BBC EastEnders ‘work out’ who a.t.t.a.c.k.e.d Cindy Beale – and it’s not Ian
SPOILERS: Cindy Beale was attacked on Christmas Day after her affair with Junior Knight was exposed to her family and EastEnders fans have since been trying to work out who a.t.t.a.c.k.e.d her
EastEnders has aired another twist in the who attacked Cindy Beale storyline as she was brought out of her induced coma during the latest episode.
In scenes available to watch now on BBC iPlayer and will air on BBC One on Thursday (January 9) night, Peter Beale (Thomas Law) caught his sisters Anna (Molly Rainford) and Gina Knight (Francesca Henry) tying to get rid of the proof that George Knight (Colin Salmon) took part in an illegal fight.
The girls were forced to tell their brother George’s secret, which raised suspicion that their father could have attacked Cindy. Peter questioned George’s guilt, not convinced that he hadn’t been the one to strike his mother with a shovel on Christmas night.
However, Gina pointed out that the person most humiliated by Cindy was Peter’s dad, Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). Anna also brought up the fact that Ian hadn’t been visiting Cindy in hospital.
Later, Peter confronted Ian about his lack of visits, telling his dad that this made him look guilty. However, Ian didn’t care, but Peter insisted that he knew Ian still loved Cindy, despite all she had done to him, and therefore didn’t think his dad was the attacker.
Left alone, Ian took a call from Cindy’s doctor, informing him that Cindy had been brought out of her induced coma.
Tasked with telling her relatives of the development, Ian’s face soon dropped. In her hospital bed, Cindy regained consciousness, and soon uttered just one word: “Ian…” Could this mean that Cindy saw Ian attack her or is it simply that she truly loves Ian, despite how much she keeps hurting him?
Despite EastEnders dropping the biggest clue that Ian could have attacked Cindy, viewers at home at still not convinced the Beale’s Eels owner is responsible for the m.u.r.d.e.r attempt.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, after watching Thursday’s episode online, one fan penned: “On the Cindy front I’m more convinced than ever that George is covering up for Kojo after seeing him k.i.l.l her.” Another added: “#EastEnders Reiss could of smacked Cindy.” A third person said: “Ngl I hope it’s Peter that hit Cindy. At least make it interesting #EastEnders.”
Fans don’t have long to wait to find out who a.t.t.a.c.k.e.d Cindy after it was confirmed that the culprit will be revealed during the show’s 40th anniversary week. On the storyline, Executive Producer Chris Clenshaw says: “Our 40th anniversary storylines have been in the works for some time, but even at the very start of planning, we knew that we wanted to reveal the identity of Cindy’s a.t.t.a.c.k.e.r as part of this.
“Many characters currently find themselves in the line of question, but over the coming weeks, the audience can look out for clues themselves to who may be the culprit. Cindy’s a.t.t.a.c.k.e.r reveal is just one of many stories we have planned for the anniversary as it is set to be a week of explosive drama for the audience to remember.”
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One and available to stream on BBC iPlayer from 6am