Viewers were left with goosebumps as Lola Pearce made a surprise return in EastEnders on Friday night in the run-up to the Christmas murders.
Lola (played by Danielle Harold) lost her battle with brain cancer in May, but appeared from beyond the grave to deliver a pre-recorded Christmas message to husband Jay Brown.
Keen-eyed fans believe there could be a major clue as to who the Albert Square killer is after bosses announced an explosive storyline for Christmas Day.
As the voiceover played, the scene switched from Jay watching Lola's video to familiar faces in Walford who had been potential suspects for weeks.
In a teaser released in February, Denise (Diane Parish), Kathy (Gillian Taylforth), Linda (Kellie Bright), Sharon (Letitia Dean), Stacey (Lacey Turner) and Suki (Balvinder Sopal) were seen standing over a mysterious corpse.
Viewers got goosebumps as Lola Pearce made a surprise return to EastEnders on Friday evening ahead of the Christmas crime drama
The BBC soap later confirmed the seven potential candidates for the body: Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry), Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo), Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters), Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) and Tom “Rocky” Cotton (Brian Conley).
And fans wondered why Lola returned, noting that Jay and Billy were included in that scene.
Others pointed out that the camera was focused on potential victim Rocky as she said, “Burn it down.”
Lola said to Jay, “Well, I had to come over and say hello, didn't I?” It's that time of year again. Time full of fun, laughter and magic. Wishes come true.
“And I wish you that your Christmas is as it should be.” Funny, silly games, family quarrels, because it's not Christmas without family quarrels.
“What I want to say to you is Merry Christmas.” But I don’t think it was that funny, did it?
“Because when you love someone, when you really love someone, the thought of losing them makes you angry. There were times when I wanted to go ahead and burn everything down.
“I assume you've had a few moments like this over the last few months, right?”
Lola (played by Danielle Harold) lost her battle with brain cancer in May, but appeared from beyond the grave to her husband Jay Brown in a pre-recorded Christmas message
Keen-eyed fans believe there could be a major clue as to who the Albert Square killer is after bosses announced an explosive storyline for Christmas Day
Fans questioned why Lola returned in the first place, taking notes about why Jay and Billy were included in that scene and why the camera fell on would-be victim Rocky when she said “burn it down.”
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Lola (played by Danielle Harold) lost her battle with brain cancer in May
'But that's okay. You are not a saint and you don't have to be. You're just a nice guy trying to keep his family together.
“I can't help but be angry. I love you and always will.'
Fans can comment on Lola's moving return and what it means on X, formerly known as Twitter.
They said: “Lola says 'burn it all down' while the camera was on Rocky.”
“That clip brought out so many emotions in me.” Lola's message to Jay, Suki and Eve kiss, Ravi and Nish are released, all six women and six men have a showdown ahead of Monday's episode. I'm anxious about Monday's episode but also very excited!'
“THIS END. Okay, everyone's looked at the men they hate, but Suki believes she's getting her happy ending. I love that Lola talked about that final scene, but WHY. Why was Jay in…Billy was in that scene too?
' Lola returns to deliver an amazing monologue that ties in thematically with the Six. Are you kidding me about how good this is?
“The Lola voiceover/Howie singing – everyone looking at each other, the zooms, #TheSix looking at their boys, the pan to The Vic – amazing – goosebumps!!!”
EastEnders airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9.45pm on Christmas Day.