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Archie Mitchell, probably the most hated man in Walford (and that really is saying something) died in the Queen Vic on Christmas Day after the pub’s famous bust was pushed from the bar and hit him on the head. Over the last two months on EastEnders, there have been no shortage of suspects and red herrings, but the identity of his killer was finally revealed on 19th February in a live episode to celebrate the soap’s 25th anniversary.
The week leading up to the live episode was crammed full of nods to soaps past, some more subtle than others. Most of this was prompted by the second marriage of Ricky and Bianca, and so avoided being too clunky. The hour-long episode on Thursday, which saw Bradley and Stacey marrying for the second time as well, was really just building up to the live episode on Friday.
And what about the live episode itself? Firstly, of course, there were mistakes. Scott Maslen fluffed his lines at the start of the episode, but carried on admirably; Barbara Windsor forgot to reveal that it was Peggy who planted Archie’s engagement ring in Janine’s house; Ronnie Mitchell was suddenly turned into a shoplifter when Samantha Janus forgot to pay for some paint stripper; and, most hilariously, Jake Wood’s attempt to make himself retch at the sight of his dead son was caught on camera.
But really, these are all minor gaffes in comparison to what went right in the episode. Rather than have lots of people sitting around in rooms talking, the producers and writers were extremely ambitious, with lots of key characters in lots of different locations, and one character falling to his death from the Queen Vic roof. The logistics of doing this live obviously affected the story-telling to an extent (lots of long reaction shots to give time to get the stunt mat out of the way and the corpse into place) but they in no way spoiled the episode.
The actors required to do a lot coped admirably bar the odd mistake, with Charlie Brookes in particular seeming to be completely effortless as Janine. But the episode belonged to Charlie Clements and Lacey Turner as Bradley and Stacey, and they were truly mesmerising. The scene in the bedroom was a beautiful, quiet and touching moment, and it was clear that Charlie Clements was genuinely moved on his last day on set. Lacey Turner’s performance as Stacey is always astonishing and this was no exception, not even taking into account the fact that she was barely able to speak. It’s not difficult to see why the bosses at EastEnders chose to make her the killer, and I look forward to seeing her deal with her role in Bradley’s death over the coming months.
Seriously raising the bar for Coronation Street’s 50th anniversary later in the year, this ambitious, tense and exciting episode was a richly deserved triumph for an EastEnders that has been riveting over the last few months. Magnificent stuff.
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