EastEnders boss Ben Wadey confirms truth behind 'past, present, future' for Christmas 2025 episodes - and teases Zoe twists
Executive producer Ben Wadey teases what fans can look forward to this festive season.
It's no small feat to handle your first Christmas when working as executive producer on EastEnders, but now show boss Ben Wadey has teased what fans have to look forward to this festive season.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press at an event for the show's yuletide offerings, Wadey spoke about the importance of the festive episodes to the show, and to him personally.
"For me, growing up and as a fan, Christmas is EastEnders. I always have that countdown to the Christmas episode, and my Christmas Day is normally structured around watching EastEnders.
"So, coming in, I really wanted to not just make Christmas Day amazing and talk to the writers and the team about how big we could go, but actually give a series of treats over that Christmas period. So, we structured it around this 'past, present, future' theme."
So, what does this mean? Here are some teasers from Ben Wadey below...
EastEnders' past: Nigel Bates's special episode
On where the past fits in, Wadey then clarified that this was around the special episode (23rd December 2025) focused on Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley) and his dementia journey, which features returns of iconic characters Pat (Pam St Clement) and Barry Evans (Shaun Williamson), along with Nigel's late first wife, Debbie Bates (Nicola Duffett).
The episode comes as Nigel's current wife, Julie Bates (Karen Henthorn) and his best friend Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) debate what is best for Nigel's future as his condition deteriorates.
Wadey noted: "So, the past, we stepped back in that Nigel episode that [writer] Richard Davidson did a beautiful job on. It's a really lovely episode, and I'm really proud of it.
"It's a bold choice to go so emotional that close to Christmas, but I think Christmas is a tough time for people as well as a really happy time - and we've got the real range of emotions over December."
Speaking about the episode and how it furthers Nigel's story, Wadey added, "When I arrived, Chris Clenshaw and the team had brilliantly set up this story with Nigel and his dementia. So when you knew it was going to be a challenge of taking that to the next steps and had been talking to the team about it, and we discussed ways of doing that and how to experiment with the storytelling, but, you know, Pat is a legend in EastEnders and anything to try and get her back on screen - because she's just amazing, I'd always, you know, been a dream to work with Pam.
"So we just had that idea for that episode, and it just seemed really fitting as a love letter to the show, a love letter to the fans, and also an episode in the present that really tells that story of what it's like caring for somebody with dementia, especially at a period like Christmas."
The executive producer said he "ran through the story office" after St Clement agreed to reprise her iconic role.
"The episode worked so brilliantly, and so beautifully directed by Richard Lynn," commented Wadey, "because the whole team came together and really pulled their A game into it."
He also teased the fine details on the furnishings of the Queen Vic to take viewers back to the 1990s, from the booth coverings to costumes and peanut packages, so keep your eyes peeled!
EastEnders' present: Zoe Slater, Jasmine Fisher, and a Beale-Branning festive meal
Of course, the Christmas Day episode will be the 'present' focus of the show - and that is regarding the ongoing dramas surrounding Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan), her search for her abandoned son, and her stalker torment - but viewers are also now aware that her secret daughter, Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness), is on the Square.
"We've got the ongoing story with Kat and Zoe," continued Wadey. "We found out last week that Jasmine is Zoe's daughter, but we revealed that a week before Christmas because there are a lot more twists and turns to come in that story. So, not all is as it seems."
Is Jasmine really Zoe's daughter? Is the troubled Dr Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey) really the father of Zoe's twins? Will we meet Zoe's son? Who is stalking Zoe? Answers await, and either way, it's not a quiet Christmas for reinstalled Queen Vic landlady Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace).
If that's not all, the Beale-Branning Christmas dinner promises a "rollercoaster" of drama, but also the hint of comedy as well...
Max Branning's return unearths multiple secrets, and Oscar Branning (Pierre Counihan-Moullier) finds himself at the centre of the chaos at Christmas due to his love life with Jasmine, and also when he gets drunk and spills secrets he shouldn't...
"It's going to be explosive," teased Jake Wood at the same event. "I think that's one of the things about Max. He's got so much drama and history with so many characters, they've just done it brilliantly in terms of pacing of when he bumps into the characters and finds out about all these secrets...just keep watching."
Regarding the discovery that he has a daughter, Annie Carter (Lois Hawkins), Wood confirmed that Max would feel "betrayed" that his family hid the secret of this.
We can't say we blame him, but where does this leave Max and former lover Linda Carter (Kellie Bright)?
EastEnders' future: Max Branning's 2027 flashforward
Finally, perhaps the most-discussed upcoming instalment is the episode on New Year's Day 2026, which will flashforward one year into the future and centre on recent returnee Max Branning (Jake Wood) in early 2027.
Wadey teased: "Then we go into Christmas future, the flashforward and a year of Max and a year of the Brannings."
Very little has been revealed about the episode, but expect Max, Lauren and Oscar to be at the centre of the drama...
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Lewis is the News and Trends Editor at Radio Times and leads our approach to news, reactive content, and serving audience demands and interests. An obsessive fan of television and film, Lewis is a Nicole Kidman fanatic with a side of passion for science-fiction, art-house cinema and the latest HBO drama. Lewis has a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Film Studies. After working in advertising, Lewis worked at The Mirror for three years in community management and SEO, showbiz, film and television reporting.
