EastEnders have revealed which episodes will be dropped on BBC iPlayer this Christmas and New Year – and its controversial!
The soap regularly uploads episodes at 6am on their streaming service, with one exception. Should there be a huge twist, viewers have to sit back and wait for the linear transmission on BBC One that evening.
Yesterday on social media, it was confirmed which instalments can be watched early.
Whilst the first two episodes this week will be available to view early, you’ll have to wait until 7.30pm and 10.35pm on Christmas Day to get a slice of the East End turkey.
While more recent years have seen a one hour-long special on Christmas Day – the broadcaster is reverting to the two-episode format of years gone by.
The second ep will air after a 65-minute Call the Midwife special and the highly-anticipated final episode of Gavin & Stacey, which airs for 95 minutes from 9pm.
On Boxing Day, following the fallout of Cindy Beale’s (Michelle Collins) affair reveal, everyone will have to tune in together at 8.30pm.
EastEnders Christmas and New Year schedule
- Monday 23 December: Broadcast at 7:30pm on BBC One, available on iPlayer from 6am.
- Christmas Eve: Broadcast at 7:45pm on BBC One (45 minute special), available on iPlayer from 6am.
- Christmas Day: Broadcast at 7:30pm and 10:35pm on BBC One.
- Boxing Day: Broadcast at 8:30pm on BBC One.
- Monday 30 December: Broadcast at 7:30pm on BBC One, available on iPlayer from 6am.
- New Year’s Eve: Broadcast at 7:30pm on BBC One, available on iPlayer from 6am.
- New Year’s Day: Broadcast at 10pm on BBC One.
- Thursday 2 January: Broadcast at 7:30pm on BBC One, available on iPlayer from 6am.
- With twists and turns aplenty, it’s no surprise that some information is being kept under wraps for now.
I’m sorry to say that the same applies for New Year’s Day, as it’ll be 10pm before we can see what happens at Suki Panesar’s (Balvinder Sopal) wedding to Eve Unwin (Heather Peace).
Will Nish (Navin Chowdhry) be successful in stopping them?
Luckily, that’s the only episode across the week that won’t be making an early appearance on iPlayer.
Producer Chris Clenshaw has teased what’s ahead in the coming weeks, telling us: ‘I think it was important for us after last year, when we did the format-breaking episode with the flashforward and The Six, this year because we are entering the 40th year, it was really important for us to have a classic EastEnders.’
‘If you bring back Cindy Beale, you want Cindy Beale! So we always knew it wouldn’t probably take too long for her to look elsewhere.
There’s so much to unpack (Credits: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron) 
Suki and Eve’s wedding will form the centrepiece of New Year (Picture: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron) ‘We knew it wasn’t going to take too long for Cindy to get up to her old tricks.’
Commenting on the love triangle between Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), Martin Fowler (James Bye) and Ruby Allen (Louisa Lytton), he added: ‘Since Ruby’s return, Stacey’s definitely got the feels but it’s whether or not she can pluck up the courage to tell him or whether it’s too late.’
But who will Martin choose?
Another huge story involves Phil Mitchell’s (Steve McFadden) loneliness.
‘He’s got family around him but despite that, he’s struggling’ Chris commented.
‘As per usual with Steve McFadden, he’s blowing my socks off. It’s really kind of interesting and different to tell this story with Phil Mitchell. We all know someone like [him].
‘I just signed off on an episode last week that’s phenomenal.’
- ‘Ravi and Denise – will they? Won’t they?’ Chris laughed.
- ‘We have a big New Year storyline with Suki and Eve’s wedding, and Ravi is part of that.
‘It’s EastEnders’ first lesbian wedding, but Nish is out there and has gone underground. It’s his final act of vengeance.
‘My heart was in my mouth when I watched those episodes – expect a lot of drama at New Year.’
