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EastEnders Iconic Episodes:- Who Killed Lucy Beale? (30th Anniversary)

Tuesday 28th July 2020

Good evening everyone! I'm sorry for the late post, but with lock-down slowly easing. I am now back at both my every day jobs, and also looking making some huge personal changes too, it's been a busy for me that's for sure! But I am now back and I'm happy to see that the latest iconic episode to be shown was the memorable revelation as to who killed Lucy Beale? This was a brilliant, live, hour-long special episode to celebrate the soap's 30th anniversary, everyone went crazy with the #EELive! What amazes me is that it has been 5 years since Lucy died? That has flown super quick! I remember this episode was another gripping one, it was also people had been waiting for for 10 months! Who did kill Lucy? Everything was about to be revealed in this episode which originally aired 19 February 2015!

As you can see from the picture above, there were many characters in the front line who could've been possible culprits. These were the ones the soap kept teasing to us ... from left to right ... Pam, Lee, Cindy, Max, Denise, Ian, Peter, Abi, Jane, Ben, Whitney, Les and Jay! As far as I know, each one had had a run-in with Lucy up until her death. But who had committed the murder?!

I love that right at the beginning of the episode, they kinda remake the opening of EastEnders' very first episode from 19th February 1985, absolutely perfect to mark it's 30th anniversary! It starts with Stacey, Martin and Kush breaking into someone's house and Stacey stating "Cor, it really stinks in here, doesn't it?!"  ... there looked to have been a fire in the house and as they make their way into the house, they find the body of Nick Cotton, (absolutely mirroring the first episode where the cast find the body of Reg Cox) ... as I'm watching it now, I can't believe the difference in Martin ... clean shaven and he looks like he has a baby face! Absolutely brilliant!

As far as I remember, it had been the second wedding of Jane and Ian ... it had come to light to Peter and Jane that it was someone in the family who had murdered Lucy. Lauren had given Jane a card to say that Lucy had been killed inside the house, but how and why? I re-watch this now and can't believe how brilliant the acting is considering it's live! Adam Woodyatt and Laurie Brett in particular are fantastic! So there look to be different things going on, Stacey realising that Dot knew Nick was staying in house and also mystery of who killed Lucy. Questions are being thrown from different directions, Ian is sat on the couch taking every bit of information in, it seems the Beale family believe Denise may have something to do with Lucy's death, as she was living at the property at the time. Ian leaves to go and find Denise but then he gets distracted by Martin asking him for help regarding Dot.

There's so much to take in, I can't quite remember what was happening with previous characters, Mick being aware of Dean's return, and then we see Lauren be sick in the sink while Abi looks over her.  Also the difference in Sharon then as she is now! Much more glamours with the long blonde hair and face full of make-up! We know what is to be revealed at the end of this episode, but for quite a few weeks Phil had been playing up, keeping secrets and having his phone ring constantly by an unknown caller! What the heck had Phil been up to? Also it looks as if Kim is pregnant with Pearl in this episode and if I remember rightly, she gives birth to her in the Queen Vic toilet with Denise at her side! I am thrilled to hear that Kim will be making a comeback when the soap returns later in the year, it's been so long since we've seen Kim. But her comeback will be one of the best, she's a character who brings such light onto the soap!

I thought it was really clever when Peter entered the Vic, everyone asking him genuine concerned questions. Asking if he was alright, where Jane and Ian were? You could see that everywhere he turned, he couldn't help but think one of those people had potentially killed his twin sister, and with everyone asking how he was, he had to get out of there! Wow, so many moments where you question if it was a specific character who killed Lucy. When Ian and Sharon were around at Dot's making sure she was okay, she explains to them both how she let Nick kill himself and carried on without saying a word to anyone and how can live in peace now she was able to tell someone. Ian's face looks as if he's worked out who killed Lucy, but also looks as if he understands that someone keeping a secret to protect someone that they love is important.

Then the scene after where Jane is on the phone to Masood is another brilliant scene! We know that Jane and Masood did have a thing for one another a while ago, whether or not it was before all this Lucy story kicked off, Masood does care for Jane ... as a dear friend, and maybe just that little bit more. But he knows something isn't right, he's convinced Ian has done something, but Jane won't tell him. I remember watching this thinking, "She has told Masood to tell Bobby that everything is going to be alright, plus she is looking so guilty when she doesn't respond to Masood, but yet also, that could just be because she knew Ian was on a mission for answers from Denise!" .... so it was a difficult one to say whether Jane knew something or not, I love how much this soap made us change our minds over and over again to who the actual killer was!

Also Denise plays a huge part in this story-line, she was living with Ian during the time Lucy was killed and this particular episode, it looks as if Ian and Denise went their separate ways and at the very beginning of the episode, she made a comment about Jane and how she almost didn't say "I do!" to marrying Ian. Denise is clearly heated up about something and taking it out on Kim! I loved that moment when Kim is in labour in the toilets and Denise goes in to apologise for slagging her off earlier, only to realise her sister is in labour and the first thing she says is "You're not due for another two months!" ... like it's her fault! Haha! Typical sisterly love right there! I also think it's brilliant when she runs out to get help from Sonia, and she is covered in cake after being insulted by Kat ... Sonia tells Denise abruptly "If she's ill i'm off duty!" for then Denise to say "She's not ill!" and suddenly it clicks, both Sonia and Tina follow Denise into the girl's toilets.  

