EastEnders spoilers follow.
Over the years, EastEnders has become synonymous with the festive season, especially that all-important Christmas Day episode. Nothing says Christmas like death, divorce, bust ups and betrayal, right? While some people tune in once a year to watch the soap’s latest seasonal offerings, many loyal viewers look forward to their favourite storylines from the last 12 months coming to a dramatic climax.
The best example of this is last year’s The Six storyline, with Christmas 2023 being teased ten months in advance. Viewers found out through a flashforward in February that one of the Square’s men would die in the Queen Vic, and Sharon, Denise, Linda, Suki, Stacey and Kathy were all involved.
Millions tuned in on Christmas Day for the big reveal and found out during the jaw-dropping episode that Linda killed Keanu.
Christmas 2024 has a lot to live up to, and this year’s plans have been kept firmly under wraps by comparison. It hasn’t been revealed what the soap’s big Christmas storyline will involve this year, but there have been some clues to keep fans guessing in the lead up to December. Here’s everything we know so far.
Current storylines
The most obvious example of a current storyline which might explode at Christmas involves Cindy Beale and Junior Knight. The pair began having an affair earlier this year – despite Junior being the son of Cindy’s ex-wife George. While Cindy was drawn to the danger of an affair, it became clear that Junior was developing very real feelings for her.
Things came to a head earlier this month, when Ian decided to propose to Cindy, unaware of her huge betrayal. But outside their engagement party, Cindy and Junior were caught kissing by her ex, David Wicks, who was visiting Walford briefly. In a candid conversation with David, Cindy admitted that it was George she really loved, and even thought about him while she was in bed with Junior.
Shortly after, Cindy ended her affair with Junior for good. But in a twist, it was revealed that Freddie’s birdwatching microphone had captured Cindy and David’s exposing discussion.
It seems inevitable that this damning footage is going to come to light at some point, and why not Christmas Day? We could be about to see a repeat of the infamous 2007 Christmas episode, where Stacey and Max’s affair was revealed to the Brannings and the Slaters via wedding DVD.
Of course, the iconic storyline involving The Six is yet to be fully resolved, nearly a year on from the spectacular Christmas reveal. It feels like half the Square knows that Linda killed Keanu by this point, but the women are still attempting to keep the major secret under wraps. They could be in serious danger next week when Nish finds out the truth, but Christmas might be the perfect time to bring this epic story to its conclusion.
Queen Vic drama
As the soaps film a couple of months in advance, the EastEnders cast have recently been filming the exciting Christmas episodes, and we have got the biggest clue yet that the festive period in Albert Square could be must-watch television for fans.
Speaking to Radio Times, Shane Richie – who plays Alfie Moon – has revealed that he had a front row seat to the dramatic events that are set to unfold in the Queen Vic on Christmas Day. He even remarked that he kept messing up his line as he was so caught up in the thrilling story being told.
He said: “A few things happened on Christmas, which I intentionally didn’t read [the script] because I knew that Kat and Alfie were going to be involved, and I didn’t really want to know what was going to happen in the Queen Vic on Christmas Day.
“But oh my God! I sat there watching this story unfolding in the Queen Vic that happens on Christmas Day, and as a fan of the show anyway, I was like, ‘Oh my God I can’t believe this! Stop!'”
While Richie said that fans are in for a treat this Christmas Day, he also teased that this year’s festive story will involve “deceit” and will be “tragic and sad”. We don’t know whether to be excited or scared…
Funeral filming
Speaking of tragic, earlier this month fans became concerned that there might soon be a shocking death in Walford, with paparazzi photos showing an emotional funeral being filmed at a church.
The big news is that actors Maddy Hill and Danny Hatchard were seen reprising their roles as siblings Nancy and Lee Carter in the mysterious funeral scenes. The likes of Elaine, Callum and Johnny were also seen in these scenes, which has led to the devastating theory that Linda might be set to lose her life.
Linda has had a difficult time over the past couple of years, from the presumed death of her husband Mick to the guilt over Keanu’s death that has sent her spiralling. As a former alcoholic, Linda relapsed this year and ended up being rushed to hospital after her drinking got out of control again.
EastEnders is well known for its red herrings, and there is every chance that things aren’t as they seem. But could Linda’s death be the tragic event to hit Walford?
New Year’s stunt
Looking slightly beyond Christmas Day, earlier this month director Christopher McGill posted on X that he was filming on EastEnders for a “whopper of a week” of New Year’s episodes. This “epic” block of episodes has been filming for a number of weeks, and McGill has been sharing daily teaser photos online that have us very intrigued.
The director promises that he has been filming in a room which is “packed (PACKED) with East End icons”, potentially teasing that there could be some returns on the cards. There have also been ominous mentions of both trains and planes, which suggests that there might be a huge stunt taking place.
It seems that there is an explosive New Year on the horizon in Albert Square, but will the events of Christmas set up a dramatic run of episodes?
40th anniversary build up
Finally, Christmas isn’t all that EastEnders fans have to look forward to in the coming months, as February marks the show’s big 40th anniversary. The soap will celebrate by putting on another fully live episode that month, marking the first time EastEnders has done this since 2015.
But this time there will be a twist, with the soap introducing an interactive element to the live episode. Viewers will be invited to vote for their desired outcome of a love story, though it hasn’t yet been revealed which characters this will involve. The viewers’ choice will be played out as part of the live episode, with the cast rehearsing a number of outcomes ahead of time.
With plans firmly in place for the live episode, will Christmas reveal any clues about what the mysterious love story might be?
EastEnders airs on Mondays – Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
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