EastEnders' Denise Fox makes shock move in early BBC iPlayer release

After Johnny Carter's (Charlie Suff) discovery that the murder weapon used to kill Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) is missing, killer Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) turned her bedroom upside down in a bid to find it.

Johnny assured his mum that he would track down the weapon - a meat thermometer - and knew exactly where to look. Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) turned on Linda, accusing her of drunkenly moving the thermometer and forgetting where she put it.

Meanwhile, a fragile Denise continued to have frightening visions of Keanu, who directed her to a bible passage that only fuelled her delusions. She ignored husband Jack Branning's (Scott Maslen) concern, but the whole family could see that Denise's mental health was spiralling.

Denise became convinced that Keanu had hidden the weapon, and frantically searched her home. But she was interrupted by a knock on the door from Johnny, whose presence added to Denise's torment as she fled outside in her dressing gown.

Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) knew that Denise was suffering from psychosis, and found her hiding beneath the bench in the Square. Denise now believed that Johnny was working for the devil, but Stacey tried to calm her by lying that Linda had found the weapon at home after all.

Stacey was forced to leave when Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter) and Pastor Clayton (Howard Saddler) arrived to see Denise, who fell apart as she admitted she thought "he" had forgiven her - believing Keanu had appeared to offer her forgiveness.

Stacey told Kathy, Linda and Suki that Denise needed psychiatric help, but Kathy and Suki tried to downplay the situation.

Later, Jack told Stacey he believed he was the problem in his marriage to Denise, and she tried to talk him out of moving out of the family home.

Johnny wondered if Denise had the weapon and planned to hand herself in for a lighter sentence, but Linda pointed out that the police would have come for her already if that was the case.

While Johnny promised he would not let his mum go to prison, Denise was seen visiting Lucas once more. Lucas urged her to trust God and reveal her sins, and Denise wanted confirmation that he wouldn't repeat what she told him.

When Lucas agreed, Denise became the second member of The Six to make a big confession.

"I buried him," she said. "I put him in the ground."

What will Lucas's next move be, and will Denise come to regret telling him anything about Christmas Day?

While we wait to find out where Denise goes from here, star Diane Parish revealed her reaction to working with co-star Don Gilet again.

"I’m always thrilled when Don comes back because there is always going to be something interesting to play," she explained.

"I really like that over the years he’s been able to keep popping back up and it’s a nice surprise for the audience. Lucas, the name, the character, the actor, have such impact on this show that it’s a gift when we get those moments when he and Denise reconnect.

"Don is just so easy to click back in with. It is a very different dynamic this time around, it’s almost like Denise and Lucas have changed roles!"

Read more:

• EastEnders airs twist for Johnny Carter and The Six in anniversary episode early release
• EastEnders’ Charlie Suff on 'new' Johnny Carter: "He's all grown up and not to be messed with"
• EastEnders airs horrific revelation in George Knight special episode early release
• 6 EastEnders spoilers: Denise Fox’s mental health reaches crisis point
• EastEnders cast: Who is joining, leaving and returning to the soap?

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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