'EastEnders' adds comedian Adrian Edmondson as Jean Slater's new love interest

Adrian Edmondson is set to join the cast of EastEnders later this summer.

Announcing the news on Twitter, the team behind the soap’s official account revealed that the comedian will play a new character called Daniel Cook and will share a romantic storyline with Gillian Wright’s Jean Slater.

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Slater, who is mother to Stacey and Sean Slater, was first introduced in 2004. Since becoming a regular character the following year, she’s been quite unlucky in love having dated a man who embroiled her in investment fraud and another who cheated on her.

Talking about signing on for the long-running series, Edmondson said: "There were only 15 boys on my drama course at Manchester Uni, and I'll be the third to appear in EastEnders - so I feel it's a kind of tradition!

“The other two being Tom Watt (who played Lofty Holloway) and Paul Bradley (who played Nigel Bates)."

Executive producer Jon Sen is equally as excited to welcome Edmondson to the fictional London borough.

"Adrian's a phenomenal talent who will bring his unique blend of intelligence, warmth and humour to the role of Daniel,” he gushed in a statement. "We're all over the moon he's coming to Walford and can't wait for this love story to hit screens later this year."

Best known for starring in sitcoms such as The Young Ones, which aired in the 1980s and Bottom, which was televised a decade later, Edmondson has more recently appeared in shows like Bancroft, Save Me and ITV drama Cheat.

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He also had a small role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi opposite Mark Hamill and the late Carrie Fisher.