EastEnders actor Dayle Hudson has appeared to reveal that the soap will return to the BBC on Monday, September 7.

The production shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic means that the Walford-based drama has gone off air for the first time in its 35-year history, with the final new episode airing last night on BBC One.

Filming of new material is expected to begin later this month but the BBC has yet to confirm exactly when the episodes will air from.

Hudson, who plays Peter Beale on the soap, appears to have given the game away by posting a picture of his first four scripts to Instagram.

Zooming in on the picture reveals a transmission date of Tuesday, September 8 for the second, suggesting that the show is aiming to return the night before.

If true, that means that EastEnders will have been off air for 83 days - almost 12 weeks.

The BBC recently revealed that when the soap does return, it will air four times a week but with a shorter 20-minute runtime for the foreseeable future.