Who Killed Lucy Beale?

"Who Killed Lucy Beale?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It was announced on 21 February 2014 and began on 18 April 2014, when Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) was discovered dead on Walford Common from a deliberately inflicted head injury. The storyline reached its peak during EastEnders Live Week on 19 February 2015, the show's 30th anniversary episode.

On 19 February 2015, Bobby Beale (Eliot Carrington) was revealed to have killed his sister Lucy following a confrontation at home. Bobby's adoptive mother, Jane Beale (Laurie Brett), covered for him, moving Lucy's body to Walford Common and convincing Bobby that he was not responsible for his sister's death.

Storyline creation and development

The murder story is in the style of a whodunnit mystery. Only four members of the show's production team knew who was responsible for Beale's death.^[1] The marketing campaign for the storyline is EastEnders biggest yet;^[2] the first specially created trailer aired immediately after the murder.^[3] The identity of Beale's killer was shown in a special live episode marking the thirtieth anniversary of EastEnders in February 2015.^[4] The story which began on Good Friday is described by Dominic Treadwell-Collins, the executive producer, as being "emotionally right, true and very exciting"^[5] and that, after initially deciding on a killer, they came up with an alternative killer early in the planning stages as their initial choice "didn't come from the heart".^[5]

In December 2014, it was stated that the list of suspects would be cut down to just 11,^[6] however fourteen suspects were later revealed on-screen.^[7] On 5 January 2015, it was confirmed that the murderer would be revealed in a live flashback episode to mark the anniversary week. Speaking of the episode, Treadwell-Collins said: "When we first created the Who Killed Lucy Beale storyline, we knew that we had to flash back to the night that she died on screen. So much happened on Good Friday 2014 after viewers saw Lucy leave her home and walk off into the night - and this flashback episode will fill in the pieces for the rest of that night, before she was killed."^[8]

Later development

Lucy's younger brother Bobby Beale was revealed to be the killer on 19 February 2015 in a special flashback episode. Treadwell-Collins mentioned that the killer reveal would be different to the show's predecessing whodunnit. “With Archie, it was a one-line reveal, but with this one it’s more complicated: there are a few conversations.”^[9] Following the reveal, the executive producer said that the storyline is the "start of a bigger story". He also mentioned that the original killer was Jane Beale and then Cindy Williams, but stated his reason for the change: "There was one other suspect for about a day, but then it didn't feel right. We always said that this story had to come from the heart, and with this, it's the start of a whole big new story for the Beales." Bobby being the culprit was originally suggested by series producer Alex Lamb.^[10] On twitter, Dominic Treadwell-Collins announced that they'd filmed drop ins to accompany the recent killer reveal during live week. These scenes aired from 23–24 February. ^[11]

Suspects and motives

For a major part of the storyline, the premise was that every character on the show (except for Stacey Branning, who was in prison at the time) could be a suspect. Following the episode that aired on 1 January 2015, the number of official suspects was whittled down to a list of fourteen, when character Emma Summerhayes sent a text message to whom she believed was the killer, with the fourteen characters all being on screen when the message reached it's unspecified recipient's phone. ^[7] By the end of January, Lauren Branning no longer appeared as a suspect in promotional material ahead of the anniversary episode, bringing the list of suspects down to thirteen.^[12][13] On 20 February 2015, it was revealed that Summerhayes had sent the text message to Jane Beale, who was in fact covering for her adoptive son, Bobby Beale.

