EastEnders confirms life-changing and traumatic event as Linda destroys herself
Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) hits rock bottom in EastEnders later this month in a special offering of the BBC One soap that will see a dangerous night of alcohol abuse ensue.
The Queen Vic landlady, as viewers know, has been in the grips of her addiction for much of this year following her role in the death of Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) last Christmas.
The other women involved in the murder, coupled with son Johnny (Charlie Suff), have desperately tried to get through to her but the guilt of what she’s done weighs heavily on her conscience.
After a spell of sobriety, Linda relapsed when Keanu’s sister Bernie (Clair Norris) returned to the Square last month and subsequent revelations about her own dad left her hitting the bottle like never before.
Upcoming scenes will see her addiction spiral, with Ollie (Harry Farr) left upset by her actions while Johnny desperately tries to get her the help she needs to no avail.
After a particularly heated showdown with her son, Linda hightails it out of the Vic and over to see Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), who gives her a piece of her mind over the way she’s been behaving.
Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) reaches out to Linda too after she steals a bottle of booze from the Minute Mart but things continue to spiral out of control.
Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) is horrified to see how far Linda has fallen in her absence when she returns home from her honeymoon and wastes little time in attempting to get through to her daughter.
But despite her best efforts, a truly devastating day ensues.
Realising that she can no longer enable her daughter, Elaine issues her with a shocking ultimatum.
New spoilers for the following week confirm that Linda ultimately chooses the bottle and leaves, with a dangerous night of alcohol abuse ensuing.
Elaine, meanwhile, faces an agonising situation. The question is: will Linda make it through the ordeal alive?
Filming pictures from earlier in the year appeared to indicate that cast members of the show were filming Linda’s funeral so is this episode confirmation that the storyline will end with the matriarch’s demise?
The episode in question appears to feature no other storyline, so it’s undoubtedly a big one.
This isn’t the first time that Linda’s alcoholism has taken centre stage in a special episode, with a 2019 edition of the show taking place from the landlady’s perspective during a drunken night out.
One to watch: Monday December 16 at 7:30pm on BBC One or stream first from 6am on BBC iPlayer.