30th Anniversary - 16 to 20 of February 2015

[tammyy2j]

EastEnders' executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins has promised that there is an "even bigger" story ahead for the Beale family now that Bobby's guilt has been revealed.

Thursday night's 35-minute flashback episode (February 19) saw the surprising revelation that Bobby killed his half-sister Lucy on Good Friday 2014, resolving a whodunit mystery which had run for 10 months.

Speaking afterwards in a live EastEnders Facebook stream, Treadwell-Collins was asked whether he ever had other characters in mind to be the killer.

He replied: "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.

"We kept on going on about [2003 novel] We Need to Talk About Kevin - we need to talk about Bobby! So actually this is the beginning of an even bigger story for the Beales. We've got to keep going!"

Treadwell-Collins confirmed that young actor Eliot Carrington, who plays Bobby, was made aware of his character's guilt on Monday evening (February 16) before the BBC soap's Live Week began.

Carrington responded positively to the twist, pointing out that it was natural for Bobby's adoptive mother Jane to cover for him.

Treadwell-Collins said: "Most people didn't know. We had to keep it quiet because things leak. We always say that if someone tells you a secret, you always tell one person. I always tell one person! We couldn't afford that.

"We told [Eliot] on Monday. We told his dad before that obviously and checked that it was okay, but we knew that it was always going to be Bobby. But when we told him... he's so clever, Eliot! He said, 'Oh God, that makes sense. Of course Jane had to do it because otherwise Bobby would go to juvey'. He's a clever little boy!"

Treadwell-Collins also revealed that EastEnders' story producer Alex Lamb was the first person to suggest that the culprit should be Bobby.

"My idea was Jane and then Cindy," he explained. "And then Alex Lamb said Bobby. We were at story conference and we went up to my hotel room - [series producer] Sharon [Batten], Alex Lamb, [script producer] Manpreet Dosanjh and I.

"We sat there and came up with it and we jumped up and down! If you look at the pieces now, Jane took Bobby away! We cleverly, I hope, seeded everything."

The aftermath of the big reveal will be explored on screen on Friday as EastEnders airs a 30-minute live episode.

[Dazzle]

EastEnders boss responds to criticism over Bobby killer reveal

EastEnders' executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins has dismissed criticism over the Bobby killer reveal.

11-year-old Bobby Beale was revealed to be his half-sister's killer, bringing the 'Who Killed Lucy?' storyline to a shocking conclusion on Thursday (February 19).

Speaking of the twist, Treadwell-Collins compared the storyline to Marmite, telling The Mirror: "We had another suspect in mind at first and it was someone outside of the family and it was all a bit too serial killer, and that wasn't right.

"EastEnders is all about families and it's about kitchen sink drama. I said from the start that it's got to be emotional and come from the heart. We knew very much from the start that it would be Bobby. All the best stories have to be controversial. You can't please everyone."

10.8 million people tuned into the EastEnders 30th anniversary shows to find out who killed Lucy, but Friday's show made it clear that even Bobby himself didn't know he was responsible for his sister's murder.

"The fact Bobby doesn't know he did it is very important," Treadwell-Collins revealed. "I wouldn't lumber a little boy with that. It was a conscious decision not to screen the actual attack. That would have been too much, especially for a child."

The 'Who Killed Lucy?' twist became the most-tweeted about episode of a UK soap ever.

The BBC received complaints about the episodes after they aired on February 19, with fans claiming promotional material 'misled' audiences by not listing Bobby as a suspect, while Ofcom also reported receiving complaints about the storyline.

Originally posted on Digital Spy.


Bit in bold 1: there goes my theory that Bobby knows he killed Lucy!

Bit in bold 2: some fans complained to Ofcom about being misled!!!

[lizann]

so bobby don't know he killed her

[lizann]

i wonder did bobby confide in cindy that he hit lucy with the jewellery box she didn't seem shocked or fazed by jane's admission

[Dazzle]

i wonder did bobby confide in cindy that he hit lucy with the jewellery box she didn't seem shocked or fazed by jane's admission

I thought Cindy was surprised by Jane's story, but I don't actually remember the cameras giving much attention to her reaction. That might have been done deliberately because there's more to reveal about her involvement, or it could just be that the cameras were mainly focused on Ian and Jane. I admit I wasn't paying much attention to Cindy.

[parkerman]

The BBC received complaints about the episodes after they aired on February 19, with fans claiming promotional material 'misled' audiences by not listing Bobby as a suspect

Dear oh dear! Some people need to get a life!

[tammyy2j]

I don't buy that Bobby don't think he killed Lucy, Bobby is 10 and is shown to be highly intelligent, he was even keeping newspaper reports on Lucy's case and now he thinks his hitting her with a box did no damage and she died the following day another way

Even the way he looked and said to Jane no matter what Lucy said, she started it making everyone uphappy was scarily chilling like from the child from the film The Omen

[tammyy2j]

.

[Dazzle]

I don't buy that Bobby don't think he killed Lucy, Bobby is 10 and is shown to be highly intelligent, he was even keeping newspaper reports on Lucy's case and now he thinks his hitting her with a box did no damage and she died the following day another way

Even the way he looked and said to Jane no matter what Lucy said, she started it making everyone uphappy was scarily chilling like from the child from the film The Omen

I know, I agree. I thought that Bobby must secretly know (until I read DTC's interview posted above). Maybe DTC is misleading us again? I wouldn't put it past him. I don't mind if that's the case as there's far too many spoilers around nowadays so it's nice to be misled occasionally instead.

[Ruffed_lemur]

Dear oh dear! Some people need to get a life!

I wouldn't be happy if I had a put a bet on though.