Live EastEnders gets record 16m viewers

Published on Saturday 20 February 2010 19:30

THE live episode of EastEnders, which saw Stacey Branning revealed as Archie Mitchell's killer, pulled in 16.6 million viewers, the BBC said yesterday.

EastEnders Executive Producer Diederick Santer said the dramatic audience rating was "the icing on our silver anniversary cake" marking 25 years of the soap opera.

Turner, like the rest of the cast, was only told the storyline 20 minutes before filming. Speaking after the show she said: "I honestly couldn't believe it.

" I had no idea and didn't for one minute think it would be Stacey. To be honest it still hasn't sunk in and I can't believe that I was the one who killed Archie Mitchell!"

The actress said she had been avidly looking for clues which might point towards the culprit but had never suspected it would be Stacey.

"I have been changing my mind (as to who the killer might be) on a daily basis. You watch the show and you read the script looking for clues but each week you see another character and really believe that they have the motive to have killed Archie."

Turner, who lost her voice ahead of filming and "felt terrible", insisted nothing was going to get in the way of her performance. "I just made sure that I rested my voice throughout the day so I could save it," she said.

Archie was bludgeoned with a bust of Queen Victoria in the Albert Square pub after alienating many of the residents.He raped Stacey while she was struggling to control her bipolar disorder, and she finally admitted killing him in the closing minutes of last night's episode.

Her confession came just after new husband Bradley fell off the roof of a building as he was chased by police.

Tension built throughout the programme with characters pointing the finger at one another.

A record 4.3 million people tuned in to watch EastEnders Live: The Aftermath on BBC Three, directly afterwards, the broadcaster said.