EastEnders dropped a huge bombshell last night as it aired a flashforward scene that gave a glimpse far into the future. The BBC soap shocked viewers after showing a scene set at Christmas with six female characters involved in a mystery murder.
Monday night's episode (February 20) saw Denise Fox, Kathy Beale, Linda Carter, Sharon Watts, Stacey Slater and Suki Kaur Panesar gathered together during a lock-in at The Queen Victoria. The women, who have had their fair share of dramatic storylines in recent months, bonded whilst they toasted to 'men' with Sharon saying 'may they get what they deserve'.
The programme's first-ever flashforward then saw Christmas come early as the Queen Vic was seen decorated with all the festive trimmings. Shock then came as a title read 'Christmas 2023' and the six females appeared open-mouthed and stood in silence as they gathered around a dead body.
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Stacey Slater stood with bloodied hands whilst Denise Fox could be seen clenching a broken champagne bottle. Sharon then appeared in a blood-stained wedding dress as she approached the body and confirmed 'he's dead'.
Unsurprisingly the 10-month cliffhanger left viewers with several questions, from which man has been murdered to who had done it and who Sharon was marrying.
Fans have since been replaying the two-minute clip to try and suss out some clues, and one detail in particular has caused much speculation.
Viewers are fixated on the closeup of a cufflink which was worn by the mysterious dead man, and some think they've figured out who it could be thanks to previous scenes in the soap.
One fan took to Twitter to share a photo of an earlier scene with Phil Mitchell and his partner Kat Slater, who are due to marry at Christmas, which saw Phil wearing cufflinks. They then speculated that these were the same cufflinks that were shown in the flashforward scene, writing 'look at Phil's cufflinks.'
Reacting to the revelation, @SammiSwinton tweeted: "The cufflinks. Please not Phil, he's supposed to outlive us all and get shot by 3 more wives."
Re-sharing the comparison picture, @RB9120 wrote: "If Phil gets murdered Xmas day I swear to god I will never watch eastenders again!!!!." Also sharing the picture of the cufflinks, another viewer @Djgillers22 added: "ITS PHIL!"
@RedCyanPhotos also speculated: "We’ve seen Phil wear the cufflinks, so it’s Phil or he loans them out. Sharon in a wedding dress- Phil could’ve got back with her & kept the wedding date when he was supposed to marry Kat, or maybe differences settled & it’s double wedding w/ Sharon & Keanu?."
An eagle-eyed viewer also noted that years ago in a previous episode, Phil's ex Sharon had previously gifted him a pair of cufflinks. Sharing a photo of the moment, they wrote: "Cufflinks", as another viewer reacted "Interesting."
But viewers also had other concerns as for how the soap would keep up with continuity with the preview being 10 months away.
@paris_director tweeted: "Just watched last nights #EastEnders episode. As they have filmed a time jump to Christmas, they need to get the continuity right when they film the Christmas episodes.
@edina_louise added: "Just imagining the continuity errors at Christmas with all the lights and decor. #EastEnders." @dannjohn said: "Omg imagine if one of the stars from that Eastenders Xmas 2023 scene just refuses to return to work & their f****d continuity wise #EastEnders."
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