Timothy West on Stan's return: 'He offends everyone'

EastEnders delves back into the Carter family's history next week as Stan comes to stay at the Queen Vic.

The storyline kicks off when Tina discovers that Stan has been in hospital and invites her father to recuperate at the pub. While Tina is optimistic over the arrangement, it's not long before Stan causes tensions by showing his true colours…

Here, Timothy West - who plays Stan - reveals what fans can expect from his character's return to screens.

How would you describe Stan - cantankerous, malevolent or lonely?"Malevolent is a bit strong. He does disagreeable things. He's certainly lonely, though he wouldn't admit that to a soul. He's getting towards the end of his life and he has very few friends because he doesn't go out very much, so he wants to be reconnected with his family.

"It's a very fractured relationship but Stan wants to be a member of the family. He wants to be the head of the family. He sees himself as the 'pater familias' in the Victorian sense. He's the head of the family and therefore deserves respect and consideration and should be the first person that the rest of the family consider.

"The rest of the family don't see it in that way, of course, and his behaviour doesn't incline them to see it that way, but that's what he really feels should happen."

The Carter family's backstory is being slowly explored rather than revealed straight away. Have you enjoyed that?
"I think that's very good and it was very surprising to me. When you do a play you know the whole story of the play before you come to rehearsals. Here, you're constantly being surprised by a new development that you didn't necessarily think was part of your character's make up. You're learning all the time, which is fascinating."

What was it like to start filming in The Vic for the first time?
"I've now done several scenes in The Vic. Although because I've been injured with a broken ankle, they've wonderfully written in an accident for Stan, which has enabled Mick to feel he has to bring him to The Vic to recuperate, but of course he's been shunted upstairs.

"Stan's got his own bed in the lounge which is a nuisance for the rest of the family, but it installs him quite well. Although he's thrown out quite a few times, but he gets back in."

What's the reason in the storyline for Stan being in hospital?"It's the same that what actually happened to me in reality - a broken ankle. Whether he has had surgery or not, I don't know, but we first see him in hospital. He's been in for a few days, so I think he has had the same surgery as I have. Having your ankle pinned means he has got to spend quite a lot of time in plaster, and eventually, he will be able to hobble about."

Once Stan moves in with the Carters, he soon shows his true colours over a family dinner. What happens?
"He manages to offend everyone because he hasn't got any kind of social tact at all. In fact, if he was confronted about not having any social tact, he would ask what social tact was and why it was necessary.

"There are members of the family that he finds more congenial than others. He likes Johnny but can't really cope with the fact he is gay, but after an initial, very rude couple of outbursts about both Tina and Johnny being gay, he warms to them both."

How does Mick react to Stan's behaviour?
"I think he blames Stan very much for things that have gone wrong to him - as well as things that he doesn't know about, things that he is confused about and things he's unhappy about. It's all so complicated. We're finding out more and more about the past history."

Do you hope that Stan's children and grandchildren will soften towards him, or do you quite like the brittleness?"No, I don't like the brittleness. I assume the brittleness has to be there in such a relationship but Stan enjoys the warmth. When Tina is kind to him, he likes that. He would like them, in a word, to be a very warm, respectful family, on his terms."

Are there any characters that you would like to share some scenes with, excluding the Carters?
"I'm afraid I'm still very ignorant about a lot of the rest of the characters, as when I get a chunk of script I just go through the scenes that happen in our family. I mean I watch EastEnders, and I am fascinated by the different stories but I don't get involved - but I have enormous respect for June Brown."