EastEnders' Christmas victims poster offers potential clues to mystery

Now, there are new portraits to pore over, with EastEnders confirming seven potential victims for Christmas Day.

They are Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry), Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters), Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara), Rocky Cotton (Brian Conley) and Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo).

In one new picture that's caught fans' attention, the seven men pose in the Queen Vic, either sitting on stools or standing around.

Look closely, and there are a fair few Easter eggs - or red herrings - that are definitely worth further investigation.

Blood on the floor

Look closely underneath Rocky's chair and you can see a small puddle of blood. Spot it?

Does this confirm Rocky's set for demise on Christmas Day? Well, not exactly.

One X (formerly known as Twitter) user thinks the puddle of blood actually means it's none of the promoted men at all.

Of course, it's a stylised shot, so could mean absolutely nothing at all but a dramatic technique.

However, cast your minds back to when Lucy Beale was killed, and EastEnders released a similar style shot containing the potential suspects.

It turned out to be none of them; it was Bobby Beale (Clay Milner)...

Is EastEnders about to surprise us with a death we really weren't expecting?

Where's Theo?

One notably missing figure who many would've put high up the victim list is Theo Hawthorne (William Ellis).

He has been terrorising Stacey (Lacey Turner) for most of the year as her stalker in what's been a very disturbing storyline.

In recent scenes, he pled guilty to harassing Stacey, and according to Eve (Heather Peace), would get up to 10 years in prison.

However, to get to that plea, Stacey visited him and said if he said he was guilty, she would be with him at a later date.

The legal implications aren't exactly clear, but regardless, we didn't see him sentenced.

It was no doubt a dangerous tactic, and could it be one she lives to regret if he does somehow manage to get out of prison in time for Christmas?

The upturned stool

Look very closely at the flash-forward clip and you will see the body is conveniently covered by a stool which has been knocked over.

At the time, it was merely a device to conceal the victim's identity, but look closely at the newly released image and you'll see Rocky is sitting very clearly on that very red stool.

Is that a clear sign it's Rocky on the floor?

Not necessarily - Nish is also on a stool, albeit a different one.

Either way, the odds are certainly stacking up against Rocky...

Jack's facing the other way

This one had us pretty stumped, actually. All the men in the image are facing either forward or to the right, even if it's deeply unnatural for them to be facing that way, like Ravi.

But not Jack, who's faced to the left.

This could single him out as being the victim, but is there any real reason to kill Jack?

Sure, he's messed up a few times this year, but killing him doesn't add up - though it would be a massive twist.

What he is, though, is a man of the law. Will he be vital in helping the ladies cover up their crimes? Or will he help one of The Six when they need him?

Read more:

• EastEnders’ Lacey Turner reveals new Christmas murder mystery theory
• Is Dean Wicks the dead body in EastEnders at Christmas? All the clues and theories
• Is Phil Mitchell the dead body in EastEnders at Christmas? All the clues and theories
• Is Keanu Taylor the dead body in EastEnders at Christmas?? All the clues and theories
• EastEnders cast: Who is joining, leaving and returning to the soap?

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