Keanu\u2019s unearthing was surely inevitable, not just because it propels one of EastEnders\u2019 most gripping storylines in years, but also for the simple reason the cement the corpse was covered in was hastily mixed by a highly inexperienced Kathy Beale.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll she did was go on Google to find out how to do it!\u201d laughs Gillian Taylforth, speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a> about the next twist for her character and her petrified pals. \u201cIt\u2019s very worrying when the six hear the floor has caved in. And of course, Denise\u2019s necklace is buried with the body<\/a> so she\u2019s beside herself. Whose idea was it to mix our own cement \u2013 what were we thinking?!\u201d<\/p>\n Kathy\u2019s resourceful, if misguided, suggestion leads \u2018The Six\u2019, as they\u2019ve been dubbed, into the next phase of the ambitious storyline that has dominated the soap for over a year. An ingenious flash-forward in February 2023 teased a mysterious murder we waited 10 months to be fully explained. Christmas Day\u2019s action-packed instalment revealed whodunnit and who copped it, now the women are struggling to keep a lid on their sinister secret.<\/p>\n \u201cFinding the body is not going to be good news,\u201d sighs Taylforth. \u201cNot everybody knows it\u2019s Keanu, so the next step will be the locals asking, \u2018Who is it?\u2019 The spotlight will be back on the Six which is a worry, they\u2019ll be investigated again and have to give statements about what really happened that night in the Vic with Nish, and Keanu supposedly running off. What are they going to do? It\u2019s a big duff-duff!\u201d<\/p>\n Another development, pre-exhumation, is the return of errant Sharon<\/a>, who bailed on her crew just days after the incident and fled to Australia to escape the pressure<\/a>. \u201cShe ducked out didn\u2019t she, the crafty thing!\u201d grins a playful Taylforth, in her unmistakably husky tones. \u201cKathy promised Sharon\u2019s mum Angie years ago she\u2019d always look out for her. She is pleased to see Sharon back, but they do have words about her leaving the others in the lurch. She let them down big time and apologises, Kathy has her say and realises the six must stick together and can\u2019t afford to fall out.<\/p>\n \u201cI call us the Musketeers, all for one and for all! Kathy tries to be the voice of reason if anyone has a wobble, they\u2019ve all got to support each other and nobody wants to end up in prison. I don\u2019t know how Kathy would cope behind bars, maybe she could work in the bakery and make a cake with a file hidden inside? It would be hard not seeing her family. I think she\u2019d want to keep her head down, do her time and get out!\u201d<\/p>\n While the panicking Six are in danger of turning on each other as the walls close (or should that be cave?) in, off screen Taylforth happily confirms the story has created a tight bond between the cast. As Kellie Bright (Linda) divulged last year to RadioTimes.com, they\u2019ve even got their own WhatsApp group!<\/p>\n \u201cDiane Parish (Denise) started it up, I wouldn\u2019t have a clue how to do that! We have a little gossip and its lovely to feel everyone supporting each other. I won\u2019t deny it\u2019s been hard work at times with some very long, tiring scenes, and it\u2019s brought us closer us friends. Obviously I\u2019ve worked with Tish (Letitia Dean, who plays Sharon) a lot over the years, but I hadn\u2019t done much with Kellie, Lacey Turner (Stacey Slater) or Balvinder Sopal (Suki Panesar) so it\u2019s been lovely to work with different people I don\u2019t normally cross paths with.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen our executive producer, Chris Clenshaw, told us about the storyline I was honoured to be part of it, and a bit surprised to be honest to be one of the Six.\u201d<\/p>\n Kathy\u2019s inclusion is proof she remains at the heart of the show after nearly four decades, and despite the fact she was absent for a good 15 years, although it feels like she never left. One of just three of the original 1985 cast line-up still on the Square, along with the aforementioned Dean and Adam Woodyatt (Kathy\u2019s son Ian Beale), \u2018Kaff\u2019 is an ordinary woman whose resilience in surviving extraordinary situations \u2013 including coming back from the dead \u2013 has earned her the level of affection audiences reserve for true soap legends they\u2019ve shared their lives with.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is normal, down-to-earth and just gets on with life, you can relate to her,\u201d says Taylforth when asked to explain her alter ego\u2019s popularity. \u201cKathy is very protective of her family, like most of us, and is willing to stand up to people if her hackles are up. She\u2019s a great listening ear for others, don\u2019t forget she used to be a Samaritan. What I really like about Kathy is her loyalty, she was a great friend to Angie and Pat, now she\u2019s got another nice friendship with Elaine Peacock which I enjoy. Even though they bicker a bit!\u201d<\/p>\n Taylforth\u2019s consistently authentic portrayal makes it impossible to imagine anyone else in the role, so it\u2019s surprising producers initially considered her for a different part entirely.<\/p>\n \u201cI got seen for Sue Osman in the caf\u00e9 at first (eventually played by the late Sandy Ratcliff). Julia Smith and Tony Holland (EastEnders\u2019 creators) came to my drama school, Anna Scher, and I did an improvisation and a chat. After we met they thought I could be Kathy, but worried I was too young to have a teenage son Ian\u2019s age. I said I\u2019d have a couple of late nights and wear my hair differently! At a third audition, I read with Jean Fennell, who was originally down to play Angie before Anita Dobson. A few days later my agent phoned me at work to tell me I got the part, I was a secretary at the time, and sang \u2018Congratulations\u2019 down the phone! That was a lovely moment.\u201d<\/p>\n EastEnders quickly became a phenomenon once it launched and revolutionised the genre, combining Coronation Street\u2019s sense of working class community with Brookside\u2019s controversial social commentary. One of the most impactful plots of those heady early days was Kathy\u2019s sexual assault in 1988 at the hands of smarmy businessman James Wilmott-Brown, one of many tricky topics EastEnders beamed into the nation\u2019s living rooms.<\/p>\n![\"Lacey](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/469563-ef88b5c.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"469563,EastEnders\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Gillian](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/469595-e60e6e8.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"469595,EastEnders\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Gillian](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/469592-9f90cb1.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"469592,EastEnders\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Kathy](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-1066616292-789aba7.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"EastEnders\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>