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Who Killed Archie?
"Who Killed Archie?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It began on 25 December 2009, Christmas Day, when the character Archie Mitchell, played by Larry Lamb, was murdered by an unseen person. Events leading up to and following the murder put several characters in the frame, in the style of a Whodunit mystery. The culprit was kept a tight secret within the production crew as well, with only seven people knowing the identity of the killer. The murderer was revealed as Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner) during a live episode titled "EastEnders Live", broadcast on 19 February 2010, the show's 25th anniversary. Turner was told thirty minutes before the broadcast that Stacey was the killer, and actors rehearsed several possible endings. Finally, a two-hander episode between Stacey and her ex-lover Max Branning (Jake Wood) on 26 March 2010 explained how she killed Archie - who had previously been the show's main antagonist prior to the character's death and murder storyline.
The storyline was created in spring 2009 during a story conference, where executive producer Diederick Santer, storyliner Dominic Treadwell-Collins, series consultant and lead writer Simon Ashdown, series producer Lorraine Newman, script producer Sharon Batten, and Controller of BBC Drama Production John Yorke were considering what to do for the Christmas Day 2009 and 25th anniversary episodes. They discussed the character Archie Mitchell and how everyone hated him, and decided on a storyline with characters' hatred and anger towards Archie building up before Christmas, with a peak on Christmas Day when he is killed and another for the reveal on the 19 February 2010 anniversary. They decided to keep the killer's identity a secret within the small group and decided to reveal it during a live episode so that the secret could be kept for as long as possible, and managed the story on a need-to-know basis. The live episode's director, Clive Arnold, became the seventh person to discover the identity of the murderer. They went through the characters to decide who would create a "shiver" moment, and decided against Janine, even though she could have done it, because she has killed before. The killer was going to be Archie's wife Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), until producers discovered Windsor had planned to leave the show, so they decided on Stacey. Although scripts initially diverted attention away from Stacey, Santer realised that drawing attention away from her too much might make it more apparent.
Santer said there were three big clues to the killer's identity, "one in the Christmas Day episode, one more recently than Christmas and there's another one that, if I were to tell you where it was, would perhaps give it away too easily," however, in a chat with Sharon Marshall shown on This Morning on 18 February 2010, he said the second clue was about halfway through the investigation and the third was "on screen but not necessarily in the programme". He also said that the outcome would be "surprising", "satisfying" and "in retrospect, inevitable", adding that "it makes sense". Santer confirmed the clues in an interview on the EastEnders website: on Christmas Day Stacey disappears and it is never explained why, and then reappears on Boxing Day appearing "not quite with it"; Stacey is the only character still sufficiently angry enough to spit on Archie's grave at his funeral; and Stacey is the first character to feature in the Christmas Day trailers.
Plans to broadcast the first ever live episode of EastEnders were announced by the BBC on 15 September 2009. Santer initially refrained from discussing the episode's plot, but commented that it would resolve a "big storyline" which would "keep the audience (as well as the cast and crew) guessing until the very last moment." Santer confirmed that Archie's killer would be revealed in the live episode, and that their identity would be kept secret until the night of broadcast, even from the cast member playing them. The EastEnders cast and crew had two weeks to rehearse the episode prior to its live transmission. The script was issued on the afternoon of 5 February 2010, written by Simon Ashdown. The first read-through took place on 8 February 2010, though producers held back the part of the script revealing Archie's true killer. Ten different possible endings were scripted and rehearsed, each showing one character confessing to the murder. The ten characters were Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack), Max Branning (Jake Wood), Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick), Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott), Peggy and Stacey. Santer reiterated that the actor playing the killer would only be told so thirty minutes before the broadcast. He explained that the killer "may be revealed to the audience rather than the Square", preserving secrecy as the crew began filming episodes to be transmitted after the live broadcast. Brooks, who plays Archie's former lover Janine, found the secrecy difficult to work with, explaining: "In the episodes to be shown afterwards, you're being told to look or speak a certain way, but not why." Santer confirmed that the cast found the episode challenging, stating: "They are as desperate to know who did it as the viewers." Actor Charlie Clements, who played Bradley Branning, announced in November 2009 that he would be leaving the soap in 2010.
