It has been more than three years since Emmerdale fans last saw Debbie Dingle in the village,

but actress Charley Webb made her return to TV over the weekend.

Since leaving Emmerdale back in February 2021 after playing Debbie for 18 years, Charley has appeared in The Long Shadow, with the ITV drama telling the real-life story of the hunt for Yorkshire serial killer Peter Sutcliffe.

She also made her stage debut in the play Quiz, based on the Charles Ingram and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? scandal.

Just recently, the actress made an appearance in Sunday night’s episode of ITV crime drama McDonald & Dodds.

She played a nurse called Hilary McLean, who said she’d witnessed the murder of a man on a bus, but DCI Lauren McDonald (Tala Gouveia) and DS Dodds (Jason Watkins) later established she’d lied.

Charley was not the only former soap star to appear in the episode either, as ex-Holby City actor Hugh Quarshie – better known as the BBC medical drama’s Ric Griffin – played a character called Clarence Adderly.

Original Pop Idol winner and singer Will Young also popped up as a man called Greg DeVere.

Meanwhile, Charley’s Emmerdale character Debbie is now living off-screen in Scotland, after she sought revenge on ex-lover Al Chapman (Michael Wildman).

Charley, who split from husband and former Emmerdale co-star Matthew Woldenfen (aka the soap’s David Metcalfe) last year, previously told whattowatch.com she felt it was the ‘right time’ to ‘make that jump’ and leave the soap.

Charley Webb as Debbie Dingle in a 2005 episode of Emmerdale

Charley had appeared in Emmerdale since 2002 (Picture: ITV)
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‘I don’t have any regrets about it,’ she said.

‘I’m ambitious to push myself and it’s just about choosing the right projects from now on.

‘It’s hard to say no to work, but I trust my agent and I trust the process. Hopefully, I’ve made some good choices so far.’