As the start date for EastEnders spin-off Redwater draws ever closer – 10 more sleeps! – we are getting excited about seeing Kat and Alfie again.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen them squabbling in Walford.
Indeed the couple had been somewhat sidelined in the Square for some time, but this six-parter puts the favourites squarely at the centre of the drama.
The couple will arrive in the Irish village of Redwater in a quest to find Kat’s long-lost son, and Zoe’s twin brother, Luke.
She gave birth to the babies when she was a teenager, after being raped by her evil uncle.
While the spin-off is ostensibly about Kat’s past and her search for the missing part of her history, Shane Richie, who plays Alfie, teases there is much more to it.
“There’s very much a thriller tone to it, big secrets, which I hope will keep the audience tuning in.
“Alfie’s journey is to help his wife find her son but at the same time he has his own dark secret which he’s keeping.
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“The drama is very mythical, there’s something magical here.”
He also hints that there could be much more from the series, if viewers take it to their hearts, adding:
“I hope it runs and runs and Redwater goes on for ever.”
What no Kat and Alfie on Albert Square any more? Redwater will certainly give them the chance to be the big fish in a small pond, where they have been swimming alongside the likes of the Carters and Brannings for some air space.
The drama is already causing controversy before it even airs.
British viewers have got wind of news the series will screen in Ireland, where it’s filmed as well as set, a full four days before it goes out on the BBC.
And one of the biggest concerns with this is that they will be assaulted by spoilers on social media everywhere, before they have chance to watch the show.
So annoyed are some Easties fans, they’ve contacted the show’s boss Dominic Treadwell Collins to complain.
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One wrote on Twitter: “How come @rteone are showing #Redwater 4 days before @BBCOne?
“Will spoil it for UK fans. Luke’s identity & other twists will leak.”
Another said: “So unfair to millions of viewers in UK.
“Not saying we should get it first instead, just show it on the same day in UK & Ireland.”
Redwater begins on the BBC on May 18.