• Ian Beale, played by Adam Woodyatt. In the days leading up to Lucy's death, Ian was troubled by his daughters behaviour and Cindy, jealous of Ian favouring Lucy over herself, revealed that Lucy had a secret stash of cocaine hidden in her jewellery box. After a heated argument, Ian told Lucy that she was his favourite child as Peter overheard, running off as Lucy chased after him. Ian stated in his alibi that he was at the restaurant the night she died, but Cindy mentioned that she went there to look for him and he was not there. He was in fact with Rainie Cross, a prostitute.
• Jane Beale, played by Laurie Brett. Jane had been staying at her friend Masood Ahmed's house over Easter. She claimed not to have left the house, but provided Lauren with an alibi after claiming that she had seen Lauren approach the Beale house and then leave moments later without entering.
• Peter Beale, played by Ben Hardy. On the night of Lucy's death, Peter overheard his father Ian tell Lucy that she was his favourite child. He ran out, stating in his alibi that he needed some time alone. Prior to the murder, it was revealed that Lucy had been taking cocaine. Jane reads out the texts on Lucy's phone including an unsent message to Peter of the night of her death asking for drugs. He later confesses to being her drug dealer, making sure he can control her addiction.
• Abi Branning, played by Lorna Fitzgerald. Max received an anonymous email of a picture of him kissing Lucy, which was later revealed to have been sent by Abi. She was very unstable during her police interview, and stated in her alibi that she was at home with her father Max all night, but was left alone briefly when Max went out to walk the dog. On Halloween 2014, Abi stalked her sister Lauren whilst wearing a Weeping Angels mask when she became uncomfortable with Lauren dismissing her problems in favour of her own. During a heated confrontation, Abi tries to drown Lauren. She later denies killing Lucy, but admits that she wishes that she had.
• Max Branning, played by Jake Wood. Prior to Good Friday, it was revealed that Max had been having an affair with the deceased. A few days before her death, the pair had a heated argument, resulting in Lucy falling and hitting her head and he later grabbed her aggressively. Both incidents were captured on CCTV footage and reviewed by David Wicks. David originally blamed Max for the murder, but after the two talk, David decides to keep quiet about the incidents and the laptop containing the evidence is destroyed. Max stated in his alibi that he was at home all night except for when left for five minutes to walk the dog, which was later confirmed by an anxious Abi, after her maternal grandmother Cora Cross called the police after noticing Max and Abi cleaning up Lucy's blood from the car lot.
• Jay Brown, played by Jamie Borthwick. Although no given motive has presented itself, CCTV footage revealed that Jay was on the same bus as the deceased the night that she was murdered, and was shown to have followed her after she got off. He burned the hat that he was wearing in the footage, and later buried Lucy's purse and phone.
• Lee Carter, played by Danny-Boy Hatchard. Lee was in a fling with the deceased in the days running up to her death, upsetting love rival Whitney. In his alibi, Lee stated that he was at the housewarming party at the time of the death. Before the party he had seen Billy Mitchell in a heated argument with Lucy.
• Les Coker, played by Roger Sloman. In Les' alibi, he states that he was watching "a Marlon Brando classic".^[14] Les runs a funeral business, and was heavily involved in faking the death of Nick Cotton before he was questioned by the police.
• Pam Coker, played by Lin Blakley. On the anniversary of her son's death, she became worried when DC Emma Summerhayes asked her questions surrounding Lucy's death.^[15] She later revealed to Billy Mitchell that she had killed someone.
• Whitney Dean, played by Shona McGarty. Whitney developed feelings for Lee, but on the day of Lucy's death, discovered that the two had slept together. Whitney and Lucy were also involved in cyber-bullying conflicts on a social networking site in which Lucy supposedly made remarks about Whitney's weight.^[16] At Lucy's funeral, Whitney leaves a message saying "Rot in Hell" which is found by Tamwar. Whitney asked Lauren for the password to Lucy's profile, telling her that she wanted to delete the hate off of Lucy's profile, though deleted all of the messages, including ones that Whitney and Lucy shared. Later, DI Keeble notices suspicious activity which arose on Lauren's laptop in the run-up to Lucy's death, referring to the deletion of a conversation that happened between Whitney and Lucy.
• Denise Fox, played by Diane Parish. On the day of Lucy's death, Denise revealed to her daughter Libby that she was planning on leaving Ian, sick of him favouring his own family over hers. However after learning about Lucy's death, she chose to stay with him, though eventually left him after learning of his involvement with Rainie. A few months later, she dug up Lucy's purse and phone in Patrick's allotments. She was initially hesitant about turning them over to Ian, but did after being urged to by Masood.
• Ben Mitchell, played by Harry Reid. Ben is the uncle of the deceased. He returned to the square five months after Lucy's death and thus had not been questioned by the police. For unknown reasons, Ben possessed Lucy's missing phone and purse, and ordered Jay to dispose of them. When Denise accidentally dug them up, Ben claimed to Ian that he had found them on Good Friday, and then disposed of them after learning of Lucy's death.
• Cindy Williams, played by Mimi Keene. In the days running up to the murder, Cindy got increasingly jealous of Ian treating her poorly. Cindy told Ian that Lucy had something hidden in her jewellery box, which was later revealed to be cocaine, given to Lucy by her twin brother, Peter. On Christmas Day, Cindy unwrapped the jewellery box which was under the tree, noted as a present for her daughter Beth.^[17]

