SHANE Ritchie has revealed that more former EastEnders stars are set to return to the show, following the comeback of his on-screen cousin.

The BBC soap saw character Jake Moon return to Albert Square earlier this month, two decades after he quit the show.

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Jake, played by Joel Beckett, is the second cousin to Shane’s character Alfie Moon, and has got stuck into the East End drama already.

And talking to The Sun, Shane revealed that Jake won’t be the only family member of Alfie’s to return this year.

“I know they’re really looking at the Moon family tree and bringing back some of the Moons,” said Shane, who spoke at Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club’s gala night, where he watched Matt Willis take to the stage.

He continued that character Spencer Moon could also be set for a comeback, 21 years after leaving the Square for Australia.

Recent storylines on the soap have seen Alfie head to Australia to check on Spencer, and he has now hinted that they may return together.

Shane added: “Alfie just left now to see Spencer in Australia, so who knows what happens after that and who will come back.”

The show is no stranger to bringing back iconic characters – with this Christmas’ special episode even seeing the return of Pat Butcher – who died several years prior.

And this year, Libby Fox, played by Belinda Owusu, is another return to add to the list – with the character already spotted in the show’s 2027 flash-forward, confirming she is returning to the screen,

But before that, there’s plenty more drama to unfold in the square.

In fact, the soap is set to explore the dark and dangerous world of artificial intelligence with a groundbreaking new storyline.

Delving deep into the online world where all is not as it seems, Patrick, played by Rudolph Walker, will get sucked into the clever software after the death of son Anthony (Nicholas Bailey).

He was killed on Christmas Day by his own daughter Jasmine (Indeyarna
Donaldson-Holness).

As distraught dad Patrick struggles to cope with his grief, he seeks
solace on the internet.

He becomes more reliant on AI and spirals, causing concern for those around him.

EastEnders has sought inspiration from chatbot apps, which are trained
by having the user answer a series of questions to create a specific
neural network and can seem like they’re chatting to a real person.

The plot is part of the BBC’s AI Unpacked Week, which runs the first
week in March, where the broadcaster will out out a week of programmes
exploring the technology and how it’s shaping our world.

Alfie says that show bosses are ‘looking into’ the Moon family tree