EastEnders star says the soap will "reset" when it returns to our screens

Speaking about returning to filming after many months on hiatus, Davood Ghadami, who plays stallholder Kush Kazemi, reveals his excitement about how the show will portray the new normal, post-pandemic.

"I'm looking forward to seeing where the storylines go from here, how the people of Walford live in the new world, and how the storylines pick up from where we left off," he said.

"It's all a very intriguing time, almost to reset what Walford is and how the characters interact and relate."

Ghadami and co-star James Bye (aka Martin Fowler) are the stars of this week's EastEnders: Secrets From the Square, the backstage series filling the gap over the summer in which Stacey Dooley chats to cast members about their past, present and future on Albert Square.

"I really enjoyed doing it," he smiles. "Getting together with James and seeing a few of the crew before we went back to work was lovely. It wasn't in the way we like with all the hugs, but just to see them was great.

"Reminiscing about past storylines and going back to how it all started was a lovely thing to do, and Stacey was the perfect person to sit and chat with about it. She's a big fan of the show."

EastEnders ended on a whopper of a cliffhanger in June when Sharon Watts and Ian Beale were revealed as the new owners of the Queen Vic, but there will be a time jump of a good few months when new episodes reach our screens around September.

How the characters coped in lockdown is something viewers will have to wait to find out about, but Ghadami has some theories of his own about his alter ego's isolation story.

"If he's living with the Slaters, that is a busy house… He must be going mad three months in. You can't even imagine, that poor guy! He'd probably volunteer to do the shopping, take the bins out, anything just to get out of there. It will be very telling to see how he comes back and see how - or if - he's coped."

Asked which characters he would personally liked to have been locked down with, the actor is quick to reply with some blasts from the past: "Gary and Minty!" he laughs. "Either one or both of those guys. I think you'd have the best time, they had a really nice kind of brotherly rapport, and would be nice to be around."

EastEnders: Secrets From the Square with Davood Ghadami and James Bye airs on Monday 6th July at 8pm on BBC One.

Visit our dedicated EastEnders and Secrets From the Square pages for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch check out our TV guide.