Christmas might now be in the rearview mirror, but EastEnders is keeping its foot on the gas going into the New Year, lining up some apocalyptic scenes to kick-start its 40th anniversary celebrations.

The BBC soap is celebrating a huge milestone in 2025, and while bosses are keeping their cards very close to their chest regarding what they have in store to mark it, we already know some exciting details about how the next few months will unfold.

With death, destruction and devastation awaiting the residents of Walford, here’s the lowdown of what to expect…

The ‘Ender Nish

While we all thought we’d seen the back of Nish Panesar when he was jailed for Keanu Taylor’s (Danny Walters) murder back in October, claims it was Navin Chowdhry’s final appearance as the Walford villain turned out to be false when Nish later staged an armed escape from custody.

After hearing ex-wife Suki Panesar’s (Balvinder Sopal) wedding to Eve Unwin (Heather Peace) was back on, he’s been in hiding, biding his time to derail their relationship once and for all.

With Suki and Eve set to tie the knot on New Year’s Day, the stage is set for Nish’s cataclysmic last chapter as his wicked revenge plan unfolds.

And thanks to an actor mistakenly leaving a key script on a train earlier this year, we already know that at least one character is set to be killed off amid the high-stakes drama – will it be Nish, or will his final act claim someone else’s life?

The Vic explodes into flames

The 40th anniversary looks set to go off with one heck of a bang, with an explosion ripping through the Queen Vic.

Over 14 years on from the last devastating pub fire – which led to the exit of then-landlady Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) – bosses are planning to torch the iconic boozer once again.

Many major characters are likely to be caught up in the blast, with a source telling The Sun that ‘lives are expected to be left hanging in the balance’ as a result.

Could the first few months of 2025 see the death of another Walford favourite?

Reiss’ reckoning

Poor Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) has been held hostage in Reiss Colwell’s (Jonny Freeman) storage unit for weeks now after she uncovered that he’d killed his comatose wife Debbie in her care home bed and let fiancée Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) take the fall.

While (we assume) Bianca has been continuing to live off meal deals and doing her business in a bucket while locked up, there has been little mention of the storyline since Reiss’ true colours were revealed back in November.

However, that is set to change next month when Reiss summons the residents of Walford to discuss his new plan for Sonia’s trial.

While nothing has been officially confirmed, actress Patsy Palmer is expected to reprise her role as Bianca for the next chapter of the story, while Natalie Cassidy will also return from an extended break from the soap.