BBC EastEnders fans baffled over huge blunder in Jack Branning and Lucas Johnson’s phone call

EastEnders fans were confused this week as a plot hole emerged that’s so large it risks pulling all viewers into an abyss of perpetual questioning.

Fans of the BBC’s long-running soap will be well aware that the biggest storyline haunting Albert Square is the murder of Keanu Taylor – who was killed off on Christmas Day in a shock development. He turned up at the Queen Vic to confront Sharon Watts after she had let slip that Phil Mitchel was the biological father of her son, Albie – not Keanu.

As the pair argued, Keanu got violent and started to strangle Sharon – only for Linda Carter to plunge a carving fork into his back, killing him. Denise Fox was a witness to the crime and helped Sharon and Linda cover up the death. She, along with Stacey Slater, carried Keanu’s body over to Kathy Cotton’s cafe where they buried him in cement beneath the floorboards.

In the midst of disposing of the body, Denise’s personalised necklace fell off – and is waiting to be found beside Keanu’s corpse. In recent scenes, viewers have seen Denise battling her conscience – and she has even started to hallucinate that Keanu is taunting her.

In scenes that aired this week, Denise went to visit her es-husband Lucas Johnson – who is himself behind bars for murder. She was erratic and confessed “she buried him”. Lucas was concerned and asked if Denise had killed someone, and she admitted: “No. But I helped to cover it up.”

While Lucas was unable to get any more information out of Denise, his suspicions and concerns were raised. After Denise’s visit was over, he used the prison phone to call Jack Branning – Denise’s current partner.

Lucas told Jack, who is a police detective, that he was deeply concerned for Denise’s mental state. But it was the imaginations of EastEnders fans that were running wild by the end of the episode – as they all had the same question.

Taking to social media, many fans raged about an apparent plot hole. Summing up the issue expertly, one fan mused on X: “How did Lucas have Jack’s phone number? #EastEnders,” along with a raised eyebrow emoji. Many others had also noticed the error – and raised similar questions.

One fan wrote: “How on Earth would Lucas know Jack’s number on #EastEnders @bbceastenders.” And another baffled fan wrote: “Because Lucas just randomly knows Jack’s mobile number? EastEnders.”

While the six female characters involved in Keanu’s death have been spiralling, fans have noticed that it could be Dean Wicks that ends up being framed for the murder. In recent scenes the murder weapon was revealed to be missing – leading many fans to speculate that Dean stole it and could be framed by the women and sent to jail for a crime he did not commit. He had been present in the Queen Vic the night of the murder and his exact activities within the pub have not yet been revealed.