EastEnders’ Jessie Wallace wants a Mitchell-style flashback to Kat’s childhood
But who would play Kat’s late mum?
When EastEnders went back in time with the Mitchell family and cast Jaime Winstone as a young Peggy, it was a huge success, with an episode set in 1985 winning Best Single Episode at this year’s British Soap Awards.
Now the cast are hoping other Walford clans get the flashback treatment in the future, with Jessie Wallace eager to explore the Slaters’ past and delve into Kat’s troubled childhood.
In an exclusive interview with Radio Times magazine to celebrate the on-screen reunion of Kat and daughter Zoe after 20 years apart, Wallace revealed she’d love to turn back the clock to explore Kat’s adolescence.
The character’s tragic backstory saw her falling pregnant at the age of 13 after being abused, then being forced by her parents to pretend her child, Zoe, was her little sister to cover up the scandal.
“That would be fantastic – I’ve got to speak to Ben Wadey, our Executive Producer! I’d like someone as fabulous as Jaime Winstone to come in and play Kat’s late mother, Viv. Kat was abused by her Uncle Harry as a child and told her mum, but she didn’t believe her, or maybe she did but didn’t want to. She brushed it under the carpet.
“There was always resentment from Kat towards her mum. She made Kat live a life she didn’t want to live and wasn’t much of a role model as a mother. That made Kat a better parent, more protective and loving which is what she felt she didn’t have. Kat wasn’t allowed to bring Zoe up and be her mum.”
Zoe eventually learnt the truth about her parentage in 2001, in what has become one of EastEnders’ most iconic scenes, screaming at overprotective Kat to stop trying to control her life because, to quote the character herself: “You ain’t my mother!” To which Kat memorably, and loudly, replied: “Yes I am!”
The reveal proved difficult for Zoe to deal with, and Wallace recalls how she rejected Kat as a mother after 18 years of believing they were siblings. “The only time Zoe ever called her ‘Mum’ was in her last scene before she left in 2005. I’m hoping Zoe and Kat will be closer this time. They’ve both been through a lot.”
Michelle Ryan, who arrived en masse with Wallace and the rest of the Slaters back in 2000, is reprising the role of Zoe after two decades away. The character’s return was shrouded in secrecy with no prior announcement it was happening until she appeared on screen in June.
After a few episodes teasing a dark secret she fled, begging Alfie and Stacey not to tell Kat they had seen her. In the coming weeks, mother and daughter will be together again, and the audience will learn what, or who, Zoe is running from.
While fans await the most anticipated soap comeback of the year, there’s time to speculate who could play Kat’s mother if a flashback does happen. Gemma Arterton? Anna Friel? Billie Piper? Or even Wallace herself?
The new issue of Radio Times featuring exclusive interviews and pictures with Jessie Wallace and Michelle Ryan is out now.
