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-...l-before-death

her and peggy at war could she finish peggy off before cancer does she has killed before

[tammyy2j]

http://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-...l-before-death

her and peggy at war could she finish peggy off before cancer does she has killed before

Just a stare down for a brief second, what a waste given their history over Eric