Kate Ritchie returns to Home and Away

As part of Australian soap Home and Away’s 25^th anniversary celebrations original cast member Kate Ritchie is returning to Summer Bay for a couple of months.

As an eight-year-old, in 1988,Kate captured the nation’s heart playing Sally Fletcher, residing in Summer Bay for 20 years and 4609 episodes. Sally was last seen in 2008 departing after being stabbed to travel. She quit her role as principal at Summer Bay High and sold off the Caravan Park.

Now, after a five-year break, Kate is delighted to be returning to the show that made her a household name.

“There will be a wonderful sense of familiarity stepping back into Sally’s shoes for a while,” Kate is quoted by Channel 5, adding, “Summer Bay is a very different place these days and I am looking forward to working with all the fresh faces that have continued to take Home and Away from strength to strength. It will be a good opportunity to catch up with some old mates too! Those cast and crew I worked with for so many years are who I have missed the most.”

Kate will return for a special story arc that sees Sally welcomed back to her Summer Bay home that involves more than just the daily running of the infamous caravan park where Sally grew up.

Greg Barnett, Commissioning Editor of Entertainment, Daytime and Soaps at Channel 5, says: “It’s going to be terrific having Sally back in the Bay in Home and Away’s 25th anniversary year. The wedding of Roo and Harvey this week will also see the return of favourites Celia, Morag and Colleen, and with a new intake of sexy young cast arriving in 2013, Home and Away couldn’t be in better shape. It’s utterly unmissable.”

After quitting Home and Away it was reported that Ritchie had landed a role as a nurse in the remake of classic Grundy hospital soap opera The Young Doctors, however the new version failed to materialise.

Home and Away airs on Channel 5 in the UK and Network 7 in Australia