I love how there are so many people in the one room at Dot's house, talking about how they're all going to keep Nick's death a secret. It's true that each and every one of them in that room care about Dot and none of them are willing to let her get in trouble with the police, I believe so far, it's the best kept secret in the square, it's true that Nick's death has never been mentioned since!! Does anyone remember what's happening with Kat during all of this? She makes a show of herself in the Vic, assaults Sonia and then she's weeping to Stacey on the bench, saying she tried so hard ... has this got something to do with Alfie? As we see, before she kicks off on Sonia, she goes to head towards Alfie in the Vic, but Sonia comes in her way. Was this the time they briefly broke up? Was this during the time Alfie was engaged to Roxy? If anyone can remember, please let me know! I do feel for Kat sometimes, I love since she's been in the square, we've learnt so much about her past and her character. To me, Kat and Alfie have always been the iconic EastEnders couple ... before Mick and Linda! I always thought Kat and Alfie would be together forever, they were literally soul mates ... and for some horrible reason, they keep falling apart and getting back together months later!

Did anyone else see the episode of Secrets From The Square last Monday (20th July 2020) of Diane Parish and Tameka Empson? I loved how they described Tameka filming that childbirth scene during the live episode, Tameka was hilarious how she explained it. They'd count down from 5 until they were due to go live and she'd leap into the sounds of labour and then stop and relax as if nothing had happened seconds later! I thought it was brilliant! You can see in these live clips how everyone's performance is shining through! Now, we see Dean has creeped into the Vic ... what is doing back in the Square? I'm assuming he has already raped Linda before this, which is why Mick is wanting to keep Linda unaware of Dean's presence being back in the square. Dean takes out what appears to be a petrol can, from a bag ... your mind suddenly races, is he going to threaten to set the Vic alight?!

Okay, so if i'm right in thinking ... the moment when you see Ian walking towards his house, alone in the street and Mick calls to him to come back into the Vic to celebrate his wedding. Is it the moment where Ian knows something? He knows that someone in his household killed his daughter! Hense why he asked the question to Mick, "Have you ever killed someone?" "How long can you hide it until you crack?" I believe that was the moment everyone kinda thought "Hold on!" Ian knows! Is he about to confront the person who killed Lucy?" It's a bit of an awkward conversation for Mick, but it's amazing to see how Ian knows who it potentially could be! Even Mick clicks "You know don't you? You know who killed Lucy?" I remember thinking "Oh shit!" Hahaha!

Awwwww early stages of Martin and Stacey!!! Martin leaning in to give her a kiss and she backs away, clearly he hasn't been back on the Square long! It's incredible to think how far they've both come within the past 5 years! Awwww and there we have it, Pearl being brought into the soap, I remember panicking thinking the poor child hadn't made it when everyone was silent, and then there comes the babies cry and everyone is celebrating! It's amazing how many different emotions have happened in this episode, a birth and the revelation of a death! Simply amazing! I also want to point out that Patrick is slurring his words, this would've been his slow recovery from the stroke he had! I remember worrying thinking Patrick wasn't going to survive, but I am thrilled he has been on the soap for so long! I don't think the Square would be anything without Patrick!

Ahhh so this is a very memorable moment, we see Phil is waiting for someone, looking at his phone in a deserted area and decides to head off, but before he leaves a taxi pulls up! I remember thinking who the hell is he meeting up with? Most guessed it might've been Grant or Lisa?! But Oh My Goodness no one expected it to be Kathy!!!!! What an iconic memorable moment, and in such EastEnders style, slowly walk up and those words "Hello Phil!" ... I realise now that the next two people you see after Kathy being revealed is Ben in the pub with Jay, and then Ian on the swings ... how amazing that editing is!!! Kathy arrives back to Walford and both her sons are shown not having the foggiest idea that she's back!!! Brilliant! I can't applaud the writers enough, I just thought it was so so clever!!

Another face no longer in the soap is Vincent, and yet when Kim is being taken to the hospital with her new born baby, he looks on from afar ... it's sad that Denise and Kim have this fall out. If only Kim had known Vincent was there! I still think he should've made himself known and then Denise would've swallowed her words and Kim would've had someone with her when she went to the hospital. But of course Denise never meant to hurt Kim's feelings, as we have seen in recent years Denise loves little Pearl and she has become a beautiful child on the Square.

