Christmas is always a tear-filled time on EastEnders, but this year will be particularly heart-wrenching, as Walford says goodbye to Pat Butcher, one of the soap’s most-loved characters.
Details of her "dignified farewell" have now emerged and it appears Pat will host one last party down the boozer this Christmas, before she slips away to die alone.
Pat will reveal to her East End friends and family that she's suffering from terminal cancer, as she gathers all of her loved ones together in the Queen Vic.
Even her sons David and Simon Wicks — played by Michael French and Nick Berry — will make a dramatic return to Albert Square for the occasion.
And Pat's stepson Ricky and granddaughter Bianca — Sid Owen and Patsy Palmer – will also return in time for her goodbye, along with Peggy Mitchell, Pat's longtime friend.
The loveable battle-axe character, played by Pam St Clements, has been an iconic piece of the soap's furniture for 25 years, along with her garish chandelier earrings, permatan and peroxide perm.
The Sun newspaper reports, "There isn't a dry eye in the pub as Pat gathers everyone together, then reveals she is dying."
An EastEnders source told the paper: "Millions of fans will be blubbing as one of the soap's all-time favourite characters makes a hugely emotional exit.
"There was no way bosses wanted Pat to sign off with a grisly death. It was always going to be a dignified farewell in which colleagues and viewers could raise a glass to her."