Infamous EastEnders villain Lucas Johnson made a shock return to the soap recently after his ex-wife Denise Fox (Diane Parish) paid him an unexpected visit in prison.
Denise has been spiralling following the murder of Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) on Christmas Day.
Ever since she dropped her 'D' necklace in Keanu's grave underneath the floor of the café, Denise has been losing her grip on reality more and more each day.
After having a terrifying nightmare about Keanu burying her under the café, Denise's inner turmoil soon turned into paranoia when she believed that her husband Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) was investigating Keanu's disappearance.
Soon enough, things blew up between the couple and she went to Yolande Trueman's (Angela Wynter) church group at the community centre for guidance.
While there, Pastor Clayton suggested that she unburden herself by confiding in God and encouraged her to seek advice from someone who had been in her position.
Listening to his words of wisdom, Denise decided to visit a familiar face in prison — her evil ex-husband Lucas.
Now that Lucas has made an appearance after three years, who plays Lucas in EastEnders?
Who plays Lucas in EastEnders?
Lucas is played by Don Gilet, who has appeared in many projects outside of EastEnders, including Harlen Coben's The Stranger, Shetland season 8, Sherwood, The Sandman, 55 Degrees North, Love & Marriage, The Loch and more.
Don has played Lucas on and off since 2008 and has been nominated for a number of awards for the role, including Best Actor and Best Dramatic Performance at the Inside Soap Awards, Villain of the Year at The British Soap Awards and Serial Drama Performance at The National Television Awards.
What did Lucas do in EastEnders?
Lucas was a serial killer who committed many horrifying crimes during his reign of terror in Walford.
He was once a drug addict, who vowed to change his ways when his friend Jordan died. However, it wasn't long before he went down a dark path.
After having a baby with fellow drug addict Trina Johnson (Sharon Duncan Brewster), she followed them to Walford so she could see her son, but Lucas accidentally killed her and hid her body.
His killing streak didn't stop there as he murdered Denise's ex-husband Owen Turner (Lee Ross) by strangling him with a bow tie and buried him in the Square. Lucas then killed Sugar the dog, who tried to dig up Owen's body.
But as he tried to cover up his crimes, the guilt soon became too much for him and he confessed everything to Denise when Owen's body was discovered.
When Denise refused to be baptised by Lucas, he strangled her, making it look like she had taken her own life.
Lucas then killed prostitute Gemma Charleston (Rita Balogun) who looked like Denise and put her body in the canal. The preacher-turned-killer even held a funeral service for Denise in memory of her, all the while he was holding her hostage.
Ashamed of what he had done, Lucas let Denise escape and tried to take the family hostage, until he was sentenced to life in prison.
In 2011, Denise visited Lucas in prison after finding out his son Jordan (Michael-Joel David Stuart) was in trouble with the police. He tried to convince Denise that he had been mentally ill and was taking responsibility for his actions.
But when he persuaded Denise to help him get into a scheme that would see him apply for jobs and get more visiting hours, she realised that it was all a plot to enable his escape.
Jordan was helping him and they were both arrested and sent back to prison.
On Christmas Day 2020, Lucas was released from prison and reunited with his daughter Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams).
Denise was shocked when she took her son Raymond to a Christmas service and realised that Lucas was the speaker.
Meanwhile, Chelsea had got caught up in a life of crime with drug lord Caleb Malone (Ben Freeman), who then kidnapped her mum Denise.
In a bid to save Chelsea from Caleb's clutches, Lucas did the drug smuggling job that she became embroiled in and carried the drugs through customs himself.
Lucas handed his bag over and got arrested, before cutting all ties with Chelsea so she could live a better life without him.
Is Lucas still alive in EastEnders?
Yes, Lucas is still alive in EastEnders. His 2024 return may come as a surprise to fans who believed he had died in a prison attack in 2021.
Lucas was sent back to prison after taking the fall for a drug smuggling venture his daughter Chelsea had got caught up in by drug lord Caleb.
He also helped Jack get Caleb sent down, where Lucas' fate was left up in the air when he was beaten up by Caleb's thugs in prison. Chelsea later went to visit him and felt immense guilt for what happened, but her dad then cut off all contact so she could live a better life without him.
EastEnders airs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm on BBC One — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on BBC iPlayer now.
