EastEnders has appeared to hint at who dies this Christmas as well as who kills them ahead of the festive murder plot and epic whodunnit.
The BBC soap made history in an episode back in February when they teased a flash forward of a Christmas murder.
In the shocking scenes, Denise (Diane Parish), Kathy (Gillian Taylforth), Linda (Kellie Bright), Sharon (Letitia Dean), Stacey (Lacey Turner) and Suki (Balvinder Sopal) were seen surrounding a dead body, but the identity of the corpse and the killer were kept secret.
Viewers will have to wait 8 more months to see exactly what unfolds on the Christmas Day episode, with each woman and the men in their lives set to undergo dramatic storylines that will explain the night’s drama.
However, on Thursday night’s show a comment by one of the characters gave a clue to who might be responsible for the death, and who the unknown man lying dead on the floor is.
Exciting: EastEnders has appeared to hint at who dies this Christmas as well as who kills them ahead of the festive murder plot and epic whodunnit
Attention: On Thursday night’s show a comment from Suki to Eve gave a clue to who might be responsible for the death
As the episode ended, Suki went to visit Eve, where she told her she loved her and her that when she went to hand herself into the police to save Kheerat her main concern was that they would never see each other again.
Then Eve suggested that they just ran away together to live happily ever after – but Suki said it wouldn’t work as they would be ‘spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders’ if he came looking for them.
And then in a big hint Suki begged Eve to bide her time with their relationship, before whispering: ‘Believe that I love you. We are going to get rid of Nish, for good, I promise.’
Soap boss Chris Clenshaw has previously revealed that the plans for the epic whodunnit have been in the pipe line for more than a year as he revealed tidbits of what is to come from the six scorned women in the spotlight.
For Linda, he warned that ‘her knight in shining armour may not be who you think.’
As for Suki, while she continues to struggle with her marriage and her sexuality, ‘as the year progresses, Suki will uncover truths, and have her relationships tested but ultimately her biggest secret could push her to the extreme.’
While Kathy is loved up with Rocky (Brian Conley) ‘we know Rocky he has a past so just what will catch up with him.’
As for Stacey, she ‘finds herself doing something she’s never done before in an effort to protect her family and unborn grandchild.’
Clue: Suki begged Eve to bide her time with their relationship, before whispering: ‘Believe that I love you. We are going to get rid of Nish, for good, I promise’
Plan: Eve suggested that they just ran away together to live happily ever after – but Suki said it wouldn’t work as they would be ‘spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders’ if he came looking for them
Love: As the episode ended, Suki went to visit Eve, where she told her she loved her and her that when she went to hand herself into the police to save Kheerat her main concern was that they would never see each other again
Shock: Soap boss Chris Clenshaw has previously revealed that the plans for the epic whodunnit have been in the pipe line for more than a year
Long wait: Chris explained how the team came up with the flashforward scene storyline: ‘We were looking for a vehicle for The Six (women) – Linda, Suki, Kathy, Stacey, Denise and Sharon – to come together’
With Denise in a love triangle with husband Jack (Scott Maslen) and Ravi (Aaron Thiara) viewers can ‘expect explosive action when Jack discovers what’s been going on.’
We know from the flashforward that Sharon is getting married at Christmas but with the gym owner upset that Keanu (Danny Walters) romped with Sam (Kim Medcalf) viewers should ‘watch out for many twists, turns, and plenty of heartbreak along the way.’
While the scene has brought up more questions than answers for many, one sad fact that’s apparent is that Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) will have died from her inoperable brain tumour.
In the clip, a photograph of Lola is seen on the bar next to landlady Linda, which is a traditional tribute to dead characters on the show.
It’s also clear that a wedding is set to take place, with Sharon seen hunched over the dead body while clad in a bridal gown.
However, this doesn’t mean that Sharon is the one who will tie the knot.
As Sharon’s love life is currently a shambles, it seems surprising that she would have time to sort that out and plan a wedding within 10 months.
Soap boss Chris has not explicitly stated that Sharon gets married, instead saying: ‘Sharon’s wearing a wedding dress at Christmas, so watch out for many twists, turns, and plenty of heartbreak along the way.’
Some fans have guessed that she’s crashed Phil (Steve McFadden) and Kat’s (Jessie Wallace) wedding while others have suggested that Sharon has rekindled her romance with Phil and Kat is no longer in the picture.
