EastEnders celebrated its 38th anniversary with a female-led episode on Monday, January 20. The special, which was billed as featuring a life-altering event', ended with the shock death of a mystery character in a flash-forward scene, the first in the BBC soap opera's history.
In the final moments of the episode, Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), Denise Fox (Diane Parish), Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) all made a toast to the men that have wronged them. The scene then cut to black and faded into a flash-forward scene that takes place at Christmas this year.
Show boss Chris Clenshaw said of the show's first flash-forward scene: "We were looking for a vehicle for The Six (women) – Linda, Suki, Kathy, Stacey, Denise and Sharon – to come together, and we were looking for an episode to get viewers really excited as we set up an event that they'll hopefully look forward to all year."
