Who Killed Lucy Beale?

We love soap operas in Britain. We like to escape our miserable lives by watching fictitious characters with even more miserable lives.

EastEnders is the grittiest – shorthand for depressing – of the soaps and on Friday (April 18) the show kicked off one of its most ambitious stories - who killed Lucy Beale?

(c) giphy.com

The story effectively starts with viewers discovering Ian Beale’s daughter dead in the woods and over the course of the year the dark details of her life will begin to unravel and the events of that fateful night will be revealed.

So to kick things off, here’s a handy, virtual cut-out guide to the potential suspects.

Peter Beale

Who? The son of Ian Beale and Lucy’s twin.

Motive? He overheard his dad telling Lucy she was his favourite child.

Killer? Who would kill their twin? Although his personality has gradually changed in recent months and he could be haunted by seeing his friend die in Newquay.

Ian Beale

Who? Part-time weasel, full-time businessman.

Motive? He had a row with Lucy mere hours before her death

Killer? Who would kill their own child? Ian wouldn’t have it in him to kill anyone

Jake Stone

Who? Exactly

Motive? A shady character who could well be involved in Walford’s drug scene. He works for Ian so he could have had plenty of meetings with Lucy

Killer? He accidentally killed a child when drink-driving and the character is leaving soon

Aleks Shirovs

Who? Walford’s own Latvian market inspector

Motive? Lives with Jake and potentially had run-ins with Lucy due to the recent market storyline.

Killer? It would be a bit underwhelming but he has been shown to be ruthless

Max Branning

Who? Balding ginger yet local lothario

Motive? Lucy ended their secret relationship and argued with him on the night of her death

Killer? He may cheat time and time again but Max doesn’t have it in him to kill. Surely?

Lee Carter

Who? Son of Danny Dyer. 

Motive? Spent the night with Lucy. Not a motive, perhaps he suffers from premature ejaculation and didn’t want her telling anyone.

Killer? He’s in the army and has just come back from a tour of Afghanistan so he has the instinct.

Abi Branning

Who? Daughter of Max.

Motive? Perhaps she found out about Max hooking up with Lucy.

Killer? It would be quite the character change…

I’m going to put my neck on the line and say Lucy has committed suicide. The Daily Mail somewhat spoiled things with this article showing Hetti Bywater (Lucy Beale) filming at the block of flats she was leasing out. Putting two and two together, my theory is that she’s has taken a dodgy batch of cocaine and jumped off the building. Hence her ‘killers’ are the drug dealers and those characters who have pushed her to the brink. Clever.

Let me know your theories by tweeting me @Alex_Harris1991