Thus far, the viewers’ hot favourites for the chop are Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) or Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) who fans think is returning to the soap, with their names trending on Twitter shortly after the flashforward scene aired.
Nish seems like the most obvious choice, given that he’s made several enemies in the Square and has been a villain since his show debut.
Dean was mentioned continuously in the leadup to the flashforward, piquing fans’ interest, while others remarked that the camera lingered on Denise’s ‘D’ initial necklace – possibly hinting at the murder victim, not the murderer.
Another name thrown into the mix has been Keanu, as the music played was the same used when fans believed he’d been murdered in the 2019 Christmas special.
Several fans think Phil’s card be marked because the murder victim was spotted wearing a pair of cufflinks that he’s worn before.
However, it’s not inconceivable that Phil could’ve loaned them to another star or they simply bought their own pair.
All of the women have come under suspicion after the ominous flashforward.
A popular theory is that Stacey – who is covered the blood – killed the victim with a Champagne bottle which is then taken off her by Denise because they’re standing next to each other.
Others believe Sharon is the culprit as she already has splatters of blood on her wedding dress before kneeling over the victim.
Denise has been called into question because she’s wearing a green dress and the murder victim is also in green.
While the actresses were told about Chris’ plans for a flashforward in November, they have not been told everything about the top secret plot.
Balvinder said of her theory: ‘There’s so many people. I think it could have been any one of the six women involved, they’ve all got a motive.
‘I would like it to be Suki, because I think it adds an extra dangerous element to her but who knows?
‘In terms of who meets their fate, it could literally be anyone. I think it could be Keanu, it could be Rocky, it could be Nish, it could be somebody who hasn’t been in the show for a long time, it could be somebody new who comes in.
‘And I think maybe all of the women might be involved.’
Diane said: ‘I don’t know why but I think it’s me. I’m really scared it’s me, so I might have to make some plans, because I might be going down.
‘We call ourselves ‘the six’ and with all of us we’re all driving towards a very clear point in terms of trouble, problems with the men in our lives, so there’s a lot going on for all of us so it literally could be any one of us.’
Letitia confessed: ‘I wish I had an idea, but at the minute I think it’s so open – and I have been through a few of these storylines before and I rarely get them right – so I’m sure over the next year I’ll change my mind a thousand times, but it would purely be guesswork at this point!’
Kellie’s theory was: ‘In my mind I haven’t done it. But that is just based on nothing other than what I think or felt when we were filming it.’
Speaking on Tuesday’s episode of This Morning, she added that the cast had a body double during playing the victim so as not to give anything away.
She explained: ‘I think there’s going to be lots of red herrings and it’ll shift and change throughout the year.’
‘I’ve got a feeling, I had a very strong feeling, or more of an idea that the victim was going to be a really big player in this show and I’ve slightly changed my mind, and I think it might be someone who is not in the show yet. A character that we’re yet to meet.
‘If I had to put money on it, I don’t think it’s me and I don’t think it’s Di [Diane Parish]. I also think it could be a group thing, with the women all protecting each other but who knows, they could be protecting Linda!’
Lacey confessed: ‘When we first had the meeting about the storyline, I immediately thought it was someone who wasn’t in Albert Square yet.
Future: As for Suki, while she continues to struggle with her marriage and her sexuality, ‘as the year progresses, Suki will uncover truths, and have her relationships tested but ultimately her biggest secret could push her to the extreme’
Complicated: Nish has been making things hard for Suki after the life sentence was given this week
Plan: She went to the police to reveal what had actually happened but Nish had wiped the information from the memory stick
Throwback: Denise, Kathy, Linda, Sharon, Stacey and Suki spent the evening at the Queen Vic putting out fires in their personal lives before the flashforward occurred
‘I don’t think it’s a character that is actually on the show at the moment, but the more that time goes on, and the more the six of us have chatted away, I feel like it’s an accidental death.
‘I don’t think it has been done on purpose, and I think that it’s more of a group effort rather than one sole person, and if it is one individual, then I think all of the women are covering for them.’
Gillian mused: ‘The six of us get together and think ‘who do you think it is’, ‘who do you think it could be’, ‘what do you think is going to happen’ and we’ve picked our brains and gone through every single male member of the cast, but we still can’t come up with the answer!’
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