As we previously promised, a former Summer Bay favourite has officially announced their return to the show.

Emily Symons today reprises her role on the 'Home and Away' set as Marilyn Chambers, nearly 10 years since her character's departure.

We can exclusively reveal that Marilyn will be in the bay for at least a year, and the way in which she returns will see her put firmly back into the centre of the action. She'll also soon find herself comically at odds with her former 'mother-in-law-to-be' Colleen Smart.

Bubbly Marilyn first wiggled into the Bayside Diner way back in May 1989, where she was introduced as the new girlfriend of Colleen's son Lance. Following two engagements, their relationship eventually ended when Lance left to join the army. She later found love with Phil Bryant and left the bay in July 1992.

Three years later, Marilyn returned to Summer Bay, following the breakup of her marriage to Phil. She decided to stay put and opened a beauty salon in the Diner. In one of the most unexpected relationships in the show's history, she became romantically involved with Donald Fisher and they later married in 1997.

When Marilyn gave birth to the baby they both longed for, she found herself suffering with post-natal depression and abandoning her family for a number of weeks. It wasn't long after her return that baby Byron was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Marilyn took their son to the US for treatment in October 1999, and following his death, she never returned.

In 2001, Donald was in London launching his childrens book 'A Letter to Byron' when he spotted Marilyn from a bus. When she later sneaked into the event, he spotted her again and gave chase. They eventually met up and were finally able to put the past, and their marriage, to rest. The last we heard of Marilyn was in 2007, when Donald left for England after learning she was suffering with breast cancer.

Since Emily's departure from the show she has been living in England, where she has played Louise Appleton in the ITV1 soap 'Emmerdale' for the past 7 years. She returned to Sydney in October 2008 in order to care for her sick mother.

Marilyn's return will air on Australian screens around March 2010.