Is Nish Panesar the dead body in EastEnders at Christmas? All the clues and theories
Are his days numbered?
Another day, another chance to go over the clues for the EastEnders Christmas whodunnit. A male character will be killed during the festive season, and we've been speculating over it for months.
While our list features all kinds of characters at this point, one of the frontrunners for the victim has to be vile Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry), who is as controlling as he is menacing. And he does it all while portraying the charming family man to everyone outside his home.
So, is Nish set to meet a grisly end at The Queen Vic? Let's examine the evidence...
Is Nish Panesar the dead body in EastEnders at Christmas?
Nish's murderous actions
Nish Panesar has killed before - a man whom he thought Suki was having an affair with, though we and he now know that it was his wife whom she had feelings for.
Since then, Nish ordered Ravi to murder Suki's soulmate Eve Unwin (Heather Peace), though she was let go by Ravi and later framed Nish and Ravi for her murder.
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We can't imagine his end will be that simple and he won't be letting Suki be happy if he returns to the Square.
Will Nish attempt to kill Suki and die in the attempt?
Connections to The Six
Aside from being the abusive and murderous husband of Suki Panesar, Nish has had run-ins with all members of The Six.
Nish has made an enemy of Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) as both a harsh landlord and through his murderous treatment of her best pal Eve, with Stacey aiding Eve and Suki in her affair.
Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) also saw Nish's nasty side when he had the Queen Vic vandalised after she turned down his offer of co-ownership for one with her mother, Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe).
Elsewhere, Nish issued nasty threats to Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) and his family, prompting Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) to threaten Nish in turn.
Denise Fox (Diane Parish) has also clashed with Nish after she exposed Ravi's murderous actions against adopted father Ranveer and caused issues among the Panesar family.
Finally, Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) sold her cafe to Nish and then after discovering he had bullied her husband Rocky (Brian Conley) with debts and drove him to desperate measures. Nish also revealed that he planned to demolish Kathy's cafe and build flats there, adding insult to injury.
There's therefore no shortage of ladies with a score to settle.
Cufflinks
We always had a hunch that Nish might own the amber cufflinks seen on the lifeless body - and we were later proved correct. But since then, Nish has lost the cufflinks in a poker game, and they ended up first in Jack Branning's (Scott Maslen) possession, and now Phil Mitchell's (Steve McFadden).
But given that the most recent appearance of this fashion accessory included a mention that they belonged to Nish, does this hint that the cufflinks may be back with him by the end of the year?
Now a lot of cufflinks are doing the rounds in Walford - anyone is up for grabs.
Music - Heart of Glass
Heart of Glass by Blondie was playing in The Vic when 'The Six' toasted to the men in their lives "getting what they deserve".
The lyrics to this song point to the kind of toxic, abusive relationship Nish shares with wife Suki (Balvinder Sopal).
"Soon found out I was losing my mind" and "Love is so confusing there's no peace of mind" suggest that one of 'The Six' is trapped in an endless cycle, and Suki is suffering coercive control from Nish.
While the song was playing, we also heard Suki toasting to "the ones who try to keep us in the shadows". Does all this imply that Nish could be the victim, while Suki may or may not be his potential killer?
Suki and Kathy's reactions to the body
When the camera pans to Suki during the EastEnders flash-forward, she looks a mixture of shocked and conflicted. If Nish is the dead man, this would make sense, since she loved him once.
There's also another, possibly even more notable, moment - Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) looking particularly alarmed as she looks at Suki. This hints that either Suki is responsible for the murder, Suki knows the victim - or both!
And with Kathy also a victim of coercive control, to the point where her ex-husband Gavin Sullivan (Paul Nicholas) forced her to fake her own death for years, this could be why Kathy is standing next to Suki - and why this moment makes us suspect Nish is the character with a shelf life ending on 25th December.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can visit Refuge for more information and contact 0808 2000 247 for support. Help can also be found at The Hideout.
Read more:
- Is there a secret Seventh leading lady for EastEnders Christmas 2023? Theories, clues
- Is Rocky Cotton the dead body in EastEnders at Christmas? All the clues and theories
- EastEnders’ Lacey Turner reveals new Christmas murder mystery theory
- EastEnders cast: Who is joining, leaving and returning to the soap?
- EastEnders casts Ravi Gulati's long lost love - and his secret daughter
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on 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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