The moment Turner was told Stacey was the killer was filmed for a live reaction show broadcast immediately after "EastEnders Live" on BBC Three, though it was not broadcast. EastEnders Live: The Aftermath was presented by Lamb's son George and included other behind-the-scenes material. Turner received a call to see Santer about 20 minutes before the broadcast, where she was told that Stacey was the killer. She explained that she had no idea her character was the murderer, even after receiving the call. She hoped viewers would sympathise with the character as she not only has to deal with the guilt of killing Archie but was also inadvertently responsible for Bradley's death. Wood was also told as he supported Turner in the final scene in which she was revealed as the killer. Santer also brought in Maslen and McDermott as decoys in case other cast and crew members realised. Following the live episode, a two-hander episode featuring Max and Stacey was announced. The episode, broadcast on 26 March 2010, explains how and why Stacey killed Archie.
Although the true identity of Archie's killer is kept a secret between Max and Stacey for several months, Max's daughter Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) becomes suspicious in November 2010 when Max tells her Bradley was innocent. Lauren suspects Max killed Archie as she becomes paranoid about his anger. Jossa said in an interview with website Digital Spy: "[Lauren]'s thinking about Archie's murder and realising that if Bradley didn't do it, it must have been someone else. As far as she knows, her dad is the only person who knows that Bradley didn't do it, so she's trying to put this puzzle together and it's all adding up to Max being the killer, because everything he does seems to lead to a lot of aggression." However, Lauren soon works out that Stacey is the murderer after speaking to her. Jossa said she was excited that her character was one of only a select few to know the true identity of Archie's killer.
There were officially ten suspects for the murder, though the ten were not known to viewers or cast members, who speculated about the identity of the killer. On Christmas Eve, storylines showed Archie evicting his wife Peggy, daughters Ronnie and Roxy, Peggy's son Phil and Phil's son Ben (Charlie Jones) from their home, The Queen Victoria public house, after he became the landlord. Ronnie had a further motive as Archie had caused her to suffer a miscarriage and she blamed him for the death of her daughter Danielle Jones (Lauren Crace) earlier in 2009. Peggy discovered that Archie had paid her daughter Sam Mitchell (Danniella Westbrook) to skip bail, thus plunging the Mitchells into debt, and Sam returned on Christmas Day to discover she had been manipulated. Phil was also a suspect after failing to kill Archie on Peggy's request earlier in 2009. Simons explained that the killer was likely to be the most unsuspecting person, and stated that Roxy was "pretty much the only non-suspect," but said she felt the character would not go so far as to kill her father, even though she had seen his true colours. Woodyatt said his character, Ian Beale, would have done anything to stop his wife Jane (Laurie Brett) from finding out that he had sex with Janine, so it would be plausible if it turned out that Ian had killed Archie. Archie had a laptop recording of Ian and Janine together that he had threatened to give to Jane. Janine, who was engaged to Archie, also had a motive as Archie had been using her to gain ownership of The Queen Victoria and threw her out on Christmas Day. She was seen holding a knife before Archie was killed.
McDermott said his character, Ryan Malloy, "probably would have the balls to kill Archie" and it would be a possibility due to the character's past, although he accused Janine of the murder, making it unlikely unless he was "quite conniving." He stated Ryan's only motive would be out of love for Janine. Glynis Barber, who plays Archie's first wife Glenda Mitchell and was not seen in the programme until after the murder, said her instinct was that Glenda did not kill Archie, even though she had been told it was possible. Bradley Branning's motive came from the discovery that Archie raped his partner Stacey, and Clements said that if other characters knew, it would give Bradley a motive and the fact that Bradley punched Archie would make him a prime suspect. He stated that he hoped Bradley was not the killer, though in an interview with daytime television show This Morning, he stated it would be "quite historical to go down as the one who killed Archie Mitchell". The rape also gave Stacey a motive, and before she was sectioned in 2009 for bipolar disorder she accused Archie of trying to kill her. Jack Branning's motive came from his love for Ronnie and hatred of Archie, and he threatened Archie on Christmas Day. Maslen said it would be "great" if Jack was the murderer, but added that he may have taken the blame if Ronnie was guilty. Other possible suspects included Peggy's son Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp), Billy Mitchell and Tracey the barmaid (Jane Slaughter). Slaughter said Tracey's only motive would be to protect The Queen Victoria or one of the Mitchells.
