EastEnders to reveal identity of Cindy Beale's attacker during 40th anniversary week

'EastEnders' will reveal the identity of Cindy Beale's attacker during the show's 40th anniversary week.

The BBC One soap will celebrate 40 years on air in February, and one of the plots will see viewers discover who left Cindy (Michelle Collins) for dead in a vicious attack on Christmas Day.

'EastEnders' viewers were left in shock on Wednesday (25.12.24) when Cindy was whacked over the head with a shovel by a mystery person.

It came after her affair with Junior Knight (Micah Balfour) was sensationally exposed in The Vic on Christmas Day via daughter-in-law turned nemesis Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa).

EastEnders' Executive Producer Chris Clenshaw said: "Our 40th anniversary storylines have been in the works for some time, but even at the very start of planning, we knew that we wanted to reveal the identity of Cindy’s attacker as part of this.

"Many characters currently find themselves in the line of question, but over the coming weeks, the audience can look out for clues themselves to who may be the culprit.

"Cindy’s attacker reveal is just one of many stories we have planned for the anniversary as it is set to be a week of explosive drama for the audience to remember."

At the time of the attack, Cindy had made more than one enemy after tearing the Beale and Knight families apart.

Cindy's affair wrecked her relationship with long-suffering fiancé Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), and she had tried to blackmail Lauren by giving her pain medication that saw her and son Louie almost killed in an inferno.

But Cindy was attempting to depart Walford when she was intercepted and attacked.

Following the Christmas Day attack, she was discovered on the show's Boxing Day episode (26.12.24) by her former mother-in-law Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth).

Cindy survived the attack, but she had to undergo emergency surgery.