Exclusive: 'EastEnders' films Michael Jackson reference

BBC soap EastEnders has filmed a last-minute scene to be edited into tonight's episode referencing Michael Jackson's death, Digital Spy can exclusively reveal.

A scene towards the beginning of the episode will see Denise Wicks (Diane Parish) wish her surrogate father Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) a happy birthday, before mentioning the sad news of Jackson's passing.

The show will also contain a track from the King Of Pop playing in the background of a scene elsewhere in the episode.

EastEnders' executive producer Diederick Santer said: "There are some news stories and events which get everyone talking, and this is one of them. Given the quick turnaround, it's only a small scene, but I hope it reflects to some extent the impact Michael Jackson's death has had."

Over the years, EastEnders has filmed several last-minute topical scenes and edited them into episodes on the day of transmission.

The last occasion saw Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) reference Barack Obama's election as America's first black President to daughter Stacey (Lacey Turner).

In addition, a number of football references have also been added, with Minty Peterson (Cliff Parisi) and Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves) citing West Ham victories and the World Cup.

A spokesperson for the show confirmed: "We will be making a reference in tonight's episode to Michael Jackson's death. We always aim to reflect topical events that we think will strike a chord with our audience and have previously filmed additional scenes including the election of Barack Obama and England's participation in the World Cup."

The three other major UK soaps - Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks - all confirmed to DS that no last-minute editing will be made to tonight's episodes.

> Click here to read more about tonight's episode
> Click here to watch a clip from tonight's episode


Image copyright BBC Pictures