Who Killed Archie?
"Who Killed Archie?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It began on 25 December 2009, Christmas Day, when the character Archie Mitchell, played by Larry Lamb, was murdered by an unseen person. Events leading up to and following the murder put several characters in the frame, in the style of a Whodunit mystery. The culprit was kept a tight secret within the production crew as well, with only seven people knowing the identity of the killer. The murderer was revealed as Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner) during a live episode titled "EastEnders Live", broadcast on 19 February 2010, the show's 25th anniversary. Turner was told thirty minutes before the broadcast that Stacey was the killer, and actors rehearsed several possible endings. Finally, a two-hander episode between Stacey and her ex-lover Max Branning (Jake Wood) on 26 March 2010 explained how she killed Archie - who had previously been the show's main antagonist prior to the character's death and murder storyline.
The storyline was created in spring 2009 during a story conference, where executive producer Diederick Santer, storyliner Dominic Treadwell-Collins, series consultant and lead writer Simon Ashdown, series producer Lorraine Newman, script producer Sharon Batten, and Controller of BBC Drama Production John Yorke were considering what to do for the Christmas Day 2009 and 25th anniversary episodes. They discussed the character Archie Mitchell and how everyone hated him, and decided on a storyline with characters' hatred and anger towards Archie building up before Christmas, with a peak on Christmas Day when he is killed and another for the reveal on the 19 February 2010 anniversary. They decided to keep the killer's identity a secret within the small group and decided to reveal it during a live episode so that the secret could be kept for as long as possible, and managed the story on a need-to-know basis. The live episode's director, Clive Arnold, became the seventh person to discover the identity of the murderer. They went through the characters to decide who would create a "shiver" moment, and decided against Janine, even though she could have done it, because she has killed before. The killer was going to be Archie's wife Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), until producers discovered Windsor had planned to leave the show, so they decided on Stacey. Although scripts initially diverted attention away from Stacey, Santer realised that drawing attention away from her too much might make it more apparent.
Santer said there were three big clues to the killer's identity, "one in the Christmas Day episode, one more recently than Christmas and there's another one that, if I were to tell you where it was, would perhaps give it away too easily," however, in a chat with Sharon Marshall shown on This Morning on 18 February 2010, he said the second clue was about halfway through the investigation and the third was "on screen but not necessarily in the programme". He also said that the outcome would be "surprising", "satisfying" and "in retrospect, inevitable", adding that "it makes sense". Santer confirmed the clues in an interview on the EastEnders website: on Christmas Day Stacey disappears and it is never explained why, and then reappears on Boxing Day appearing "not quite with it"; Stacey is the only character still sufficiently angry enough to spit on Archie's grave at his funeral; and Stacey is the first character to feature in the Christmas Day trailers.
Plans to broadcast the first ever live episode of EastEnders were announced by the BBC on 15 September 2009. Santer initially refrained from discussing the episode's plot, but commented that it would resolve a "big storyline" which would "keep the audience (as well as the cast and crew) guessing until the very last moment." Santer confirmed that Archie's killer would be revealed in the live episode, and that their identity would be kept secret until the night of broadcast, even from the cast member playing them. The EastEnders cast and crew had two weeks to rehearse the episode prior to its live transmission. The script was issued on the afternoon of 5 February 2010, written by Simon Ashdown. The first read-through took place on 8 February 2010, though producers held back the part of the script revealing Archie's true killer. Ten different possible endings were scripted and rehearsed, each showing one character confessing to the murder. The ten characters were Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack), Max Branning (Jake Wood), Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick), Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott), Peggy and Stacey. Santer reiterated that the actor playing the killer would only be told so thirty minutes before the broadcast. He explained that the killer "may be revealed to the audience rather than the Square", preserving secrecy as the crew began filming episodes to be transmitted after the live broadcast. Brooks, who plays Archie's former lover Janine, found the secrecy difficult to work with, explaining: "In the episodes to be shown afterwards, you're being told to look or speak a certain way, but not why." Santer confirmed that the cast found the episode challenging, stating: "They are as desperate to know who did it as the viewers." Actor Charlie Clements, who played Bradley Branning, announced in November 2009 that he would be leaving the soap in 2010.
