Daniella Westbrook is one of EastEnders' most notorious rise and fall stories. Joining the soap in 1990 as a fresh-faced teen, she soon became known for her troubles with drugs - famously, her daily cocaine habit - which resulted in a deviated septum, requiring reconstructive surgery to plug the gap in her nose.

It isn't the first time Sam Mitchell has returned, however. Her role was taken on by Kim Medcalf in Westbrook's absence from 2002-2005.

Westbrook's return to the soap was never going to be quiet. Her character Sam Mitchell swaggers back, declaring that she's been making her living as a topless model in Brazil, demonstrating her considerable talents by dancing on the tables in the pub. Her first scenes air on Monday September 7 2009.

She's certainly changed since her initial appearance nearly 20 years prior, but which other soap icons have made an explosive comeback?