storyline and featuring elements of the aftermath of Nick Cotton's (John Altman) demise, after he collapsed in his mother Dot Branning's (June Brown) arms having injected himself with impure heroin on 13 February.

The week also featured Kim Fox-Hubbard (Tameka Empson) giving birth to her daughter Pearl two months prematurely, the continuing fall-out from Dean Wicks's (Matt Di Angelo) rape of Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) and the shock return of Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), who was presumed dead nine years earlier.

As Phil procures a passport for Peggy, she warns him that his wife Sharon Mitchell (Letitia Dean) will find out about his plans.

At the reception, Kim Fox-Hubbard (Tameka Empson) has been feeling pain in her stomach and goes into premature labour in The Queen Vic's toilets after a heated argument with her sister, Denise Fox (Diane Parish).

As Denise phones for an ambulance, she calls Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) and Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White) to help Kim.

Away from the square, Phil arranges to meet up with the unknown person, who is revealed to be his former wife Kathy Sullivan (Gillian Taylforth), who has been presumed dead for nine years.

Away from the reception, Stacey, Martin Fowler (James Bye) and Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) find Nick's body in 23 Albert Square.

Mick reveals to Nancy Carter (Maddy Hill) that he has seen Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) in Albert Square and goes to look for him, without success.

Charlie convinces Sharon, Ian, Fatboy, Martin, Kush and Stacey to help him get rid of Nick's body so no one would believe what Dot is saying and she can avoid arrest.

However, while they find Les Coker (Roger Sloman) and Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson) to devise a plan, Dot phones the police and confesses to Nick's death.

Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) continues to envy Lucy after she slept with her crush, Lee Carter (Danny-Boy Hatchard).

Inside, Jake attempts to attack Max and accidentally punches Lucy causing her to lose an earring and have a nose bleed.

Billy attempts to get rid of the fish and his pictures of Lucy, but is interrupted by Peter, causing him to hide the images under the fridge.

Upon going inside, she overhears a conversation in which Denise tells her daughter Chelsea Fox (Tiana Benjamin) that she is going to leave Ian.

As the two are frightened by the prospect of being arrested, Mick urges Nancy to assist with the reception while he gets rid of Dean's body and establishes an alibi.

Ian returns and insists that the whole family must deal with the situation together, which everyone agrees to, except Peter who storms out during the ensuing argument, saying that he will never forgive his father.

Treadwell-Collins stated the live week as being "a fantastic opportunity for EastEnders to create a massive national event, and one that will enable us to celebrate 30 years of [the show] in spectacular style.

Next February will mark a massive event on the channel by creating the ultimate 'doof doof' and finally reveal who killed Lucy Beale.

[3] The week also featured a recreation of the first scene of EastEnders, including use of sound effects from 1985 as three residents find Nick Cotton (John Altman) dead.

Hetti Bywater (Lucy Beale), Jamie Lomas (Jake Stone) and Tanya Franks (Rainie Cross) all returned to participate in the flashback episode.

[15][16][17] Jacqueline Jossa (Lauren Branning), who had also filmed her departure scenes alongside Hardy in December 2014 prior to going on maternity leave, was originally scheduled to appear during the live segments, but the birth of her daughter on Sunday 15 February meant that she was unavailable for the live broadcast; Lauren only appeared during the pre-recorded segments.

During a special montage in Friday's 30-minute live episode, the camera focused on a plan of Walford which had the names of co-creators Julia Smith and Tony Holland etched inside a heart directly above it.

[19] Also, Himesh Patel tweeted as his character Tamwar Masood during live broadcasts under the hashtag #TamwarTweets, giving the viewers an in-soap experience of Ian and Jane's wedding night.

[23][24] On 17 February, it was revealed that Danny Dyer, who plays Mick Carter in the soap, would be making pre-recorded safety announcements on the London Underground at Bromley-By-Bow station to celebrate the 30th anniversary.

[32] Joyner later revealed that after the incident she suffered a panic attack and asked the producers to show a pre recorded version of the wedding ceremony and added that the next night where she had four live scenes was the hardest thing she had to do.

[33] While Laurie Brett, who she said the line to, stated that she had nothing to say in response and the reaction would have been the same, making the audience think that Ian killed Lucy.

Following the reveal that Bobby Beale was Lucy's killer Ofcom received five complaints about the storyline with one commenting that there was no helpline for viewers affected at the end of the episode.

[41] Writing in the Telegraph, Michael Hogan noted that Thursday's hour-long episode was slow and stagey to reveal Jane as the killer.

He also noted that despite being 88, June Brown was still superb, but felt that there were a few too many sub plots and that although Kathy Beale's return was gasp out loud it was superfluous to the story.

The Graham Norton Show aired a special EastEnders themed episode on 16 February, featuring appearances from past and present cast members.