Warning: spoilers ahead!
Ever since the February 2023 Christmas Day flash-forward aired, EastEnders viewers have been itching to discover not only the identity of the body on the floor, but also the person who placed it there.
The BBC One soap opera eventually acknowledged on Monday, December 25, 2023, that Linda Carter was the one who had committed the crime.
Fans were left guessing which member of The Six—Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), Denise Fox (Diane Parish), Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal)—might be the murderer back in February after the flash-forward.
Every woman has been involved in extensive plots that depict them being mistreated by the males in their lives for the entire year.
So, what was the precise course of events? You’re covered by RadioTimes.com.
Who is the killer in EastEnders on Christmas Day 2023?
On Christmas Day 2023, Linda Carter was formally identified as the murderer on EastEnders.
In the actual episode, Danny Walters’ character Keanu Taylor made an attempt to get married to Sharon. Nevertheless, his distressed sister Bernadette Taylor (Clair Norris) revealed to her ex-husband Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) that Keanu had arranged the kidnapping of Sharon’s son Albie. Phil Mitchell crashed the wedding with Sharon in order to expose Keanu’s transgressions.
After learning the truth, Sharon was appalled and hit Keanu in the face, causing blood on her palm that she then smeared on her wedding gown. During a dispute with Keanu, Sharon made fun of him by disclosing a personal secret of her own: Phil, not he, is Albie’s father!
Sharon immediately fled the chapel and called off the wedding, which infuriated Keanu. Sharon was escorted by friends Linda, Kathy, and Denise, the latter two of whom also avoided their deceitful estranged husbands, Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) and Tom “Rocky” Cotton (Brian Conley).
The knowledge that his wife Kat Mitchell (Jessie Wallace) was already aware of this fact astounded Phil as well. After talking to Kat back in the Square, Phil made the decision that he wanted to be involved in Albie’s life.
A wintry evening descended upon Walford, and Sharon, Linda, Denise, and Kathy entered the Vic and served themselves drinks. Prior to Phil’s arrival, he expressed his desire to be involved in Albie’s life, but Sharon refused to accept his involvement because he had raised Ben and Denny. After becoming enraged at Sharon’s response, Phil shoved Kathy aside and tore her clothing, telling Sharon he would fight for his kid and walking away.
Earlier in the day, Stacey and Eve Unwin (Heather Peace) angrily confronted Jack for revealing to the police that Eve was alive, so revealing their plot to frame Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) and Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) for Eve’s murder. Jack became worried and decided to see Suki at her house, but she turned him away even though Nish was there.
Suki was shocked when, at the Panesar residence, first Ravi emerged from police custody, then Nish made her eat a Christmas meal and attacked her in front of his family and kids in the kitchen and at the table. Ravi intervened and restrained his father, allowing Suki to flee the premises.
Nish hit Ravi hard with a rolling pin during a brawl with his kid, rendering him unconscious and making him run after Suki.
Suki looked for Eve at the Slater house in the icy Square, but when Stacey noticed her walking around the Square, they fled to the Queen Vic and joined the other four women of the Six inside for protection.
Upon entering the pub, Suki came out to Sharon, Kathy, Denise, and Linda, who were all taken aback by her disclosure that she was leaving Nish to be with Eve.
The women had a toast together, but there was tension when they talked about the males in their life. Denise went to check on Kathy after she left the room.
Following this, a struggling Linda, grieving over her first Christmas without her true love, Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), went upstairs within the Queen Vic and started sipping a bottle of vodka. She had no idea that Mick’s brother, and her vindictive tormentor, Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo), was also hidden upstairs. Although Dean continued to hide upstairs, Linda discovered a gift he had left for Gina. Then Linda noticed the backdoor ajar and closed it.
Before Suki noticed that a cab had been cancelled, she received a call informing her that Nish had gotten away from him. The other members of the Six clapped with approval for Suki, advising her to phone Nish so they can trap him at the Vic.
An enraged Keanu attacked Bernie at Sharon’s house for her betrayal and would not accept Sharon’s claim that he was his father. Bernie told Keanu that Sharon was probably going to contact the cops.
After thereafter, Nish showed up at the Vic and wished the six women a Merry Christmas. She then brought out a chair and motioned for him to have a seat. When Nish asked the other women to go, they refused, so Nish had to tell Suki to go. He patronises the other women, who are still convinced that he won’t be going.
After announcing that she is kicking Nish out of the family home and leaving, Suki declares her love for Suki once more. He is instructed to “crawl under the rock he came from” by the other women.
A fractured Nish apologises and declares his love for Suki once more, but she rejects him anyway. After Nish starts fighting with all the women, Denise uses the champagne bottle to give Nish a head injury.
Ultimately, Nish is seen lying seemingly dead, and just as Sharon tells Keanu to leave, he storms upstairs to grab Albie before the women gather around him.
A vengeful Keanu throttles Sharon after Sharon declares he won’t see Albie again, and Linda stabs Keanu in the back with a two-pronged fork.
After that, Keanu collapses to the ground as Suki gives Nish the kiss of life and he is out of breath.
