EastEnders will air a harrowing New Year's Eve episode from Linda Carter's point of view.
The entire special episode will be shown from Linda's perspective as her drinking problem spirals out of control.
The alcohol abuse storyline reaches a shocking climax as Linda's behaviour quickly deteriorates and she finds herself in a dangerous situation.
With the weight of Christmas still hanging over her, New Year’s Eve solely follows Linda’s journey into despair and the impact her actions have on her loved ones.
Executive Producer Jon Sen believes the "blistering" episode is the most important one the team has made since his arrival a year ago.
Temptation proves too much for Linda – even though she was forced to spend Christmas Day in hospital.
The Queen Vic landlady travels from party to party and increasingly drunk as she ignores her family's pleas to go home.
Her judgement is clouded and she soon comes to regret her decisions when disaster strikes.
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Commenting on the episode, Executive Producer Jon Sen said: "Over the past few months, we’ve watched as Linda Carter struggles to cope and finds solace in the bottom of a bottle.
"Over the festive period, Linda spirals further into addiction, culminating in a New Year’s Eve special episode told completely from Linda’s point of view.
"This blistering episode portrays the harrowing consequences of Linda’s alcohol abuse on her friends and family alike. It is one of the most unique and important episodes we’ve made since my arrival a year ago."
He added: "We always wanted to do a story that showed the tragedy of alcoholism. Linda’s story has evolved over the last few months but we really wanted to get to the heart of what it is to be so enslaved to alcohol.
"The problems with alcohol abuse and the tragedy of it, the shame, the regret, the humiliation. She finds an escape in it but it damages herself and those she loves.
"We have this unique episode where we tell it completely from Linda's point of view and we see her on New Year's Eve amongst all of the other revellers out to get hammered but we know she’s got a problem.
"We pursue her journey throughout the entire night as it gets worse and we see her spiral down."
EastEnders boss Kate Oates explained that Linda's downward spiral was a combination of a lot of traumatic experiences in her life.
Kate said: "She's got issues within the family. Mick was in prison, there's all the hangover from everything with Dean, a new diagnosis for Ollie in terms of his autism which is another challenge for her and she's not sure how to handle that so she's been self medicating.
"She’s found that wine o’clock has come earlier and earlier and it’s suddenly become overwhelming. It’s a bit of a homage to Den and Angie. There’s been a classic tradition of drinking and toxic relationships in that pub.
"But the Carters are different because fundamentally, Mick adores his wife. What we will see is ultimately how addiction gets in the way of their relationship/
"Linda is choosing alcohol above her family and that is going to have huge ramifications in terms of: Can they stay together? Can they co-parent Ollie if they break up altogether?
"And with the arrival of Lee, he has fresh eyes on that dynamic, and both of them are forced to ask some really challenging questions."
*This episode will air on Tuesday 31 st December on BBC One
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