"The Six" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The storyline began in episode 6649, broadcast on 20 February 2023, which featured the show's first flashforward sequence at the end of the episode. The scene showed six female EastEnders characters, Denise Fox (Diane Parish), Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) in The Queen Victoria public house on Christmas Day standing around an unidentified male body lying on the floor, who they presume to be dead. Events leading up to Christmas that year put each character in the frame to be the potential murderer and several male characters to be the victim. The storyline was intended to be written a different type of "whodunit" mystery, as both the victim and the murderer were kept as a tight secret.
When Christmas Day 2023 arrived, in an episode that attracted 5.45 million viewers, the victim was revealed to be Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry), with Denise having struck him over the head with a broken champagne bottle in defence of Suki. However, Nish survived and Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) was fatally stabbed by Linda with a meat thermometer in defence of Sharon moments later after he burst into the pub, encountering The Six standing over an unconscious Nish. Following the crime, the remainder of the storyline followed The Six's attempts to cover it up.
Storyline creation and development The storyline began its creation in August 2022, as executive producer Chris Clenshaw had been thinking of ideas for a "blockbuster story" for 2023, and noticing that there was an appetite for a new whodunit plot in EastEnders, decided to draft one. He explained that due to the success, but recency of the "Who Killed Lucy Beale?" storyline, he decided that this one would "have a very different mechanic at its core". "The Six" differed from the typical format of a whodunit story, as both the killer and victim were kept under wraps. The different framing was employed as producers and writers believed it would be more interesting, with the structure being described by Clenshaw as "so much more than a 'whodunit'… It's a 'who-is-it' as well". He added that it was important to try a new format as it "can create intrigue and grip and excite our audience in new ways" while still remaining true to the heart of the show.
It was first teased in December 2022, with Clenshaw teasing a never-before done storyline that would commence in February 2023, and centre around Linda Carter (Kellie Bright). On 3 February, it was revealed that the upcoming story would not just focus on Linda, but also five other female characters; Denise Fox (Diane Parish), Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), with the women later being dubbed "The Six". Clenshaw explained that the reason why all of "The Six" were women was because "EastEnders has always had strong women at its heart", and that each individual character was chosen based on audience popularity. Clenshaw detailed that he was convinced to commission the plot as he and the team had been "looking for a vehicle for The Six [...] to come together, and we were looking for an episode to get viewers really excited as we setup an event that they'll hopefully look forward to all year".
The actresses were told that they would star in the storyline in November 2022, and were confused yet intrigued to hear about the storyline and the flashforward scene, and had a lot of questions. Despite this, they were given few details and were not told who the killer or the victim were. Taylforth commented that she was "very excited" to be part of the storyline, disclosing that "We were all quite inquisitive about what was going to happen, and who it was going to be, and all of us are still none the wiser". Parish considered the idea of a flash-forward scene to be "brilliant, bold, and brave". Dean commented: "I think we were all really excited about the storyline and to be a part of it". Bright echoed Dean's excitement, noting that she was "very intrigued" due to the limited details the cast were given. Turner was honoured to be included among the six, saying "this is six amazingly talented, super strong women, so I feel quite chuffed to be a part of it really". Sopal hoped her character would be the killer, as, in her words: "I think it adds an extra dangerous element to her".
In early February 2023 multiple trailers for the upcoming story were released, written by Daran Little. Ahead of the flashforward scene, which was shot in January 2023 and was the first in the show's history and aired on the show's 38th anniversary, Clenshaw disclosed that "[The team were] all incredibly excited for [the] episode [and] what may seem like a regular day in Walford soon takes a twist and what transpires for each and every one of them is that in a flash everything changes". Clenshaw teased that the upcoming episode would "leave the audience with a lot of questions and, what may seem like the end, is only just the beginning of some very big storylines that will play out this year". According to Clenshaw, The Six were initially supposed to wear different shades of red in the flashforward, but decided to give each character their own colour after concluding they helped represent each member better and that the red "didn't feel right". Phrases such as "in a flash, everything changes" and "for whom the bell tolls" were often used to market the storyline.
