EastEnders Revealed will stage an unexpected return as part of the upcoming 40th anniversary celebrations next month. The BBC One soap will mark four decades on air with a special hour-long episode confirmed for the day of the anniversary, plus a subsequent live offering featuring a story outcome voted on by viewers. Denise Fox will choose between Ravi Gulati and Jack Branning, as voted for by fans, while the culprit who attacked Cindy Beale will be revealed, plus Grant Mitchell will stage his long-awaited return, with Ross Kemp reprising his iconic role.

Behind the scenes, EastEnders also intends to mark the 40th in a number of ways, including the return of EastEnders Revealed, the docuseries that looks back on famous characters and storylines. The last offering to date, which aired in conjunction with Heather Trott’s death, hit screens in 2012. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video.

Up Next. But a brand new edition, entitled EastEnders Revealed: The Lock In, will be hosted by Joe Swash, best known to fans as Mickey Miller, and serve as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations. Joe previously hosted EastEnders: The Six Revealed. The Lock In will take viewers behind the scenes, offering insights into Cindy’sattacker reveal, Denise, Jack and Ravi’s interactive love triangle, and exclusive details relating to the live episode by talking to some of the actors involved – including Jacqueline Jossa, Natalie Cassidy and Patsy Palmer.

While re-watching their character scenes, the stars who find themselves at the heart of the drama will share their possible theories on the outcomes of their storylines and offering their thoughts on taking part in the live episode. To access the vote, viewers must have a BBC Account. You can register for an account at BBC.co.uk/account, on or before February 19. The vote will officially open at 8:30pm on Wednesday February 19 at BBC.co.uk/EastEnders, and will close at 7:10pm on Thursday February 20 so the result can be incorporated into its live episode which will broadcast at 7:30pm from BBC Elstree Centre that very evening.

The 45-minute special will air during the show’s anniversary week, and will also include a special musical performance from a well-known EastEnders superfan. ‘It was a privilege to take another trip back to Walford to reunite with my EastEnders family ahead of the 40th anniversary. ‘I won’t say too much as I don’t want to spoil it for the viewers, but the week is full of explosive drama, and it was great to hear from the cast themselves about what we can expect from the week.’.

Chris Clenshaw – EastEnders’ Executive Producer – added: “The 40th anniversary is a monumental occasion for EastEnders, and since we started announcing some of our plans, we have seen an  overwhelming amount of speculation around possible theories of what’s to come in the anniversary week. ‘This anniversary special show will give the audience a chance to hear from the actors involved in some of those explosive storylines as they share their thoughts and feelings of being involved in its historic milestone.’.

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