Emotional scenes are in store for EastEnders fans as Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) is told the devastating news that her friend Daniel Cook (Adrian Edmondson) has died following his long battle with cancer.

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Thursday 10th October's episode sees Jean supported by Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) and Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) when she hears that her close friend, who she met while receiving chemotherapy for her own cancer diagnosis, has passed away.

In typical Jean fashion, she bottles up her true feelings and tries to distract herself, but she eventually opens up about how much Daniel meant to her and on Friday 11th October she attends a memorial service to say her goodbyes.

Daniel and Jean did not get off to the best of starts, with his irascible, blunt nature initially upsetting Mrs Slater as they both faced their own difficult journeys with illness.

But over time they grew close, and Jean provided comfort when Daniel was told by doctors his cancer had spread and there was nothing more that could be done for him.

A sweet, unlikely romance has blossomed between the pair out of their bond which is now set to be tragically cut short…

eastenders jean slater daniel cook

EastEnders scored a casting coup by signing up The Young Ones legend Edmondson for the role, with much excitement greeting his first appearance back in June. Fans have thoroughly enjoyed his scenes with the award-winning Wright, and the actor himself said it was written in the stars he would end up in Walford one of these days.

"There were only 15 boys on my drama course at Manchester university, and I'm the third to appear in EastEnders so I feel it's kind of a tradition!" he said when it was announced he was joining the show.

His fellow alumni to have appeared in the soap are Tom Watts, aka Lofty Holloway who returned for a cameo in 2019 more than 30 years after he left, and Paul Bradley who played Nigel Bates, before joining Holby City as Elliot Hope, in which Edmondson also appeared as Abra Durant.

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Authors

Johnathon HughesSoaps Writer, RadioTimes.com
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