Next EastEnders anniversary to be celebrated with real murder
In a landmark TV event, the 31st anniversary of EastEnders will be marked with the live televised murder of a major character and the actor who plays them, according to the showâs producers. After the murder scene, the ensuing arrival of real police and subsequent arrests will be cleverly woven into the drama, while real convicted East End gangsters will be scattered in with the extras in order to add some extra unpredictability and menace to the proceedings. It is thought the slaying will form the climax of a month of live hour-long nightly episodes, which will see the return of a multitude of former EastEnders murderers and murderees in a storyline loosely based around a jellied eel convention.  The shows will also feature multiple births, weddings, births at weddings and theft of Christmas Club funds, and will be teased for several months in advance on BBC1, BBC2 and CBeebies. Fans and bloggers are already speculating over the identity of the killer, with Ian Beale taking an early lead as the only character certain to have not left the show in the intervening time, while Nick Cotton is considered highly likely to have recovered from his own murder in time to âsettle some old scoresâ back in the Square. The cast will not be briefed beforehand on the choice of culprit or victim, except for the murderer themselves, who will be informed minutes before shooting begins. Early production scripts have already been encoded in rhyming slang to further protect the storylineâs dramatic revelations. However, if anyone is able to get access to a leaked script, their luck is out â producers have already promised to arrange to murder two other cast members in scenes to be shot simultaneously on the night to combat press spoilers.