Innocent EastEnders character to be arrested for Lucy Beale's murder

Viewers have already seen Bobby Beale unmasked as the killer, with mum Jane having covered up the crime over Easter 2014. But the Beales have decided to stay silent about the revelation in the wake of the secrets being spilled during EastEnders's 30th anniversary week.

Now, though, their plan to keep the information to themselves looks set to be tested. "Someone else – an innocent person – will be arrested for this murder. Then carrying this guilty secret comes back to haunt Ian and Jane," says executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins.

In an interview with the Mirror, the show's boss adds, "How can you keep that a secret when someone else is facing jail for a murder they didn’t commit? As a parent, what do you do? Do you go to the police and tell them that person is not the killer because your own son did it? How far will they go to protect their child?”

The fallout from the Beales' decision not to turn Bobby in to the police, will also affect half-brother Peter's future in Albert Square.

"All I'm going to say is the big reveal of Bobby being the killer has a large impact on Peter," says actor Ben Hardy, who revealed, in a backstage show on Friday, that he has already filmed his final scenes as the character.

Friday's live episode of EastEnders - watched by a peak audience of 10.25m - drew huge praise on Twitter following transmission, with Sherlock star Mark Gatiss for one calling it "amazingly slick".

EastEnders continues on Monday at 8pm on BBC1.

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