on 23 january 2012, daniel kilkelly of "digital spy" reported lorraine would be returning to "eastenders" the following month. actress victoria alcock was recast in the role, taking over from henry (who was also on the cast of "eastenders" playing a different character, shirley carter). of her casting, alcock said, "i am absolutely thrilled to be joining the cast of "eastenders" and am looking forward to working with my good friends linda henry and nicola stapleton again. i can't wait to see people's reaction when lorraine arrives on the square!" kilkelly said lorraine has remained "a brash character and certainly hasn't grown up." alcock predicted that viewers would be "shocked" by the actions of lorraine. speaking of lorraine's arrival, alcock told "tv choice": "there will be a collective intake of breath from viewers because just when you think she couldn't stoop any lower, she goes full-steam ahead." alcock added that the residents of albert square will discover why mandy is such a leech as she gets it from lorraine. alcock added: "allegedly she let some awful things happen to mandy, which may come out in time. i think viewers are interested in the broken shells of a character and she's definitely a broken shell." alcock also said she wanted lorraine to be more than just a villain. she said that people are not made this way, something happens to make people the abuser, and that's from being abused. alcock thought that lorraine was abused as a child.