We’re over halfway through 2026, which means we’re getting closer to the resolution of the EastEnders flashforward story and the answers to our many, many questions.
For the uninitiated, EastEnders kicked off the year in true soap style: By flashing forward to January 1, 2027 and teasing us with a wedding, an affair, a murder, new babies and a terrifying hostage situation all in one episode.
While some stories are starting to fall into place, there is still a long way to go before everything becomes clear, as producer Ben Wadey revealed.
‘We have been building to this for well over a year now. It was so satisfying just watching these wonderful storylines coming together and having the scripts planned and getting so excited about them, with some of our longest-serving and most talented writers putting their biggest brains across the episodes. They are quite something,’ he said.
‘There’s going to be a lot going on, and we can play a game over autumn called “How many people can Max Branning p*** off before New Year’s Day?” The answer is quite a lot actually, so tick them off on your bingo list!’
So, with Max looking set to put multiple noses out of joint in the coming weeks, it sounds like we’ll still be waiting a while to discover who is holding Lauren and Oscar Branning (Jacqueline Jossa and Pierre Counihan-Moullier) at gunpoint.
With the mystery gunman forcing Max to choose which of his children should live, he must be set to do something seriously nasty to upset them – but what will it be, and who has he crossed?
Before that, though, Max has a wedding to get through, and it won’t be smooth sailing for him or bride Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) if Ben’s comments are anything to go by.
‘We do a bit of wedding wars,’ he teased. ‘Cindy and Max – what can possibly go wrong?’
But they’re not the only ones getting hitched, with Kim Fox (Tameka Empson) also set to say ‘I do’ to Howie Danes (Delroy Atkinson).
‘Then there’s Kim and Howie’s wedding. The Fox-Truemans are going through a difficult time, with Denise being diagnosed with leukaemia, going through chemotherapy. There’s a real sustained effort on the part of the Fox-Truemans to keep the family buoyant and afloat. Is it because they need to get it done so Denise can actually be there and witness the wedding?
‘I love these scenes because you’ve got Cindy and Max throwing money at it but it’s not going quite as smoothly as they would like, while Kim and Howie can’t afford that massive lavish wedding, and they’ll have obstacles in their way. But some of those scenes in September, on the day of their actual wedding had me crying with laughter, so I think you’ll really enjoy that.’
Judging by the fact that Max is also supposed to be tying the knot on New Year’s Day, we can’t imagine that this wedding is going to work out well, and if vows are exchanged, we sense an annulment in the very near future.
But will it be Cindy he attempts to wed again in the flashforward episode, or could it be someone else?
