EastEnders star Diane Parish has shared her thoughts on the soap’s 40th anniversary live episode, in which a first-of-its-kind interactive element will give viewers the chance to decide the future of her character Denise Fox’s love life.
In a change to the usual format, all of next week’s four episodes, airing Monday to Thursday, will be set on the same day - Wednesday 19th February; the exact date that EastEnders first aired, back in 1985.
The final episode of the week, on Thursday, will be live, and will focus on the aftermath of an explosion that rips through The Queen Vic.
With both of Denise’s suitors - bad boy Ravi Gulati and ex-husband Jack Branning - caught up in the drama, Denise makes a decision about which man she wants to be with, courtesy of a viewer vote.
“It’s a little bit of a scary one, but it’s very exciting,” says Diane.
“It is a very difficult choice, I can imagine, for the audience. Long-term viewers of EastEnders will remember the early part of Denise’s relationship with Jack, how they got together, and all the stuff with the family, especially with Amy - they’ve got all those things in their consideration.
“And then with Ravi, they’re going, ‘But it might be exciting, it might be dangerous, it might spin off into all kinds of other chaotic stuff.’ So it depends what people are voting for, but fate is literally in their hands.’
Asked if she’s nervous about going live, Diane adds, “Course I’m nervous! But nervous excited - I’m well excited.
“It’s like being in a great big theatre production on the opening night, because we’re all in the same boat. Everybody is on stage that night - our camera operators, sound guys, props guys - and everybody is going, ‘Right, I’ve got to prove myself and bring it out of the bag.’
“But in that moment, we are all a team, so there’s a different kind of energy and it’s really exciting. And then there’s that massive sigh of ‘We did it!’ - hopefully - at the end.”
In addition to Denise’s choice and the explosion at The Vic, next week’s drama will include a wedding for Billy and Honey Mitchell and the unmasking of the mystery person who attacked Cindy Beale on Christmas Day.
Meanwhile, Phil Mitchell’s depression storyline will reach a tragic climax as Linda Carter makes a shocking discovery, prompting her to raise the alarm with Phil’s friend and housemate Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley) and Phil’s brother Grant, played by Ross Kemp, who has returned to EastEnders for a guest stint, nine years after his last appearance.
* To cast a vote for the ‘Denise’s choice’ storyline, you need to register for a BBC account at bbc.co.uk/account on or before Wednesday, February 19.
Voting opens at 20:30 on the 19th at bbc.co.uk/EastEnders and closes at 19:10 on Thursday 20th so the result can be incorporated into that night’s live episode.
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One. You can also watch episodes early when they are released at 6am on BBC iPlayer.
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