Ah okay, so Kathy was begging Phil to let her come home, am I right in thinking that he had known for a while that Kathy was alive? This secretive behaviour with Phil had been happening for quite some time, and it wasn't completely known what he was getting up to. It's amazing to have such an iconic character return on such an epic episode! At first Phil refuses to let Kathy come back as it would mess up Ben and Ian's heads, but before she leaves, she begs him to let her return! Next minute Peter is approaching Denise claiming that it was her, even calling her a bitch! Denise has absolutely no idea what is going on, luckily Ian interferes before anything kicks off and basically states to Peter that he has got it wrong and leads Peter away. It's not going to be long now until the killer is revealed!

Oh gosh, Nancy walks into the cellar after also smelling something dodgy, she walks in a Dean grabs her from behind. She shouts out to her Dad and Mick walks in to find Dean holding on to his daughter. They tell him not to even think about setting the Vic alight, Dean decides to let Nancy go as his argument isn't with her, he states all he wants is the Vic. I remember watching this on the edge of my seat. Does anyone remember what Dean was like before he became a rapist? Before he returned! He was a bit of a teenager and everyone seemed to fancy him, perhaps a little bit off the rails but nowhere near as bad as he was now, he had become such a brilliant villain and to be honest, I found it incredible to watch! How had he been transformed into such a hated character?! Brilliant script writing! Mick and Dean are both talking, Dean claiming that he's not a rapist and what Linda had said was all lies, Mick doesn't believe a word and grabs a fire extinguisher from behind him. Nancy informs Dean that Shriley, Dean's Mum, is in the Vic with everyone else ... this briefly distracts Dean and Mick takes his chance and goes for Dean with the extinguisher, forcing the lighter out of his hand, only to then knock him backwards, onto the floor and step on his throat, almost choking Dean. Nancy drags her Dad away as Dean lies there lifeless, I remember thinking, "Oh crap! Has he just killed Dean?!"

Oh how sad! Dot being sat in the back of a police car and saying goodbye to her son. That was a moment I think everyone didn't expect to see. She didn't kill her son, not really. She just didn't help him. There is a difference isn't there? Dot had gone through years of abuse from her son, it was about time he got his comeuppance. Even though she was his Mum, she loved him dearly and she would've done anything to support him, even if he was in the wrong. She was only doing what was right as a mother, everyone knows that! I can't recall much of Dot's story-line, but I'm sure she wasn't in jail ... and even if she was, she wasn't for long.  

Oooooh I remember this! Everyone in the Beale household approaches the phone as it rings, but before anyone can answer it, it goes to Ian in the cafe. "It's me ... I know it was you who killed Lucy. Get everyone out of the house. I'm coming home!" .... WHO WAS HE SPEAKING TO????? I remember shaking, i'm shaking now reliving it! Everyone was desperate to know who it was! Peter, Jane or Cindy? They are the only possible 3 people it could've been!!!! We see Ian walk into the house on his own, no one in sight until we hear footsteps coming down the stairs, Ian picks up a picture frame of Lucy, turns around and says "Tell me exactly what happened that night!" ... to JANE!!!! I remember gasping! I didn't think at all it would've been Jane, I didn't quite believe it to begin with, but as we know, the next episode revealed that she was covering for Bobby. Bobby was the one who actually killed Lucy. Jane would've done anything to save her son from being in trouble with the police. I just remember being gobsmacked ... for 10 months we had no idea who had killed Lucy and for it to be all unravelled the way it was, was absolutely brilliant! Am I right in thinking that it was 2 live episodes that covered the reveal? What an epic way to celebrate an anniversary!

I loved these episodes so much and I'm thrilled that the reveal of Who Killed Lucy was chosen as an iconic episode, because it really was iconic! The reveal of a death, a birth, a return from the dead ... it had everything! We have just had the 35th Anniversary, I know it's a way off yet, but I can't wait to see what big plans they come up with for the 40th Anniversary! If it was anything as big as this then i'm certain it'll be epic! I've loved seeing the cast all the way through this episode and seeing what they were like back then, it's sad seeing characters who are now no longer in the soap ... Abi, Lauren, Tanya, Dot, Nancy, Lee, Dean, Fatboy, Christian, Carol, Vincent ... it's wonderful to see all these familiar faces! It makes me sad that some of these brilliant actors and actresses aren't in it anymore! I would love to see so many of them come back, wouldn’t you? Out of the ones I have mentioned, who would you like to see return to Albert Square? Please feel free to message me, I’ll always reply to your comments! I believe the next iconic episode to be shown will be the Christmas episode of Max and Stacey's affair being revealed, another brilliantly written episode! I can't wait to write up about that one!

I hope you've all enjoyed this post, I can only apologise on how late it is. I'll be back with the follow up post of the iconic episodes very soon! Thanks again everyone, look after yourselves xXx  

[andygibsontv]

I am saddened to learn #JuneBrown who, played #DotBranning in #EastEnders, has passed away at the age of 95. In a career spanning 7 decades, she is survived by her 6 children. June also appeared in other TV Dramas such as #TheBill, #TheSweeney & #CoronationStreet. #RIPJuneBrown t.co/U2WRR3qCMX https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb7gxS8IVCw/?utm_medium=tumblr