EastEnders aired a surprise return cameo for former cast member Paul Nicholls in Thursday’s episode.

The actor reprised his role as classic ’90s character Joe Wicks after nearly 27 years away from the Walford soap.

Although Joe didn’t step back onto Albert Square, he did appear briefly to chat on a video call with his father David Wicks.

David has been appearing on screen all this week for a brief return stint, which came to an end in the latest episode.

As David prepared to go on his way again, he took a video call from a young woman called Holly, who’d been trying to get in touch with him for most of the week.

He told her: “I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you, I’ve just had my hands full. Everything alright up there?”

David revealed that he was looking forward to catching up with Holly and seeing her graduate. Holly replied that her father had promised David could stay with them for the occasion.

As Holly passed the phone over to her dad, all was revealed as Joe appeared on the call and warmly greeted David. This confirmed that Holly is the granddaughter of David.

Joe said: “Look, this girl’s really looking forward to seeing you in person. We both are.”

David agreed: “Me too. It’ll be nice to spend some time together, after all these years. I’m on my way. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The heartwarming scenes confirmed a reconciliation for father and son, after a previous return stint for David had mentioned that they were estranged.