EastEnders recasts Lydia Simmonds

'EastEnders' bosses have had to re-cast the role of Janine Molloy's grandmother.

Margaret Tyzack appeared last week as Lydia Simmonds when the Walford schemer (Charlie Brooks) visited her estranged gran in hospital after hearing she was unwell, but the actress has now had to withdraw from the BBC1 soap for personal reasons.

Following Margaret's sudden departure, Heather Chasen has now been cast as Lydia and will start filming immediately, as her importance in upcoming storylines meant there couldn't be a break for the character.

A show spokesperson told website DigitalSpy: "Unfortunately, due to a personal matter, Margaret Tyzack has had to finish filming earlier than planned.

"In order to continue the current storyline we've taken the decision for Heather Chasen to take over the role of Lydia."

Heather will start filming on Friday (15.04.11), with her first scenes shown next week.

It was recently revealed that Lydia will turn out to be a bigger schemer than her granddaughter, making Janine's plans to use her as a "meal ticket" difficult.

A source said: "Janine is going to think there's a potential meal ticket arriving in the form of Lydia. But she's a very complex woman - and Janine won't be able to manipulate her as easily as she'd imagined."