Stan Carter is to get a battle-axe wife in 'EastEnders'.
The Carter family's eldest member, played by actor Timothy West, is to get a rude awakening when his estranged wife Sylvie Carter (Linda Marlowe) arrives on Albert Square later this week.
Sylvie - who is mother to Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) and sister to Aunt Babe (Annette Badland) - is known to viewers to have abandoned her family but will be forced to return to ask for help.
A source from the BBC One soap told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Although she's manipulative and used to getting her own way, Sylvie is forced to seek help from the family she abandoned years ago.
"However, the Walford welcome will be anything but warm."
Marlowe is best known for her television and film roles in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', 'The House of Mirth' and 'Love Hurts'.
She said of joining the London-based soap: "I'm totally thrilled to be joining the cast of 'EastEnders' and playing such a wonderful character."
Executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins added: "Watching Linda Marlowe, Annette Badland, Ann Mitchell (Cora Cross) and Timothy West going for it on screen is going to be electric."
Sylvie's arrival in Walford is also likely to spark revelations that Shirley is in fact Mick Carter's (Danny Dyer) mother and not his sister, as he currently believes.