After three months Bright teased that the storyline would "ramp up" in September 2023, as the actress explained: "That's when you'll see all that stuff come to the fore again, then we'll have a big build-up to Christmas". That same month, Clenshaw called Bright in to tell her that she would be the murderer and that Keanu would be the victim. Clenshaw also told Bright that the murder was in defence of Sharon. Clenshaw disclosed that the storyline would "dominate the autumn and the build to Christmas" as The Six would be thrown in the limelight and that it would keep viewers "guessing right up until the very end". Clenshaw said that himself and the team were "thrilled" at the reaction the storyline garnered from fans, noting that it was part of the aim, explaining "we wanted people to chat, we wanted people to speculate, we wanted everyone to come up with their own theories and share those theories with one another. We wanted it to be a storyline that actually brings the fans together, so we're absolutely over the moon that it seems to be doing that and the fans are enjoying being a part of it". Clenshaw further described the upcoming Christmas as "an ensemble affair", noting that usually one family is the focus of EastEnders Christmas episodes.
Clenshaw noted that the characters only became "The Six" after the murder was committed, explaining: "Each of those women will become The Six from Christmas Day onwards". When asked if "The Six" storyline would build towards the show's 40th anniversary in February 2025, Clenshaw responded that "there's obviously huge consequences playing into next year from the fallout of what happens at Christmas. We've got a very exciting 2024 planned. We are building to the 40th anniversary. I'm obviously not going to say too much about what we've got planned, it's over a year away from now! I suppose I can guarantee that it will be a huge celebration for the show". Upon discovering that Keanu was the victim of the murder, the cast members were all reportedly shocked. Despite the show being "known for its dramatic Christmas Day storylines" and needing a "high element of drama", Clenshaw and the team aimed for the episode to feel Christmas-like as the show is "about family and about community".
Multiple endings were filmed so the other actresses were kept in the dark. Various tactics were employed to conceal Keanu being the victim, which Clenshaw disclosed after the airing of the Christmas episode. Prior to revealing, Clenshaw teased: "We've had several methods in place throughout the entire year to keep the storyline a secret and to ensure that the Christmas Day episode and the big reveal of who's on the floor – plus who does it – remains under wraps until the 25th December. Sadly, I can't reveal what those methods are as that would give everything away, but it would be a real shame if anyone spoiled the surprise as we know how much the audience love watching the drama unfold in real-time". Some of these methods included filming multiple endings to keep the cast in the dark, a body double being used for the body in the flashforward, and having Walters film fake scenes that took place after Christmas to throw paparazzi off the scent.
EastEnders: The Six In late November 2023 the show announced that a two-part spin-off chat show/documentary would air in the lead-up to Christmas. The show was named EastEnders: The Six (also titled EastEnders: The Six – Revealed), and would be hosted by Joe Swash, who formerly played Mickey Miller on EastEnders. It was set to feature the actresses who played The Six as guests. Clenshaw teased that the special would give viewers a chance to hear from the actresses, as well as to hear their theories and give "exclusive news" about the upcoming Christmas episode. It would also include recaps of each character's storylines throughout 2023. Swash enjoyed hosting the special, detailing: "I absolutely loved being back in my old stomping ground, Albert Square. EastEnders holds such great memories for me, and it felt so great to be back. I loved reconnecting with Letitia [Dean], Lacey [Turner] and Diane [Parish] who I love dearly and worked with on my last stint in the show, and it was great to meet Kellie [Bright], Gillian [Taylforth] and Balvinder [Sopal] as we looked back at some of their amazing storylines from the year". The show featured each actress's reaction to discovering Bright's Linda was the killer and included the moment Clenshaw told Bright her character would be the culprit and that Keanu would be the victim. Bright later elaborated that she was shocked by the reveal and struggled to keep the secret from her friends, family, and co-workers.
Suspects and motives