EastEnders Nish Panesar is a pantomime villain but he’s exactly what the soap
needs in the build up to its Christmas Day special.
The dying businessman, played by Navin Chowdhry, falsely confessed to having
killed Keanu Taylor last Christmas.
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But in return he asked ex-wife Suki not to marry partner Eve while he was still alive.
When he later found out that the couple were planning their wedding, an enraged Nish bribed a prison doctor into moving him into a hospital wing.
But as he was being transported his ambulance was ambushed and a couple of his thugs helped him escape.
In an iconic scene, Nish stood between the open ambulance doors looking out into the night.
Relishing the sight of freedom, he throatily whispered: “Ah it’s good to be alive.”
Now viewers are excited to see what revenge he’s planned in the build up to Christmas Day.
However, he’s not the first EastEnders villain to shake up Christmas Day in an exciting cocktail of murder, drama and fun.
Happy Christmas Ange!
Den WattsEastenders
Who could forget the sneering Dirty Den and his divorce papers back in 1986?
The shocking scene between Den (Leslie Grantham) and his wife of twenty years Angie (Anita Dobson) made more than 30 million viewers reel back in horror.
The couple’s fiery relationship came to an end when Den discovered that Angie had lied about being terminally ill but he kept the papers secret until then.
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TrevorEastEnders
Fans of the soap were left horrified in 2001, when despicable Trevor horribly abused his wife Little Mo after she was late for Christmas dinner.
In terrifying scenes, the abuser brutally shoved her face into a plate of Christmas dinner and then went on to make her eat from the floor.
The disturbing scene came after years of domestic abuse – and escalated even further on New Year’s Eve when Trevor tried to rape her and Mo killed him by cracking him on the head with an iron.
This is not what it looks like
On Christmas Day 2007 viewers were spellbound as they waited for Max and Stacey’s affair to be revealed.
The pair had been sneaking about for months behind their partners backs and as The Branning family settled around the television to watch a dvd – their secret spilled out.
This of course led to gasps of shock, a huge brawl among the once loved up couples and arguments that lasted for months.
You’re no match for me, girl! You never were!
Archie MitchellEastEnders
After causing lots of heartache and a gaining a huge list of enemies, pantomime villain Archie Mitchell finally got what was coming to him on Christmas Day 2009.
Alone in the Queen Vic staring at a snow globe, residents were queuing up to kill him.
As the Queen Vic bust came crashing down on his head, a whodunit lasted until 2010 … when we finally discovered Stacey was the murderer.
There’s a bus running in 5 minutes why don’t you be under it?
Derek BranningEastEnders
The campiest villain of all, Derek Branning, didn’t let us down in the Christmas special of 2012.
Derek’s real wish was to reinstate himself as head of the Branning clan, and he vowed to take out anyone who stood in his way.
Derek’s behaviour sunk to new lows when he became Kat Slater’s secret lover, a revelation that broke poor Alfie’s heart.
On Christmas Day, his brothers Max and Jack disowned him after he set Max up and together they threw him out of the house.
A raving mad Derek then had a heart attack and his family watched him die in front of their eyes.
Even after viewers have indulged in a huge Christmas dinner and a few glasses of wine, these were the kind of high-drama episodes that got our pulses racing and kept us glued to our screens.
This year, fans need an equally dramatic Christmas episode after the boring The Six storyline which has long passed it’s sell by date.
Does anybody even care anymore? Can we finally move on?
Step in Nish, the perfect pantomime villain that can transport viewers back to the good old days of dastardly villains.
Let’s hope he serves us a big dollop of revenge with a sprinkling of high camp for dessert.
Nish – the perfect gift for EastEnders fans this year – let’s hope he pulls it off!
