EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders executive producer Ben Wadey has shared some big new details about the soap’s double wedding day taking place next month, as well as a crucial update about answers to the all-important New Year’s Day flashforward episode.
We now know that two Walford couples are getting wed in early September, with Cindy Beale and Max Branning, and Kim Fox and Howie Danes both set to tie the knot. The couples are plagued by different problems on the lead up to their big days, and at a press event this week, producer Ben has teased that there will be both drama and humour in these huge episodes.
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Speaking to Digital Spy and other media, he said: “There’s a double wedding coming up. We do a bit of wedding wars. We’ve got Cindy and Max – what could possibly go wrong, with Max sleeping with Priya behind Cindy’s back – and Kim and Howie’s wedding.
“The Fox-Truemans are going through a difficult time with Denise being diagnosed with leukaemia and is going through chemotherapy.
“There’s a real sustained effort from the Fox-Truemans to keep the family buoyant and afloat – ‘let’s do this wedding, and it’s amazing’. But it’s laced with, is it because they need to get it done so that Denise can actually be there and witness the wedding?”
He continued: “I love these scenes, because you’ve got Cindy and Max throwing money at it, but it’s not going quite as brilliantly as they would like, while Kim and Howie can’t afford that massive lavish wedding, and they’ll have obstacles in their own way.
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“Some of the scenes in a few weeks in September on the day of their actual wedding had me crying with laughter, and I think you guys are going to really enjoy that.”
Of course, the fact that Max and Cindy are getting hitched in a couple of weeks begs the question of what the wedding in the flashforward episode means. Is it a rearranged ceremony for Max and Cindy, or will Max be marrying someone else?
As we approach the conclusion of the flashforward year, Ben explained: “We have been building to this for well over a year now, and it was so satisfying just watching these final storylines coming together and having the scripts land and getting so excited about them.
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“Some of our longest-serving and most talented writers are putting their biggest brains across these episodes, and they are quite something.
“There’s going to be a lot going on. We’re kind of playing a game over the autumn of how many people can Max Branning piss off by New Year’s Day – and the answer is quite a lot actually, so you can tick them off on your bingo list.”
EastEnders airs on Mondays – Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
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