EastEnders funeral EXPOSED: Walford mourners gather after tragic Christmas death

Instead, Albert Square is set to be rocked by the death of a major character tomorrow.

Pictures from filming depict the cast looking glum as they pay their respects, adorning a coffin with flowers and dress in black.

The scenes were shot last week in Hertfordshire and show case members such as Max Branning, Jay Brown, Michelle Fowler, Kim Fox and Karen Taylor in attendance.

Daily Star Online know the identity of the deceased resident, but have chosen to keep it a secret so as not to ruin the surprise for viewers.

In fact, EastEnders boss John Yorke asked that details about the upcoming "tragic accident" remain under wraps.

"We have some very big shocks and surprises and we would appreciate your help keeping them secret so that we can make the audience gasp in traditional EastEnders style," he said.

Producers have done their utmost to conceal the victim's identity, even keeping them on set during filming as a red herring.

The funeral, which was shot over two days, is set to air early next year.

John hopes that the festive bombshell will bump up viewing figures following a slump to fewer than four million earlier this year – the lowest in the soap's 32-year history.

He added: "When I arrived at the end of June, we had two weeks to work out which stories were going to be in our Christmas stocking this year, so I took a long hard look at what was on the table.

"There were a lot of existing stories that lent themselves to significant endings, but one story in particular was crying out for the epic EastEnders treatment.

"I was head of the Department of Continuing Drama 12 years ago when the Brannings came in, so the temptation to bring that story to a full shattering Greek tragedy ending was hard to resit."