Cindy’s Christmas Day attacker revealed as EastEnders marks its 40th anniversary

EastEnders’ Kathy Beale has been revealed as the assailant who attacked her former daughter-in-law Cindy Beale on Christmas Day.

The festive episode of the BBC soap saw Cindy, played by Michelle Collins, struck by a shovel at its conclusion as she was walking through Walford after her affair with Junior Knight (Micah Balfour) had been revealed at a party in the Queen Vic.

Cindy had been hoping to return to France with her former husband and Kathy’s son Ian (Adam Woodyatt) before the affair was exposed.

In Tuesday’s episode, Cindy went to Ian’s home with a gun believing him to be the assailant, however, Ian insisted it was not him and instead turned the blame on his son Peter (Thomas Law).

Kathy, played by Gillian Taylforth, then arrived at the house and told her to leave Ian alone, before confessing to the attack.

She told Cindy: “He didn’t try to kill you, it was me. I saw what you did to him. I saw him throw you out. Out in the snow.

“And I thought that was it. That you were gone, that all of this was finally over.

“Ian, he just fell to pieces. He went crazy. And I had to stand there and watch that. Watch what you had done to him, ripping this place apart.

“And then he just disappeared, ran off into the night, and I thought anything could happen, his heart, anything.

“But do you know what? At least you were gone, at least he was safe from you, but no, there you were, traipsing past the house.”

She told Cindy what she had done, who said: “I was gone, it was over.”

Kathy replied: “I don’t care, my only regret, that you’re still standing here, that you are still breathing.”

Following the episode, Taylforth said she was “shocked” when she found out that her character was Cindy’s attacker, adding that she thought it was either Ian or Peter.

The 69-year-old said: “Chris (Clenshaw, EastEnders’ executive producer) asked us all to come in for a meeting so he could tell us all together which was great fun.

“We wouldn’t usually all find out as a group, but with it being the anniversary, they wanted to tell us together.

“None of us knew anything before that point, but apparently they all thought it was me anyway.

“I had a tiny suspicion it could have been Kathy, only because it’s no secret that there is no love lost between her and her daughter-in-law.”

Speaking about her character, she said she thought Kathy would have been “disappointed she didn’t finish the job”.

Taylforth added: “All jokes aside, Kathy has seen Ian be hurt by Cindy time and time again, and so I think she finally thought, enough is enough.

“Kathy knew that Cindy would try and worm her way back into Ian’s life at the next chance that she got because she always does, and ultimately Kathy did what she did to protect her son.

“Ian is a fool in love when it comes to Cindy, and Kathy couldn’t let him get hurt by her again. Don’t forget that Cindy tried to kill Ian, so in Kathy’s eyes, it’s payback.”

The actress said it was “dramatic and really exciting” and described Tuesday’s episode as “just the beginning of what’s to come” in the soap’s 40th anniversary week.

It comes as EastEnders prepares for a special hour-long episode on Wednesday, February 19, the day of the show’s 40th anniversary, followed by a full live episode on February 20.