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"Jill Gascoine has stepped down from the role of EastEnders&amp;#039; Glenda Mitchell, forcing the soap&amp;#039;s bosses to recast the character just days after the initial announcement. With such tight filming schedules, the series was forced to hire a replacement, opting for 53-year-old ex-Dempsey and Makepeace actress Glynis Barber.  Earlier this week, producers revealed that 72-year-old Gascoine - star of The Gentle Touch and C.A.T.S. Eyes - had signed to play the role of Archie Mitchell&amp;#039;s (Larry Lamb) estranged wife Glenda.  However, during her first day on set, Gascoine took the decision to withdraw from her filming commitments as she felt that she &amp;quot;lacked the right experience to film such a big continuing drama&amp;quot;. Speaking of her conclusion to step down, Gascoine said: &amp;quot;I was so looking forward to playing Glenda but having spent the last 15 years working in America - largely acting in single drama and writing fiction - I felt, on arrival, I lacked the right experience to film such a big continuing drama. &amp;quot;I have tremendous respect for EastEnders and the cast so I didn&amp;#039;t want to let the show or my fellow cast members down.&amp;quot;  She added: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m really sad that I won&amp;#039;t now play a part in EastEnders but I&amp;#039;d like to wish Glynis Barber the best of luck in the role of Glenda.&amp;quot; Barber - who portrayed the part of Harriet Makepeace in the 1980s crime drama and more recently Emmerdale&amp;#039;s DCI Grace Barraclough - began filming with EastEnders earlier this week and will make her first appearance as Glenda in the New Year. &amp;gt; Click here to read more about Glenda Mitchell "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/eastenders/news/a183416/eastenders-recasts-glenda-mitchell/>