The moment Turner was told Stacey was the killer was filmed for a live reaction show broadcast immediately after "EastEnders Live" on BBC Three, though it was not broadcast. EastEnders Live: The Aftermath was presented by Lamb's son George and included other behind-the-scenes material. Turner received a call to see Santer about 20 minutes before the broadcast, where she was told that Stacey was the killer. She explained that she had no idea her character was the murderer, even after receiving the call. She hoped viewers would sympathise with the character as she not only has to deal with the guilt of killing Archie but was also inadvertently responsible for Bradley's death. Wood was also told as he supported Turner in the final scene in which she was revealed as the killer. Santer also brought in Maslen and McDermott as decoys in case other cast and crew members realised. Following the live episode, a two-hander episode featuring Max and Stacey was announced. The episode, broadcast on 26 March 2010, explains how and why Stacey killed Archie.
Although the true identity of Archie's killer is kept a secret between Max and Stacey for several months, Max's daughter Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) becomes suspicious in November 2010 when Max tells her Bradley was innocent. Lauren suspects Max killed Archie as she becomes paranoid about his anger. Jossa said in an interview with website Digital Spy: "[Lauren]'s thinking about Archie's murder and realising that if Bradley didn't do it, it must have been someone else. As far as she knows, her dad is the only person who knows that Bradley didn't do it, so she's trying to put this puzzle together and it's all adding up to Max being the killer, because everything he does seems to lead to a lot of aggression." However, Lauren soon works out that Stacey is the murderer after speaking to her. Jossa said she was excited that her character was one of only a select few to know the true identity of Archie's killer.
There were officially ten suspects for the murder, though the ten were not known to viewers or cast members, who speculated about the identity of the killer. On Christmas Eve, storylines showed Archie evicting his wife Peggy, daughters Ronnie and Roxy, Peggy's son Phil and Phil's son Ben (Charlie Jones) from their home, The Queen Victoria public house, after he became the landlord. Ronnie had a further motive as Archie had caused her to suffer a miscarriage and she blamed him for the death of her daughter Danielle Jones (Lauren Crace) earlier in 2009. Peggy discovered that Archie had paid her daughter Sam Mitchell (Danniella Westbrook) to skip bail, thus plunging the Mitchells into debt, and Sam returned on Christmas Day to discover she had been manipulated. Phil was also a suspect after failing to kill Archie on Peggy's request earlier in 2009. Simons explained that the killer was likely to be the most unsuspecting person, and stated that Roxy was "pretty much the only non-suspect," but said she felt the character would not go so far as to kill her father, even though she had seen his true colours. Woodyatt said his character, Ian Beale, would have done anything to stop his wife Jane (Laurie Brett) from finding out that he had sex with Janine, so it would be plausible if it turned out that Ian had killed Archie. Archie had a laptop recording of Ian and Janine together that he had threatened to give to Jane. Janine, who was engaged to Archie, also had a motive as Archie had been using her to gain ownership of The Queen Victoria and threw her out on Christmas Day. She was seen holding a knife before Archie was killed.
McDermott said his character, Ryan Malloy, "probably would have the balls to kill Archie" and it would be a possibility due to the character's past, although he accused Janine of the murder, making it unlikely unless he was "quite conniving." He stated Ryan's only motive would be out of love for Janine. Glynis Barber, who plays Archie's first wife Glenda Mitchell and was not seen in the programme until after the murder, said her instinct was that Glenda did not kill Archie, even though she had been told it was possible. Bradley Branning's motive came from the discovery that Archie raped his partner Stacey, and Clements said that if other characters knew, it would give Bradley a motive and the fact that Bradley punched Archie would make him a prime suspect. He stated that he hoped Bradley was not the killer, though in an interview with daytime television show This Morning, he stated it would be "quite historical to go down as the one who killed Archie Mitchell". The rape also gave Stacey a motive, and before she was sectioned in 2009 for bipolar disorder she accused Archie of trying to kill her. Jack Branning's motive came from his love for Ronnie and hatred of Archie, and he threatened Archie on Christmas Day. Maslen said it would be "great" if Jack was the murderer, but added that he may have taken the blame if Ronnie was guilty. Other possible suspects included Peggy's son Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp), Billy Mitchell and Tracey the barmaid (Jane Slaughter). Slaughter said Tracey's only motive would be to protect The Queen Victoria or one of the Mitchells.