EastEnders: Which Major Character Is Confirmed To Die In The New Year?

EastEnders is never really the happiest of TV programmes, especially around the festive period, so it comes as no surprise that at least one of the soap’s popular characters has been confirmed to die in the New Year.

Welp. Wah. Say it ain’t so.

However, what is surprising is that that the death that has been confirmed isn’t the hotly-speculated murder of Dean Wicks on New Year’s Day, but Kat Moon’s father, Charlie Slater, played by Derek Martin.

We last saw Kat and Alfie jet off to the sunset following a pretty amazing lottery win, but it had been announced that the couple will be returning [yet again] for this year’s Christmas special.

Charlie will be returning to our screens around the same time as his daughter, and the tear-jerking storyline will understandably devastate Kat.

Speaking to The Mirror, a source revealed: “Charlie’s death is going to hit Kat hard. His storyline will be the catalyst for her to learn more secrets which will see her and Alfie eventually head to Ireland.

"Charlie’s death is going to be a real tear-jerker for the audience, too, and they will be waiting to see if he and Kat can mend bridges before he dies.”

Derek has starred in the soap on and off for fifteen years, and the insider revealed that the actor knew about his character’s fate when he agreed to come back to the soap one last time.

Speaking about his return, the 82-year-old previously said: “I’m so excited to be coming back into such a big and important storyline and I can’t wait to get stuck in and be back with the family again.”

And with Alfie hiding the fact that he has a brain tumour from his wife, we have a feeling that Kat’s turmoil isn’t going to end with Charlie’s passing…