EastEnders boss promises shock DI Keeble revelation

EastEnders' executive producer Chris Clenshaw has shared more details of the soap's upcoming flashback special.

The BBC show recently announced plans for a one-off episode, which will explore the Mitchell family's lives in 1979.

EastEnders' special episode links with an ongoing story in the present day, as DI Keeble continues to pressure Phil Mitchell to come through with his promise to become a police informant.

Phil is shocked when he discovers who Keeble wants him to inform on, but what is the truth behind her vendetta against the family?

samantha keeble, phil mitchell, eastenders

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Speaking to Digital Spy and other media at an EastEnders press event this week, Clenshaw teased: "Family is going to be at the centre of the show – starting with the Mitchells.

"Of course, Phil has his battle with Keeble, and what we will soon learn is the reason she has this real personal vendetta against the family, as we find out more about the clan before they hop-footed across East London to Walford."

Asked how the idea for the flashback came about, Clenshaw replied: "We're on this journey with Phil and we wanted to discover why Phil is the man that he is.

"We talked about a flashback scene where we could potentially explore that, and as we spoke further and further, it just felt like a great opportunity.

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"The show's about family and you've got the Mitchells with these iconic characters. It grew from a scene into an episode with iconic characters such as Peggy Mitchell, who is arguably the greatest matriarch in soap.

"I was very fortunate to be here when we storylined Peggy's death, which was under [former executive producer] Dom Treadwell-Collins and Rory [Nugent], who is my story producer. We were both in the story office at the time.

"It was such a responsibility to give her what she deserved, what the character deserved and what the audience deserved.

"As we were talking about this flashback, it just seemed like such an opportunity where you get to see Peggy and Phil, and Grant and Archie, and Glenda, Ronnie and Roxy, and Sam, before we ever knew them and understand why they became the characters we know and love.

jamie winstone as peggy mitchell in eastenders

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"We could also understand and discover more about a character that we've never explored on the show, which is Eric Mitchell, who has always been so vividly drawn. We know so much about him, although we've never had a chance to really get under his skin.

"It just felt like too good an opportunity, however a massive responsibility because they are characters that are so loved and well drawn. We had the story there and that was crucial – it fit within the serial narrative, although it's a standalone piece as well.

"You can come to that episode and you won't necessarily know what's been going on for the last six months with Phil's story, but I think it's pretty clear from the top. There's a lot of treats in it."

EastEnders has cast Jaime Winstone to play the 1979 version of Peggy. She previously portrayed Dame Barbara Windsor in the 2017 BBC biopic Babs.

BBC

Clenshaw continued: "It just had to be Jaime. She did such a wonderful job in Babs. I won't lie, when we came up with this story and could see this episode, I then had many sleepless nights.

"Jaime and I had an early conversation where we spoke about the story. We spoke about the concept, what we were trying to say about the world at the time, and also in comparison of where we are today in society.

"It's set in 1979 in the winter of discontent. We had a very early discussion and we then sent Jaime an early draft of the script. Then when Jamie agreed I slept!"

Asked whether we could see more flashbacks in the future, Clenshaw replied: "I'm really excited for everyone to see this. We're all very proud and excited about it. This is a world of such rich characters that I think it's definitely possible to make more of it, but then at the same time I'd also love to be transported back to 1950s Trinidad and see a young Patrick Trueman and I'm sure we'd enjoy shooting that one as well!"

Check out Digital Spy's full coverage from EastEnders' autumn press event:

- EastEnders confirms Dot Branning death storyline as soap pays tribute to June Brown

- EastEnders breaks silence on Sid Owen's return as Ricky Butcher

- EastEnders casts Navin Chowdhry as newcomer Nish Panesar

- EastEnders' new boss Chris Clenshaw shares vision for show's future

- EastEnders to introduce a face from Sam Mitchell's past

- EastEnders boss teases ending of Mick and Janine story

- EastEnders teases Mitchell flashback twists with new images and spoilers

EastEnders airs on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer.