EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders actor Shane Richie has teased that this year’s Christmas episodes are going to be quite the emotional affair, and not in a good way!
The star, who plays Alfie Moon, told Radio Times that the Christmas Day episode that was recently filmed will feature “Deceit, tragic and sad” scenes.
Although he remained tight-lipped about the specifics, he said his character is going to be involved, as is Kat Slater, and he was shocked to see what the writers had in store.
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“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,” he explained.
“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!’
“I had to do a line, and I kept messing it up because I was so taken in with the storyline that was happening.
“You’re in for a lovely treat this Christmas Day.”
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Currently, Kat and Alfie are involved in a storyline that has seen their son Tommy violently lash out and physically attack multiple members of the family.
In tonight’s (October 23) episode, she opened up to the Slaters about him hitting her, before Alfie and Jean learned that the troubled youngster had harmed Bert and Ernie, too. At the very end, Jean called social services.
Will the scenes Richie teased for Christmas Day be part of this storyline, or is something else being lined up for Kat and Alfie?
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.
Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage
EastEnders has worked with Family Based Solutions and Parent Educational Growth Support (PEGS) on Tommy and Kat’s story.
Family Based Solutions (www.familybasedsolutions.org.uk) and PEGS (www.pegsupport.co.uk) are organisations which offer advice and support on child-to-parent abuse.
EastEnders has also consulted with the NSPCC (www.nspcc.org.uk) on wider aspects of Tommy and Kat’s storyline.