Stacey Branning revealed as 'Enders killer

Stacey Branning has been revealed as Archie Mitchell's killer in tonight's live 25th anniversary episode of EastEnders.

In emotionally-charged scenes broadcast live and direct to the nation, the troubled character - played by 21-year-old Lacey Turner - confessed her crime to former lover Max (Jake Wood) after watching husband Bradley (Charlie Clements) fall to his death from the roof of the Queen Vic.

The special instalment of the BBC soap picked up immediately after last night's cliffhanger, which saw Bradley discovering that the police were about to put him back in the frame in their investigation into Archie's murder.

With help from Max and Jack (Scott Maslen), Stacey and Bradley immediately made plans to flee the Square. However, just as the couple were about to leave Walford in a black cab, their attempts to escape the police pressure were thwarted when Bradley realised that he had left their passports behind.

Stacey and Bradley went on to share one final kiss and declare their love for each other before Bradley attempted to return home for the passports without being spotted by police. However, he was seen by officers who had descended on the Square and an astonishing roof chase followed as he tried to evade capture.

Bradley's attempts to save himself then came to a shocking conclusion as he stumbled backwards from the roof of the Queen Vic, to the horror of the Square's residents who were left to discover his lifeless body lying in a pool of blood.

In the closing moments of the episode, Stacey told Max: "It's all my fault. You don't understand, Bradley didn't do it! It was me. I killed Archie, it was me!"

Stacey's confession was the climax to a mystery plotline which began when Archie was murdered in the Queen Vic on Christmas Day.

In the festive instalment of the drama, Stacey had informed Bradley that Archie had raped her and that she believed he was the father of her unborn baby. However, she has since discovered that this cannot be the case as the villain was infertile due to chemotherapy treatment.

The secrecy surrounding the 'Who Killed Archie?' storyline was so strict that Turner did not discover Stacey was the killer until 30 minutes before the episode went to air. Multiple endings had been written for the instalment to ensure that the murderer's identity was not revealed before the live broadcast.

> So Stacey is Archie's killer in 'EastEnders'!
> In Pictures: Archie's Killer Revealed