EastEnders airs Rainie Highway return after quickexit

There was a welcome return for Rainie Highway (née Cross; previously Branning) is the daughter of William and Cora Cross and sister of Tanya and Ava, played by Tanya Franks in tonight’s EastEnders (23rd August), as she arrived to support spiralling husband Stuart (Ricky Champ).

Rainie left Albert Square in June after Stuart pushed her away rather than dealing with his symptoms of postnatal depression. Rainie was given an ultimatum by surrogate mother Bernie Taylor (Clair Norris) to take baby Roland away from Stuart, and she complied. But neither of the women were aware of the depths of Stuart’s despair.

Bernie’s mum Karen (Lorraine Stanley), however, identified with Stuart’s pain. While Stuart had patients including Bernie trapped at the doctor’s surgery, Karen had already made a secret call. The desperate character blamed Bernie for his distressing feelings, as well as accusing Dr Nina Gupta (Hersha Verity) of misdiagnosing him.

When Stuart began to hear a commotion outside, he panicked. However, soon it transpired that Rainie had arrived as she frantically pounded on the door outside. She begged Stuart to let her in as she asked him what had happened to lead him to act out like this.

Rainie initially wondered if he had heard bad news about his cancer, but Stuart explained that he had in fact got the all-clear recently. As he finally let Rainie in, the other patients were relieved to be able to leave. Stuart opened up to his wife over his feelings of despair, and she cradled him in her arms as she listened, heartbroken at what he had endured.

But although Stuart seemed to be making progress, there was still the matter of him holding everyone captive for hours. Police officers interrupted their chat to take him to the station for a discussion, and it seemed that Stuart might be facing prison over his behaviour.

Will Stuart be charged? And is there a chance for him and Rainie now that she’s back? We’ve always loved this couple together, but it may all rest on whether Stuart can finally face up to his illness and set out on the road to recovery.