EASTENDERS fans were furious as an axed character returned yet again, just months after their departure.
Thursday’s (June 13) episode of the BBC soap featured the funeral of Keanu Taylor.
Keanu - played by Danny Walters - was killed off last Christmas in as part of The Six storyline.
His shock exit saw Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) murder the mechanic while protecting her best friend Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean).
Keanu’s grieving mother Karen (Lorraine Stanley) returned to join the residents of Albert Square to bid farewell to him.
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As pointed out in the episode, Keanu is the second of Karen's children to die.
The Taylor matriarch had already lost daughter Chantelle (Jessica Plummer) after she was murdered by her husband Gray (Toby Alexander-Smith).
Played by Lorraine Stanley, Karen was cut from EastEnders last year.
She left the regular cast on December 8, exiting with Mitch (Roger Griffiths), Bailey (Kara-Leah Fernandes) and her grandchildren Mia and Mackenzie.
Since leaving, Karen has returned three times - a fact swiftly caught by attentive fans.
These comebacks all occurred earlier this year: following Keanu’s disappearance, after the discovery of his body and now, for his final send-off.
Viewers made it clear they weren’t happy about Karen returning so frequently after her initial exit.
One wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “What was the point of giving Karen a Julia’s theme if the show knew she was gonna be returning multiple times? #EastEnders.”
Another commented: “Karen was axed but has been back like three times in a year #Eastenders.”
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While a third remarked: “Too much karen in this episode i thought she was supposed to be gone lol #EastEnders.”
A fourth penned: “Obsessed with the fact that karen got julia’s theme back in december and she’s been back twice already #eastenders.”
Karen arrived alongside her children Keanu, Bernadette (Clair Norris), Riley (Tom Jacobs) and Chatham (Alfie Jacobs), along with their assorted pets, back in June 2017.
A twist saw Karen also revealed to viewers as the mother of wayward teenager Keegan Baker (Zack Morris), who'd made his first appearance a few months earlier.
The end of Thursday's episode saw Karen visit prison to see Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo), the man framed for Keanu's murder.
Dean tried to convince Karen that he didn't kill her son, encouraging Karen to press Linda for information - but will she believe him?
EastEnders airs on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer.
