EastEnders aired its 40th anniversary special live episode last night (Thursday, February 20) and it wasn’t short of drama.
In the aftermath of the Queen Vic fire, Martin sadly lost his life inside. And, as one life came to an end, another one entered the world in the form of little Julia Fowler.
And, while airing a live episode is always a risk, we think EastEnders smashed it out of the park.
EastEnders 40th live episode
Last night, the result of the interactive vote was revealed as Denise turned up at Jack’s house and declared her love for him.
But, that was only a small aspect of the episode. Inside of the crumbling Vic, Sonia was giving birth to her baby girl with the help of Bianca and Lauren – and we were given a good few laughs in the process too. Although we must admit there was a point when we feared both Sonia and her baby might not make it…
Sadly though, whilst little baby Julia had gained a life, one Walford resident’s life was nearing its end. Poor Martin Fowler had his legs crushed by a huge piece of metal, with paramedics and firefighters turning up to attempt to free him.
Emotional scenes then aired as Martin and Stacey planned their future, with Martin proposing to his one true love (with all thoughts of girlfriend Ruby gone from his mind.)
Stacey was then told that there was a strong chance that Martin would suffer from crush syndrome when the metal was lifted, resulting in his death.
Stacey then continued to confess her love to her former husband, giving him hope that he’d make it out alive and grow old with her. But, as the metal was lifted, Martin passed away.
A legacy character death for the history books
Martin was a fan favourite, with James Bye playing him for over 10 years. So, it’s not wonder we were left sobbing as he took his last breath.
Despite all the clues that Martin could lose his life in the anniversary week, part of us hoped that he still had a chance of making it out alive. Despite the odds.
The impact of Martin’s death will be huge, and we’re devastated to see him go. To see any hope of him and his ‘soulmate’ Stacey living a happy life together like we’ve always wanted them to lost.
But, Martin’s death – however sad – does seem really fitting. Not only was it 15 years to the day since Stacey lost ‘the other love of her life’ Bradley, Martin’s been a part of the soap from the very beginning, with it being 40 years since Pauline found out that she was pregnant with him. For a character that’s been a part of Walford for almost 40 years, it seems fitting that he died on the soap’s 40th anniversary.
New mum Lacey Turner and EastEnders legend James Bye deserve major awards
The performances of Lacey Turner and James Bye really stole the show last night, in scenes that we couldn’t even tell were live. They were THAT good.
Emotions were high, and Lacey and James really played the connection between Stacey and Martin out beautifully until the very end, encapsulating all of their history over the years in the half an hour episode.
We already knew that Lacey and James were legends, but the performances they gave last night (with Lacey only giving birth just last month) were deserving of all the awards going.
We were on the edge of our seats the whole time!
EastEnders 40th live: An episode to remember
Admittedly, when we thought the episode was just going to mainly focus on Denise’s decision, we were a little disappointed. But, we shouldn’t have been so concerned.
There were times when we were laughing along with Bianca, fearing for Sonia and her baby, breathing a sigh of relief when Denise chose Jack, and sobbing floods of tears when Martin passed away. And, Sonia naming her baby Julia just before Julia’s theme played for Martin finished us off.
There were extremely high expectations for the live episode and it lived up to the hype. EastEnders really went to town with the celebrations to mark 40 years of the soap. Here’s to many more!
Read more: EastEnders ‘death by bathtub’ and Sonia’s reaction best ending
EastEnders usually airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.
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