Anita Dobson joins The Archers cast

Anita Dobson was a Strictly Come Dancing contestant in 2011

Former EastEnders actress Anita Dobson is to appear on BBC Radio 4's The Archers - her first soap role since playing Albert Square's Angie Watts.

"We're pleased to confirm that Anita... will be guest-starring in The Archers soon," the BBC confirmed in a Tweet.

Dobson told the Daily Mail she would be playing "a divorcee named Celia".

The BBC has yet to confirm the name of her character or other details. Dobson played pub landlady Angie on EastEnders for three years in the 1980s.

Since leaving the soap, the actress has been seen as a contestant on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and in episodes of Holby City and Casualty.

In 2011, she played Joan Crawford in a West End play about the actress' fractious relationship with fellow Hollywood legend Bette Davis.