TV's most popular villain is back from the dead... and he's not alone.

TV writer Steve Pratt reports on the return of Dirty Den to EastEnders and looks back at the other soap characters who wouldn't say die.

THE figure emerging from the shadows looks strangely familiar. It can't be, surely not. He's dead. Then the man speaks. "Hello, princess," he says to Sharon, who looks like she's seen a ghost.

And that's exactly what's happened - she's witnessed a resurrection worthy of Lazarus as the godfather of soap villains, Dirty Den Watts, returns to Albert Square.

BBC1's EastEnders has been preparing viewers all week for his surprise re-appearance, although there isn't really anything surprising about it as the media has been full of news of Dirty Den's revival for the past few months. His family members - adopted daughter Sharon, illegitimate son Dennis and real daughter Vicki - have done nothing but talk about their dear dead dad in an outbreak of hint-dropping that spread faster than SARS.

Never mind that Dirty Den was shot, sank to the bottom of Walford canal and was buried some months later after a body, unidentifiable but presumed to be him, was fished out of the water.

His departure 14 years ago was inconclusive enough for today's scriptwriters to bring him to Albert Square from his post-death hideaway in Spain. After all, we never actually saw the bullets hit the body or the corpse fall into the canal.

"Den is older and skinnier and uglier than he was, but I'd say he's going to be the same old Den," says Grantham. "I see Clint Eastwood in him, riding back into town, causing a bit of trouble and ruffling a few feathers."

Anything is possible in Soapland. Whatever explanation for Dirty Den escaping the murder attempt EastEnders writers dreamed up, we can be certain it won't insult our intelligence as US soap Dallas did. Fans felt cheated when "dead" Bobby Ewing suddenly appeared in the shower and wife Pammie realised his death, along with everything that had happened in the series since, had been a dream.

The writers could, at least, have made him Bobby's long-lost identical twin brother rather than pulling the rug from under our feet and telling us we'd wasted our time watching a series that hadn't happened. People never trusted Dallas again. It was the beginning of the end.

Dirty Den isn't the only old-timer returning to old haunts. This autumn Bet Gilroy (Julie Goodyear) and the McDonalds are due back in Coronation Street, although in stories set in Blackpool. Nicky Tilsley returned recently to lock lips with Todd in the soap's first gay kiss.

Actor Leslie Grantham, alias Dirty Den, has refused previous offers to return to EastEnders. This time executive producer Louise Berridge caught him at a good time. Her passion for the soap reminded him of the late Julia Smith, co-creator of EastEnders, and he couldn't say no.

A big pay cheque might well have played a part too in persuading Dirty Den to rise from his watery grave. Few actors can refuse a regular income, although Grantham has been busy enough since leaving the Square in 1989 in TV series such as The Paradise Club and 99-1, as well as theatre and film roles.

There could never be any question of recasting the role because Grantham had made such a lasting impression, despite spending only four years in the soap. Dirty Den and alcoholic wife Angie (played by Anita Dobson) provided some of EastEnders' classic moments, not least the 1985 Christmas Day episode in which Den served Angie with divorce papers, an act witnessed by a staggering 30.1 million viewers.

When producers got fed up with Dobson's rejection of comeback offers, they killed Angie off-screen. She returned to the Queen Vic as ashes in an urn.

New characters need careful nurturing to become soap favourites. Some fall by the wayside, failing to win the approval of viewers. Re-introducing a familiar character is much easier and a surefire ratings-winner in the constant battle for audiences between the country's top soaps, EastEnders and Coronation Street.

EastEnders, after a run of awards and ratings wins with Slater family storylines, is going through a bit of a bad patch. Dirty Den is just the person to divert attention away from the Street's autumn storylines, including that gay kiss and Martin's affair with schoolgirl Katy.

Dirty Den won't be the first soap character to come back from the dead like the murderer in the hockey mask in the Friday the 13th or serial slasher Michael Myers in Hallowe'en movies.

Emmerdale put a fresh twist on the dead-but-won't-lie-down scenario with Kim Tate. Husband Frank, jailed for murdering her, received a big surprise on his release. She returned from the grave, confronted him and the shock caused him to have a fatal heart attack.

There was no coming back for Frank Tate, but there was for Harold Bishop in Neighbours. He disappeared during a clifftop walk and, when his glasses were found floating in a rock pool, was assumed to have been swept out to sea.

Imagine the look on the faces of Erinsborough residents when he strolled back into Ramsay Street five years later. Not that he knew he was Harold Bishop, as he was suffering from amnesia.

Back in EastEnders, they've had unexpected re-appearances before. Peggy Mitchell headed hotfoot for Spain after hearing Frank Butcher, who'd left her homeless and broke, had dropped dead. Imagine her surprise to spot him, after the funeral, alive and well and with a glamorous redhead on his arm.

Her son, bully boy Grant Mitchell, performed his own disappearing act after fighting with brother Phil in an out-of-control car that plunged into the Thames. Phil emerged wet and bruised, but Grant was missing presumed drowned. Later viewers knew differently, after seeing him boarding a plane for South America with daughter Courtney in his arms.

Revisiting old haunts isn't always a pleasurable experience. Bringing back an old favourite can backfire. Brassy blonde Bet Gilroy's return to the Rovers last year was accompanied by a media blitz designed to put the Street back in the spotlight.

She duly came, was seen and didn't conquer. Within a few weeks Julie Goodyear had left again for health reasons. It appears that she couldn't keep up with the hectic filming schedule demanded of today's soap stars as the number of weekly episodes increases.

Her latest comeback will be much more low key. She's not even going to be treading those famous Weatherfield cobbles, as her story takes place in Blackpool.

As the soap nation prepares for Dirty Den's re-appearance on Monday, Grantham could be excused having a few doubts about what's required of him. "I didn't find it easy to be Den again," he admits. "There was a lot of trepidation. I was scared about my first scene, though once I did that, people said they saw me relax."

Now he can get back down to dirty business as usual - and boosting the ratings of EastEnders.

* EastEnders, BBC1, Monday, 8pm

EastEnders: The Return of Dirty Den, BBC1, Sunday, 7pm.