The following were listed as suspects prior to January 2015 and had been questioned by the police:

• Lauren Branning, played by Jacqueline Jossa. Lucy's best friend. Lauren was uncharacteristically happy to dismiss Lucy's emotional state during their final scene. She stated that she went to Ronnie and Roxy's housewarming party then returned straight home, but video evidence contradicted her story, showing her heading to the Beale house. Jane provides Lauren with an alibi, revealing that from the Masood house, she saw Lauren arrive and leave the Beale house without entering.
• Linda Carter, played by Kellie Bright. Linda is the mother of suspect Lee, and had disapproved of him sleeping with Lucy Beale on the night before her death.
• Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer. Mick found out about Lee and Lucy's relationship in the days running up to the murder. At the time of her death, Mick was hosting a pool tournament at The Queen Vic.
• Charlie Cotton, played by Declan Bennett. Upon Charlie's arrival, he had a deal in hand with fellow resident Les Coker concerning the faking of his father's death. He was questioned by the police following the incident.
• Billy Mitchell, played by Perry Fenwick. Billy was originally going into business with Lucy, but it was later revealed that she was playing him. Later in the storyline, Lee Carter revealed that he had seen Billy in a heated confrontation with Lucy hours before her death, but was unsure if Billy had followed her or not.
• Lola Pearce, played by Danielle Harold. Lola became increasingly jealous of her boyfriend Peter Beale's involvement in his sister's life. She and Billy were attending the wedding of Ronnie Mitchell and Charlie Cotton when Emma met with the supposed killer.
• Jake Stone, played by Jamie Lomas. In the days running up to Good Friday, Jake had fallen for Lucy. Lucy's blood was found in Jake's flat and he was arrested, but he was later released when a witness backed up Jake's story that he had been drunk and that Lucy helped him home.
• Dean Wicks, played by Matt Di Angelo. Dean was questioned by the police following the murder.

Plot

Events leading up to the killing

Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) decides to set up a letting agency, despite cynicism from her father, Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). Her former colleague Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) offers to be her business partner but she turns him down in favour of her friend, Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa). It is revealed that Lucy is secretly having a sexual relationship with Lauren's father Max Branning (Jake Wood). She also has sex with Lee Carter (Danny-Boy Hatchard), despite being aware that Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) harbours romantic feelings for Lee. Lucy's behaviour with Lee causes tension between her and Max; during a disagreement in Max's car showroom, Lucy trips and falls, resulting in an minor injury to her head. She then ends her relationship with Max, and continues her relationship with Lee. Max receives an anonymous email that states, "What have you been doing?" and contains a photograph of him and Lucy embracing. Lucy's half-sister, Cindy Williams (Mimi Keene) becomes jealous of Lucy being Ian's favourite. On Good Friday, Cindy tells Ian and Jane Beale (Laurie Brett) to open Lucy's jewellery box. They find a bag of cocaine inside. The revelation prompts Ian to cancel a planned trip with his fiancée Denise Fox (Diane Parish) to Oxford to see her daughter Libby, upsetting Denise. Ian and Jane catch Lee and Lucy having sex in Ian's restaurant. Ian confronts Lucy about the cocaine but she runs off. She goes to the Branning's house to work with Lauren, but leaves after having words with Max. She later returns to speak to Ian, who tells Lucy that she has always been his favourite child. Lucy's twin brother Peter Beale (Ben Hardy) overheard this, and storms off. Lucy is furious with Ian and leaves to find Peter. In The Queen Victoria pub, Whitney is upset when she finds out about Lee and Lucy's relationship. In the Square, Lucy sees her friends going to Roxy Mitchell's (Rita Simons) party. Lauren urges her to join them, failing to notice that Lucy is upset, while Whitney shoots angry glares at her. Lucy bumps into Max again rebuffing his advances; he grabs her violently by the wrist. Lucy reads a text and leaves Albert Square for an unknown location.

The night of the murder

Lucy begins to walk towards the bus stop, texting Peter to ask for cocaine (he later buys some, but keeps it for himself). On her journey, she passes by her father's chip shop, where she spots Billy stealing fish during his shift. She confronts him and says that she's going to tell Ian. He follows her, grabs her by the wrist and begs her to keep quiet, before suggesting that he fancies her. Disgusted, Lucy heads off towards the bus stop, but is stopped by Lee, who has seen her argument with Billy. He encourages her to join him at the house-warming party, and Lucy agrees to join him later, but must go to show a buyer one of her flats first.

