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 . ’
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 .