EastEnders fans have been left theorising that Mick Carter could still be alive and set to make a return to the soap after he dove into the Channel to save his beloved ex-wife Linda.
The pub landlord, played by Danny Dyer, saw his fate left on an ominous note in the hour-long post-watershed festive special, as the love triangle storyline had an explosive end on the BBC soap.
The drama saw the aftermath of Mick and Janine Butcher’s (Charlie Brooks) wedding, as her manipulative staging of the car crash earlier in the year, to frame Linda (Kellie Bright) for being behind the wheel, was finally exposed.
As Albert Square celebrated Christmas Day in classic fashion, Linda and Mick tearfully agreed to give their marriage another go, as she told him he was the love of her life.
The pair shared an emotional reunion kiss, before he headed upstairs in the pub to confront Janine on their ‘sham of a marriage’.
While Janine tried to appeal to Mick over her pregnancy with their child and memories of their wedding day on Christmas Eve, he gave her minutes to pack her bags and leave.
Janine did indeed scarper, but when Mick learned she had done so with her passport, he set off in hot pursuit of her with Linda as a highly dramatic car chase ensued.
Yet a desperate Janine only doubled down and shortly after Linda managed to jump in beside her, the pair soared off a cliff into the Channel waters in a jaw-dropping stunt.
Mick was last seen jumping in and diving down to the car wreckage, to save Linda, unaware she had managed to escape to the shore herself.
The last EastEnders fans saw of the favourite was his murky figure in the depths of the water to save Linda – and never emerging.
However, soap fans now think the character could be set to make a major return to Albert Square one day, given the open-ended nature of his death on the BBC soap, with many pointing to the lack of a body as a dead giveaway.
Taking to Twitter after the dramatic scenes aired on Christmas Day, one fan wrote: “Surely the door is open for Mick," as another echoed: "No body. Not dead. Mick will be back."
A third joked: "Goodbye Mick. See you in 5 years when you come back after being rescued by a boat, had amnesia and lived as a fisherman on the coast!"
Another added: "Mick ain’t dead, he’ll be walking through the doors of the Vic in about 5 years time," as a fellow soap fan wrote: "Mick Carter deserved better, but we did not see a body, he's alivvvvve!"
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One
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