EastEnders airs surprise unannounced return for Christmas Eve twist in early BBC iPlayer release

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Be aware: spoilers ahead for the EastEnders episode that aired on Christmas Eve 2025! It’s currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

EastEnders fans were surprised and delighted by the return of Chrissie Watts (played by Tracy-Ann Oberman) just before Christmas.

We last saw the character in September 2024, leaving prison after two decades. She’d been serving time for killing Sharon Watts’ father, Den, and was finally released. The last scene showed her driving away, seemingly to start a new life with her former partner, Jake Moon.

Chrissie still seems upset about something, and it looks like she’s now focused on getting back at someone else in Albert Square.

Zoe Slater has been dealing with a secret attacker for months, and with a big community event coming up, she worried they would use the occasion to strike again.

Kat and Alfie Moon were just as worried, and all they wanted for Christmas was for their troubles to finally be over.

At The Vic, Zoe had an uncomfortable meeting with Jasmine Fisher, who viewers have learned is actually her long-lost daughter. Zoe asked if Jasmine had Christmas plans and invited her to the pub, but Jasmine politely declined, saying she’d already made other arrangements.

Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) arrived, bringing a cheerful interruption to the chilly conversation and inviting Zoe to go Christmas shopping with her.

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When Kat returned, she discovered Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) hanging around the pub’s entrance and began to suspect Sam was responsible for all the trouble her daughter had been experiencing.

Sam actually had a good reason for her behavior. She’d recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and wanted to talk to Zack Hudson (James Farrar) about it honestly and openly.

I was genuinely moved by this scene. Zoe comes home, puts down her gifts, and finds a card from her son – the one she’s been searching for for months! It wasn’t just any card, though. He’d sent a keyring from Ibiza, something she actually lost in the hospital way back in 2006. And the best part? He’s coming to see her tomorrow. It’s a small detail, the keyring, but it’s incredibly powerful and really hits you emotionally. A lovely, hopeful moment.

Anthony Trueman, the father of Zoe’s children, was upset and started drinking. He found an old photo of the twins, taken in the early 2000s, and sadly crumpled it up.

As Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter) performed a carol concert, rain began to fall. Meanwhile, Jasmine was on the phone, urgently needing to speak with someone. She headed towards a car on Edward Road, and it was revealed through flashbacks that she was behind all the trouble Zoe had been experiencing.

Getting into the car, she told the driver she’d finished all her tasks, but now wished she had made different choices.

It was already too late to stop her – the driver turned out to be Chrissie, who warned Zoe that this Christmas would be one she’d never forget.

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Authors

Michael AdamsSoaps Editor

Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at TopMob, providing the latest news and spoilers for popular shows like Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, and Hollyoaks. Before joining TopMob, he worked as a Soaps Reporter at Metro for two years and even worked on the sets of Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

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2025-12-24 13:35