Lucy boards the Number 30 bus, and is followed by Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick). Jay meets with Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid), who has just been released from prison following the death of Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison). Ben surprises Lucy at the flat, and confronts her about not giving him money that she had originally promised, as he had planned to move to Miami. An intoxicated Jake Stone (Jamie Lomas) is revealed to be the potential buyer, but he admits he was only there in hopes of rekindling his romance with Lauren, who he had expected to be showing him the flat. Lucy and Jake take an unlicensed taxi back to Walford.

While out walking his dog, Max spots Lucy struggling to carry Jake back to his flat and reluctantly agrees to help. Abi watches on, believing they're about to continue their sexual relationship. Once in the flat, Max goads Jake, who attempts to punch him. He misses Max and instead hits Lucy, causing her nose to bleed and her earring to fall out. Lucy goes into the bathroom to clean herself up, and Max tells her that their relationship doesn't have to end but Lucy rebuffs him. She leaves the flat but is mugged by Ben, who has followed her back to Walford. Lucy begins to walk home and meets Abi, who expresses her disgust at her relationship with her dad, and proceeds to slap her.

Lucy arrives on the Square, where Jane rushes over to talk to her. Lucy then tells Jane that she has had a terrible night, and asks her to resume living at the Beale house. Jane reminds Lucy about her father's engagement to Denise, but Lucy doesn't believe that they are happy, and asks Jane to be a mother-figure to her once again. Jane says that she doesn't want to return home, but Lucy misinterprets this as Jane rejecting her, and goes home. She then overhears Denise talking to her daughter Chelsea Fox (Tiana Benjamin) on the phone, and discovers that Denise plans to leave Ian. Lucy confronts Denise, and they engage in a bitter fight which is overheard by Lucy's youngest brother Bobby (Eliot Carrington). The fight culminates with Lucy slapping Denise and Denise pinning Lucy down on the floor. Elsewhere, Cindy heads to the restaurant looking for Ian, but after not finding him there, leaves a voicemail message for Lucy asking whether she will come home that night. She narrowly misses Lucy and heads to bed with Bobby who feigns being asleep. While jogging, Peter considers returning to the Beale house, but instead returns to Billy's bedsit. Lucy meanwhile sits outside on the street, distraught that her life has crumbled around her, as a jealous Whitney looks on. Lee leaves a voicemail for Lucy asking when he will see her, before returning to the party. Ian returns home after sleeping with prostitute Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks) and also leaves a message for Lucy, telling her that he's sorry. Lucy goes home and begins writing a letter in the living room. Shortly afterwards, Jane receives a panicked phone call, and rushes over to the Beale house, where she sees the door is open. She walks in to find Lucy lying on the living room floor. Jane checks her pulse and is distraught to realise that Lucy is dead. She turns around to find Bobby, who tells her that "whatever she [Lucy] says, she started it. She made everyone unhappy". Jane realises that Bobby is responsible.

Jane convinces Bobby that he has done nothing wrong, and reassuring him that Lucy will be fine, sends him to bed. Jane contemplates taking Lucy to the hospital, but when she is unnerved at the devastation it could cause, she instead puts Lucy in the boot, and takes her to Walford Common. Jane says her goodbyes to Lucy and leaves her body.

After the murder

The next morning, Lucy's body is discovered by a young girl walking with her grandfather on Walford Common. DC Emma Summerhayes (Anna Acton) and DS Cameron Bryant (Glen Wallace) visit Ian to inform him they have found Lucy's body. Ian is inconsolable as he identifies her body and breaks the news to Jane, Denise, Cindy, Bobby and, later, Peter. It is revealed Lucy died because of a deliberate head injury. The police question the family and search Lucy's bedroom. Cindy tells Ian that Lucy was an habitual user of cocaine. Ian says that he was at his restaurant the previous evening, but Cindy says she went there and did not see him. Ian laments that he did not know his daughter at all and furiously throws Cindy out, forcing her to return to Devon. The police take a DNA sample from Lee before he returns to Afghanistan. Summerhayes returns to say that there has been a leak at the police station and the press have got hold of some vital information. It is explained that there was very little blood found at the common, meaning that Lucy was not killed in a mugging, but was murdered elsewhere, then dumped on the Common. Her purse and phone are also missing. David Wicks (Michael French) discovers Max's sexual relationship with Lucy and accuses him of killing her. Max denies it but David later finds CCTV footage of Max and Lucy arguing on the night of her death. David does not tell the police because he is worried that if Max is questioned it will affect the health of his cancer-stricken fiancee Carol Jackson (Lindsay Coulson), who is Max's sister. He says that he does not believe Max killed her and together they burn all computer evidence of the footage.

