The resident hardman fled Walford earlier in the year when the pressures of his battle with Keeble (Alison Newman) once again became too much.<\/p>\n
His return couldn\u2019t have come at a more dramatic time for the residents of Albert Square, with just last night, Kat (Jessie Wallace) kissing her former flame Alfie (Shane Richie)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Throughout tonight\u2019s episode, Alfie was keen to get things back on track with Kat now that they had shared their first kiss in a long time.<\/p> But Kat was having regrets the morning after, and insisted it was a silly mistake and they were really through, even kicking out Alfie just days before Christmas.<\/p>\n Alfie took it in his stride, realising perhaps the ship had sailed, and he packed his bags ready to leave.<\/p>\n However, Kat had seen just how happy it had made their children having Alfie around, and after some soul-searching, allowed him to stay for a bit longer \u2013 though shutting off any chance of a reunion.<\/p>\n At the same time, Ricky (Sid Owen) went on a date with his ex, Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) in The Queen Vic.<\/p>\n After catching up on old times, it seemed things were bubbling along nicely between the pair, with Ricky even leaning in for a kiss with Sam outside.<\/p>\n He started looking around before he kissed her, much to Sam\u2019s amusement, especially when he told her it\u2019s because he was used to looking out for her brothers coming to beat him up!<\/p>\n Right on cue, Ricky spots Phil arrive in the Square \u2013 though Sam is the least of his worries.<\/p>\n Why has he returned? And will Kat tell him what\u2019s been going on with Alfie?<\/p>\n Needless to say, as the drama ramps up, it\u2019s certainly beginning to look a lot like Christmas on EastEnders<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Visit our dedicated\u00a0EastEnders<\/a>\u00a0page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.\u00a0<\/strong>If you\u2019re looking for more to watch, check out our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>, or visit our\u00a0Soaps<\/a> hub.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Christmas double issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe now<\/strong><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0<\/strong>Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n By Helen Daly Published: Tuesday, 20 December 2022 at 12:00 am Never one to arrive quietly, Phil Mitchell (played by Steve McFadden) returned to EastEnders in tonight\u2019s (20th December) episode at just the right moment. The resident hardman fled Walford earlier in the year when the pressures of his battle with Keeble (Alison Newman) once […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":27511,"template":"","categories":[1,2,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/phil-mitchell-returns-to-eastenders-leaving-kat-with-a-decision.jpg",1070,712,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/phil-mitchell-returns-to-eastenders-leaving-kat-with-a-decision-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/phil-mitchell-returns-to-eastenders-leaving-kat-with-a-decision-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/phil-mitchell-returns-to-eastenders-leaving-kat-with-a-decision-768x511.jpg",768,511,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/phil-mitchell-returns-to-eastenders-leaving-kat-with-a-decision-1024x681.jpg",800,532,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/phil-mitchell-returns-to-eastenders-leaving-kat-with-a-decision.jpg",1070,712,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/phil-mitchell-returns-to-eastenders-leaving-kat-with-a-decision.jpg",1070,712,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Helen Daly Published: Tuesday, 20 December 2022 at 12:00 am Never one to arrive quietly, Phil Mitchell (played by Steve McFadden) returned to EastEnders in tonight\u2019s (20th December) episode at just the right moment. The resident hardman fled Walford earlier in the year when the pressures of his battle with Keeble (Alison Newman) once…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/27510"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/12\/eastenders-ricky-1a2ba88.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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