david wicks, played by michael french, originally appears between 1993 and 1996. he returns on 1 january 2012, for the departure storyline of his mother pat butcher (pam st. clement), and departs again on 13 january 2012. in september 2011, it was rumoured that david and simon wicks (nick berry) were to return to "eastenders" for pat's departure storyline. "the sun" reported producers were working to get french and berry on board. a bbc spokesperson declined to comment on the report, saying "there has been a lot of speculation surrounding pat's departure, however we are not going to comment on rumours at this stage as we don't want to spoil the storyline for viewers." on 13 november 2011, it was confirmed french would be reprising his role as david after an absence of 15 years. in all about soap awards 2012, michael french won the best comeback award for his brief return as david wicks. it was confirmed in july 2013 that david will return to "eastenders" later in the year. david returned in september 2013, but in may 2014 (eight months after his return), french announced he was to leave the show again. david left the show on 30 may 2014, following the breakdown of his relationship with carol jackson (lindsey coulson).