When Lauren reopens LB Lettings for business, she discovers the email intended for her but read by Lucy on the night of her death. The sender is asking that they meet and Lauren suspects it was sent by Lucy's killer. She takes the information to the police but they tell her they are already looking into the matter. Lauren arranges to meet the person herself at a cafe on Walford Common and is stunned to discover it is her former lover Jake Stone (Jamie Lomas). Jake says that he sent Lauren the email, hoping to reconcile with Lauren and used a false name, guessing she would not reply if she knew it was from him. He arranged to meet her at the cafe, but instead found Lucy there. Jake explains he was very drunk and Lucy accompanied him back to Walford in an unlicensed taxi. He cannot remember any more details. Lauren does not believe him and suspects he made a pass at Lucy, was rejected, he lashed out and killed her. Lauren visits the police again. The police arrest Jake after finding Lucy's blood and one of her earrings in his flat. He is later charged with her murder.

On the day of Lucy's funeral, Max's younger daughter Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) tells Max that she knew about his sexual relationship with Lucy and that it was she who sent the email and photograph. The relationship is made public and he is ostracised by the residents of Walford. Sharon Rickman (Letitia Dean) is also concerned when she overhears Cindy talking to Ian about his false alibi. After the funeral, Tamwar Masood (Himesh Patel) finds a note in the church to Lucy, "ROT IN HELL". He recognises the handwriting as Whitney's and confronts her. Whitney claims that Lucy had been relentlessly cyber-bullying her about her weight and appearance. She admits that she hated Lucy, but denies killing her. Tamwar agrees not to say anything. Following the funeral, Jane decides to take Bobby back to Cardiff with her, wanting to give him a new start away from the shadow of Lucy's death.

Curious about Ian's false alibi, Sharon and her boyfriend Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) decide to visit Jake in prison and begin to believe that he might be innocent. When they question Ian, he assures them that he is not involved with Lucy's death in any way. Peter discovers that Sharon and Phil are doubting Jake's guilt, so asks Lauren to visit Jake in prison. He tries to find the taxi driver who brought Jake and Lucy back to Walford. Lauren starts to reassess Jake's guilt and joins Peter in the search for the taxi driver, believing that Jake was too drunk to have committed the murder. Max tells Lauren that he saw Jake and Lucy together on Good Friday, and claims that Jake was sober but he has not informed the police. Max also tells Abi about the altercation he had with Lucy in the car showroom and a worried Abi cleans Lucy's blood from the car showroom floor, worried it will implicate Max. Abi claims that Max was at home with her on the night of the killing. When Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell) sees this, she informs the police that Max has new information.

DC Emma Summerhayes returns to clarify Max and Abi's new statements and Max flirts with her and they have sex. Lauren tracks down the taxi driver, who tells her that Jake was too drunk to stand on the night of Lucy's death, but he refuses to make a statement to the police. Lauren realises that Max lied about Jake being sober. Peter becomes more obsessed than ever about finding Lucy's killer. Ian starts receiving several phone calls and texts from a mysterious "R". Becoming more irate, Ian tells the contact not to contact him again. It is later revealed that "R" is Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks), a drug addicted prostitute who is blackmailing Ian because he was having sex on the night of Lucy's murder, thus confirming that Cindy was telling the truth about Ian having a false alibi.

