EastEnders viewers are convinced a murderer will return to Walford nine years after he was last seen on screen, following the death of Zoe Slater.
Last month, Zoe (Michelle Ryan) died suddenly after an accidental head wound. Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) woke in the night, unsettled, and found Zoe dead in her bedroom. Kat covered the body in blankets and did not tell her husband Alfie (Shane Richie). When Alfie later went to wake Zoe, a frantic Kat tried to stop him, but he walked in and made the grim discovery.
Zoe's final call
As the Slaters and Moons processed their loss, they were stunned to learn Zoe had tried to call 999 hours before her death. The call was low priority, so the emergency services did not follow it up in time.
Kat is now determined to find out what happened to Zoe that night, unaware that Max Branning (Jake Wood) was the last person to see her alive and did not help her.
Who is Dermott Dolan?
Ahead of Zoe's funeral, which has not yet been confirmed, fans predict her long-lost twin brother, Luke Slater, now known as Dermott Dolan, will arrive in Albert Square.
The 2017 spin-off Kat and Alfie: Redwater followed Kat as she discovered she had a son, Dermott Dolan (Oisín Stack). Set in Ireland, it revealed Kat had given birth to a boy called Luke Slater after passing out during Zoe's birth. He was later given up for adoption. The twins were conceived after Kat's abusive uncle, Harry Slater, raped her when she was 13.
Fans demand return
In the spin-off, Dermott, a killer priest, drowned Lance Byrne (Ian McElhinney) after learning he was adopted. He later lured Kat out to sea intending to drown her, but had a last-second change of heart and tried to save her. Viewers never saw how she survived or what became of him.
On Reddit, fans have called for Dermott's return. One wrote: "I definitely think they should bring Dermott back into canon." Another said: "Kat's son, Dermott, joins the show." A third added: "Kat's son Dermott Dolan is being brought back into the existing canon and appearing on the show."
One viewer commented: "Luke categorically is in canon. Dermott is in Wadey's parallel universe, but Kat's son exists...but how he's letting Dermott's backstory get away is beyond me, because a former bad boy, defrocked Catholic priest, murderer, who would either be freshly out of a prison or an asylum? That's soap gold!"
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and iPlayer.
