text: She's better known as the eccentric grandmother from hit comedy Absolutely Fabulous - but 89-year-old June Whitfield has donned a habit for her latest role as Sister Ruth, a nun, in BBC soap EastEnders . She may be more familiar to viewers as the eccentric grandmother from Absolutely Fabulous. But June Whitfield’s next appearance will see her in a rather different role – as a nun in EastEnders. The 89-year-old is set to make a guest appearance in the BBC soap next week as Sister Ruth. Her character will offer advice to Jessie Wallace’s character Kat Moon, who is suicidal after struggling to deal with sexual abuse she suffered as a child. When her appearance was announced, the veteran actress said: ‘I have watched EastEnders for years, and have been so impressed by the standard of acting. ‘It was an absolute delight to work with Jessie Wallace and I am very excited to be part of the show.’ The actress has also starred in hit Terry and June and three installments of the popular Carry On film series. Her appearance comes after actor Timothy West, 80, who played character Stan Carter in EastEnders, criticised soaps for not valuing older characters and actors. West told the Radio Times last year: ‘I find they’re not valued so much and I suspect that’s one of the reasons why I’ve been brought in [to EastEnders].’ Whitfield's character Sister Ruth will be offering some words of encouragement to Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) As Kat (played by Jessie Wallace)  comes to terms with being abused as a child, Whitfield's character Sister Ruth is on hand. Whitfield said it was an 'absolute delight' to work with Wallace during her stint on the soap . Whitfield is best known for her role as mother of Edna, played by Jennifer Saunders, in Absolutely Fabulous . West, who was asked by the magazine if there were enough older people in soaps, added: ‘From what I hear, there hasn’t been enough interest in older characters. Or enough older characters to be interested in.’ West made his final appearance last month when his character died from prostate cancer. At the end of last year Linda Marlow joined the cast in a recurring guest role as Sylvie Carter. Before starting her role, the 74-year-old said: ‘The show has started to bring more older characters in and the ratings have gone right up so I don’t know if that is the reason. Maybe it shows that the core audience of the show are nans and mothers out there or maybe because the storylines are more exciting too. ‘The show has had the lovely June Brown for a long time but they have taken on Timothy West and Ann Mitchell in recent months. 'I don’t know if he ratings have gone up because there are now older characters in the show but I think it is very exciting to have good roles for older characters I really do. I guess the proof is in the pudding.’
target: June Whitfield will appear in the BBC soap next week as Sister Ruth .
  Her character will offer advice to anguished Kat, played by Jessie Wallace .
  'It was an absolute delight to work with Jessie', Ab Fab actress said .