When Lee returns to Walford, he tells his family that he saw Billy arguing with Lucy on the night she was murdered. Lee confronts Billy who confesses to stealing fish from Ian's fish and chip shop, and using a key to enter Jake's flat to steal electricity. He claims that Lucy caught him stealing the fish and threatened to tell Ian. Phil encourages Billy to go to the police and frame Peter, but Billy cannot go through with this. After Billy makes a statement, Jake is released from prison without charge. Billy faces hostility from the Beales and is also confronted by Pam Coker (Lin Blakley) who finds photographs of Lucy underneath his fridge. Billy tells her the photographs are Peter's, but later bins them after telling Pam he would return them. The police say that they are still looking for Lucy's purse and mobile phone. The police ask Ian to do a press appeal after the investigation stalls and televise new CCTV footage from the night of Lucy's death, showing her on a bus. It is discovered that on the night of her death, Lucy went to some flats to see a client who has now been eliminated from the police inquiry. Ian struggles to cope when he is hounded by the press and the police do not intervene. Phil believes that the police suspect Ian is hiding something and demands that he tell him what it is. Ian admits to Phil that he was with Rainie. The CCTV footage shows a man wearing a beanie hat getting off the bus at the same stop as Lucy. Police say they are looking for this person. Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) has the hat and burns it. Jay is questioned by the police but not charged. He and Ian's half-brother, Phil's son Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid) were robbing a shop near Walford Common on the night of Lucy's death. It is revealed that Jay buried Lucy's missing purse and phone at the allotments on Ben's instructions.

Emma is removed from the case when her sexual relationship with Max is exposed. Lauren is repeatedly followed by DS Bryant acting under the orders of the head of the investigation DI Samantha Keeble (Alison Newman). Denise finds Lucy's phone and purse buried in Patrick's allotment. Realising what Denise has found, Jay and Ben panic and unsuccessfully try to steal them back. Denise returns the phone and purse to Ian, and fearing that Ian will turn them over to the police, Ben confesses to Ian that he found a bag containing a phone and purse abandoned on Good Friday, but denies seeing Lucy or realising that they were hers until after learning of her death. Ian phones the police, but Ben pleads his innocence and Ian decides to not report this development, asking Jane to keep the items safe. Ian scrolls through the messages on Lucy's phone and finds a pending text to Peter asking for cocaine. Ian confronts Peter upon his return from a trip to New Zealand, and Peter admits that he had been supplying Lucy with cocaine before her death in a bid to protect her from dangerous drug dealers. Ian briefly disowns Peter, but they later reconcile.

Lee views a video of Fatboy (Ricky Norwood) taken on the night of the murder and spots Lauren heading to the Beale house, contradicting her alibi. He anonymously turns over the footage to Emma, who questions Lauren. Lauren admits that she went to see Lucy, but left without seeing her. Jane later backs Lauren up, claiming to have seen her leave the Beale house without entering from a window in the Masood house. Shortly before Christmas, Jane and Ian resume their romantic relationship, and Jane proposes to Ian. They plan their wedding for February.

Although no longer a policewoman, Emma continues to study her police files. Shortly after Christmas, she seemingly cracks the case, and contacts a mystery person, telling them that she has figured out that they killed Lucy. On New Years Day, she arranges to meet the person in the park and urges them to go to the police. The unseen person leaves and Emma sends them a text message, saying that she can't keep their secret. Distracted, Emma wanders into the road and is hit by Roxy Mitchell's car. Although she initially appears to be unharmed, Emma later finds blood in her ear and colappses. Max takes her to the hospital, but Emma dies from her injuries.

Carol finds a grief-stricken Max tearing up Emma's file on Lucy. Lauren retrieves the papers from the bin and sets about trying to restore the torn-up pieces. A few weeks later, Lauren finds a missing scrap of paper in her kitchen, and after putting it with the rest of the work, realises some startling information on what happened to Lucy. Deeply disturbed by her discovery, Lauren begins rejecting those around her and breaks her sobreity. Her erratic behaviour is spotted by Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner), and Lauren admits her concerns that she might be pregnant. She takes a pregnancy test, which turns out to be positive. She later shares her belief that she knows what happened to Lucy. Stacey calls the police but Lauren keeps silent about her theory, handing over Emma's files, but retaining the crucial evidence. She kicks Stacey out of her house, and terminates her engagement to Peter.

An emotional Lauren gets a wedding card for Ian and Jane, in which she writes "I know what happened to Lucy. She died at home." She addresses the card to Jane and leaves it in the Beale house on the day of the wedding. Peter finds her, and confronts her about their break-up, but Lauren leaves, refusing to speak to him. Moments before the ceremony is due to begin, Jane finds the card and is visibly shaken. She struggles to recite her vows to Ian, but the pair eventually remarry. Elsewhere, Stacey informs Max of Lauren's discovery and he begins a frantic search across Walford to find her. Lauren returns home and plans to leave Walford, but Max arrives and tries to stop her. Abi interrupts their conversation, allowing Lauren the opportunity to escape. Abi accuses her sister of attention seeking, but Max informs her that Lauren has figured out who killed Lucy, and accuses Abi of being the killer. Abi admits that she fought with Lucy the night she died, but denies killing her, though admits wishing that she had. After learning of Lauren's pregnancy, Max races to the hospital and attempts to talk her out of having an abortion, but she sends him away. Peter also discovers of Lauren's plan, and confronts her. She reveals that she has figured out that Lucy died at home.

