EastEnders welcomed back Nancy and Lee Carter for a very special episode, with stars Maddy Hill and Danny Hatchard reprising their iconic roles.
Monday’s (December 16) edition of the BBC One soap saw Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), whose alcohol addiction has spiralled out of control, imagine what her future would look like if she failed to give up the booze.
A bleak scenario unfolded, with the Queen Victoria landlady meeting a tragic end on the evening in question, d.y.i.n.g after a particularly devastating night of alcohol abuse.
Her funeral followed, with Lee and Nancy joining brother Johnny (Charlie Suff) and nan Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) at the Vic and subsequently at the church.
The fantasy scenes saw Nancy blame Elaine for her mum’s death while Lee wasn’t pleased with Johnny for causing a scene at the funeral.
The family, which was once one of Walford’s most close-knit, were more divided than ever, utterly heartbroken over Linda’s demise.
Thankfully, however, it was all just a ‘what if?’ scenario, as Linda had simply imagined all the above.
The vision was enough to make her drop the bottle as she told Elaine that she wanted to get help – and that she didn’t want to d.i.e.
The special episode marks the first time Nancy has been seen since her exit in 2022. Lee, meanwhile, was last seen in 2020 when Mick (Danny Dyer) had lunch with him at Joanna’s cafe.
Though their appearances in this particular offering technically weren’t real, it was definitely a nice surprise to see the two of them back – and it’s the first time we’ve seen Nancy, Lee, Johnny and Ollie – the original trio of Carter kids – together since 2016.
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One or stream from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
