It’s safe to say that tears were shed by EastEnders fans all across the country during 2023’s long-awaited Christmas Day episode, when we finally learnt that Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) was The Six’s victim.
After a flash forward scene aired in February 2023, fans of the show spent months speculating over who could be the killer, and who their victim would be.
In a shocking turn of events, the body we saw on the floor belonged to Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) – but he wasn’t actually dead.
It wasn’t until later that the real victim was revealed, when Keanu was stabbed to death by Linda Carter (Kellie Bright)
The shocking moment caught everyone by surprise, but it wasn’t just viewers who were devastated by Keanu’s death, as actor Danny Walters told Metro.co.uk.
‘I had Letitia Dean call me crying down the phone, and she was gutted that I was leaving,’ Danny revealed, before explaining that she found out before they began filming the scenes.
‘We had many memorable scenes together, me and Letitia Dean. Some good scenes, and some intimate scenes, as well. So, I think she was a bit gutted about that!’ He laughed.
‘It was difficult, because I’m saying goodbye not only to my character, but I’m saying goodbye to friends, colleagues and cast and crew members.’
The identity of the killer and their victim was kept strictly under wraps, which led to plenty of speculation and theories from fans and cast alike – some of which left Danny very entertained.
‘I think my favourite theory, I read somewhere that someone thought that Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and Keanu would be an item. I don’t know where I read that, but I thought, “That’s quite interesting!” Because it’s like a love/hate relationship but they actually end up being lovers.
‘Listen, if the fans wanted to see that, then that would have been an interesting theory! And then, obviously, Sharon would find out and that was going to happen… There were so many theories!
‘That’s what was so good about that storyline: Everyone had their predictions, and some people were right, but I think most people… Not saying were wrong, but the way that the writers and the producers told the story was that it took everyone by surprise, and it was a complete shock when Keanu got that meat thermometer dug into his back!’
It is certainly a storyline that will go down in EastEnders history, and one that Danny is proud to have been a part of.
‘It happened so quickly that I don’t think I appreciated what the storyline was until I saw it on Christmas Day, and the impact it had on the fans and the viewers. I think it went down well!
‘I was very proud to be a part of something that hopefully is quite memorable and quite iconic in the history of EastEnders. I did enjoy working on that project.’