At the wedding reception, a troubled Jane returns home. She contacts Masood, and asks him to take Bobby to his house overnight. Masood is confused but noticing how distressed Jane is, agrees to look after Bobby. Ian returns home looking for Jane, while Peter return to the Vic and drags Cindy home. There, he reveals Lauren's discovery and questions the family about their involvement. Realising that Denise was home all night, Ian heads out to find her, but is sidetracked when Martin Fowler (James Bye) informs him of the discovery of Nick Cotton's (John Altman) body. Ian speaks to Dot Branning (June Brown), who confesses that she allowed Nick to die. Ian realises that Lucy may not have been killed out of hate, and tells Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) that he's putting the final pieces of the puzzle together. Peter spots Denise on the Square and accuses her of killing Lucy, but Ian intervenes and protests Denise's innocence. He then phones home and makes an ambiguous call, instructing the person to get everyone else out of the house because he has figured out what happened. When he returns, Jane is home alone. Ian demands to know what happened, and covering for Bobby, Jane lies and claims to have accidentally killed Lucy during an argument. Ian smashes up the kitchen in rage, attracting the attention of Peter and Cindy. The three confront Jane, but Ian begins to suspect that she is lying, realising that her story makes little sense.

From Masood's house, Bobby tries to contact Jane, and Ian realises that Jane is covering for him. Jane crumbles, and admits that on Good Friday, Bobby phoned her in a panic and when she came to the Beale house, she found him standing over Lucy's lifeless body. She reveals that Bobby was frustrated with Lucy for all the trouble she was causing, and after confronting her, lashed out after failing to get through to her. Jane explains that after realising what had happened, she convinced Bobby that he wasn't responsible for Lucy's death and that he is under the belief that Lucy went back out after their argument and was later killed by someone else. Peter lashes out at Jane and accuses her of betraying Lucy's memory, while Jane protests that Bobby didn't mean to hurt Lucy. They are distrubed when Cindy brings Bobby home, and after seeing his son, Ian decides to keep the circumstances of Lucy's death a secret. He forgives Jane and insists that the family all rally around and keep the secret. Peter refuses, but Cindy emphathises with Jane. Hearing the commotion downstairs, Bobby comes down resulting in Peter angrily leaving. Bobby reveals to Cindy that he has kept the letter that Lucy was writing safe since learning about her death. Cindy reveals it's contents to the family: Lucy wrote to Ian, telling him that she was sorry for her behaviour and that she wants to change. She tells Ian that she's going to bed, but when he returns home to wake her up so she can tell him that she loves him. An emotional Ian gathers Jane, Cindy and Bobby and the family embrace. Outside the wedding guests set off fireworks intended to end the wedding day.

Reception

Kevin O'Sullivan described the storyline as a "clapped-out whodunit"^[18] but other critics were more positive. Kerry Barrett from All About Soap praised the start of the storyline, calling it "Emotional, heart-wrenching, devastatingly sad and – at times – a little bit uncomfortable to watch."^[1] Grace Dent argued that the storyline marked the beginning of a "golden era" for the show,^[19] stating that "EastEnders does death with grand aplomb".^[19] Katy Brent described the scene in which Phil Mitchell comforts a grief-stricken Ian Beale as "absolutely heartbreaking" ^[20] and described Woodyatt as "one of the best [actors] in soap" ^[20]

EastEnders also achieved 8.18 million (34.6%) viewers on Easter Monday 2014 in overnight figures.^[21] which increased to 8.4 million (overnight) the following evening, when the entire Beale clan learnt of Lucy's death. When full viewing figures were released, EastEnders was watched by 9.09 million viewers on Easter Monday followed by 9.06 million tuning in on the Tuesday.^[22]

The episode in which the Beale family discover that Lucy is dead was nominated for the "Best Single Episode" award at The British Soap Awards 2014 under the title, "Lucy's death: The Aftermath", but lost the award to rival soap Coronation Street's "Hayley's Death" episode.

References

External links

• Case File: Lucy Beale at BBC Online

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