EastEnders fans stunned at NEVER seen before addition to show

The Albert Square sign on the set of EastEnders
EastEnders fans can't get enough of the surprise addition. (Image credit: BBC)

*This article contains spoilers for tonight's (Thursday, February 29) and Friday's (March, 1) episodes of EastEnders on BBC iPlayer and is yet to air on TV*

EastEnders fans are stunned by an unexpected feature to the soap that has never been seen before.

In the dramatic hour-long episode on Friday, Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) finds herself at the centre of Nish Panesar's (Navin Chowdhry) revenge after he calls the police to tell them that she was the one who attacked him on Christmas Day, not Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters).

His evil plan to get Stacey sent to prison comes after him unleashing a ferocious attack on her cousin and his girlfriend Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) in tonight's episode.

When Nish discovered that Kat was divorcing Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), he decided to take advantage of Kat and began dating her to get his hands on some of the Mitchell money.

He introduced Kat to a dodgy divorce lawyer to try and convince her to put her assets in his name. However, thanks to some warning from his ex-wife Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) about Nish's scheming, Kat decides to double bluff him by seducing and blackmailing the lawyer into helping her help destroy Nish's life.

Kat Slater, Stacey Slater, Suki Panesar and Eve Unwin.

The Walford women give Nish Panesar what for. (Image credit: BBC)

Unfortunately, Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) overhears Suki and Kat blackmailing the lawyer and informs a furious Nish, before Kat heads over to No.41.

She receives a call from Suki telling her that Nish knows exactly what she's up to and he wants revenge. A terrified Kat attempts to flee his house, but Nish's turns violent and attacks her.

Kat fends him off and manages to escape and run to a shocked Stacey, Suki and Eve Unwin (Heather Peace). The women dish out some home truths to Nish and the humiliated businessman hits back by calling DS Whisson and telling him that Stacey attacked him.

The next day, Stacey is brought in for questioning about the night of Nish's attack and insists to DS Whisson that Nish is making it up because he wants revenge for Kat dumping him.

As Stacey is pushed to recount the events of Christmas night, she slips up when her original statement doesn't match up to what she's saying and she calls Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) to get Nish to retract his statement.

Stacey Slater wearing a dressing gown sitting on a bench in her garden with a children's playhouse. Jean Slater walks over with a cup of tea.

We catch a glimpse of Stacey's never-seen-before garden after 39 years! (Image credit: BBC)

He soon swoops in to save the day and gets Stacey released by confirming what she said about Nish trying to stitch her up to get back at Kat.

"I'm just glad the others didn't have to come down and remember their stories and all," Stacey tells Jack.

Later on, Jack asks her what she means by that comment, but as Jack piles on the pressure to get Stacey to confess what really happened, she lets slip that his wife Denise Fox (Diane Parish) was the one who attacked Nish.

The next morning, Stacey is reeling after the events of the night before, but fans were astonished by a new feature to the soap as we see Stacey's garden for the first time ever.

After a sleepless night, Stacey is seen sitting on a bench in her garden, complete with a children's playhouse and grass, and fans went wild after seeing the rare sight after 39 years.

One fan wrote on X: "Omg!!! After 39 years we finally see one of the houses gardens not only that it has grass #Eastenders," and another said: "They have NEVER showed a garden in EastEnders looooool #EastEnders."

Meanwhile, someone else added: "Sorry where has that garden come from #EastEnders."

EastEnders airs tonight at 7:30pm on BBC One.

Grace Morris
Staff Writer

Grace is a freelancer writer with WhatToWatch.com, and she now writes for our sister site TechRadar. She graduated from Anglia Ruskin University in 2020 with a degree in Writing and Film Studies, which only made her love for creative writing, film and TV grow stronger.

You'll usually find her watching the drama unfold in the latest reality series or much-loved UK soaps (usually with chocolate by her side!). She's an expert in EastEnders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and everything reality-related from Selling Sunset and Married At First Sight UK to 90 Day Fiancé UK. Plus Netflix megahit Virgin River!

Grace also likes to explore new places with her friends and family and, of course, watch and read about the latest films and TV series.