page_title: Who Killed Archie?
section_title: Events leading up to the murder
hierarchical_section_title: Who Killed Archie? / Plot / Events leading up to the murder
caption_attribution_description: English: The Queen Vic Bust, a prop from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, on display at the "EastEnders at 30: In Our Manor" exhibition at the Elstree and Borehamwood Museum in Hertfordshire. The bust has adorned the bar in The Queen Victoria for many years and was the murder weapon in the "Who Killed Archie?" storyline of 2009 and 2010. Turned out Stacey Slater dunnit.
context_page_description: "Who Killed Archie?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, which began on 25 December 2009, Christmas Day, when the character Archie Mitchell, played by Larry Lamb, was murdered by an unseen person. Events leading up to and following the murder put several characters in the frame, in the style of a whodunnit mystery. The culprit was kept a tight secret within the production crew as well, with only seven people knowing the identity of the killer. The murderer was revealed as Stacey Slater during a live episode titled "EastEnders Live", broadcast on 19 February 2010, the show's 25th anniversary. Turner was told thirty minutes before the broadcast that Stacey was the killer, and actors rehearsed several possible endings. Finally, a two-hander episode between Stacey and her ex-lover Max Branning on 26 March 2010 explained how she killed Archie - who has previously been the show's main antagonist prior to the character's death and murder storyline.
context_section_description: On Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) and Peggy Mitchell's (Barbara Windsor) wedding day, the true identity of Danielle Jones (Lauren Crace) as Ronnie Mitchell's (Samantha Womack) daughter is revealed. Archie has told Ronnie that her daughter, whom he gave up for adoption as a baby, has died. Just after Ronnie realises the truth, Danielle is hit by a car and dies.
  Peggy throws Archie out and asks her son Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) to kill him, but Phil just forces him to leave. The Mitchells also form a new rivalry with Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), as she was the one responsible for hitting Danielle with her car and causing her death.
  Ronnie is the most hurt about this and struggles to cope. She starts another relationship with Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), leading to their engagement. However, upon realising she wants another baby, she leaves Walford for a while, selling her portion of the club to Jack, who in turn gives it to Archie. After returning, Ronnie sleeps with Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott) and Owen Turner (Lee Ross), and becomes pregnant with Owen's child.
  Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner), Danielle's best friend in Walford, is also deeply affected by the incident, which triggers her bipolar disorder. She becomes non-compliant with her medication, has sex with Ryan, and is raped and attacked by Archie at the launderette. She believes both men are planning to kill her and is involuntarily committed to hospital, where she befriends Becca Swanson (Simone James). Upon her return to Walford along with Becca, Stacey restarts a relationship with Bradley Branning (Charlie Clements) when he rejects his girlfriend Syd Chambers (Nina Toussaint-White) for her.
  When Archie returns, he attempts to reconcile with Peggy, but comes up with a plan to steal the Mitchells' business, The Queen Victoria public house, with Janine's help. However, Janine, along with Ryan, whom she is dating, plans to steal it from Archie at the last minute. Peggy's daughter Sam Mitchell (Danniella Westbrook), who has been in Brazil on the run from police due to her involvement in the murder of Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), returns to Walford, thinking the charges have been dropped. She is subsequently arrested, and the Mitchells put up £250,000 bail to have her released. Archie convinces Sam to leave again, paying for her to go. Phil is then forced to take out a loan from Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). Ian accepts, on the condition that if the loan is not paid back within a certain time, he becomes owner of The Queen Victoria. Archie and Janine learn of this and try to get Ian to sell the loan to them. When Ian's wife Jane Beale (Laurie Brett) leaves him, Janine gets him drunk and has sex with him, making an audio recording of them together. Archie and Janine blackmail Ian into selling them the loan and Archie tells the Mitchells they are trespassing. Once Archie finds out that Janine plans to fleece him, he proposes to her to keep her from going astray. Ryan is hurt by this setback and ends his relationship with her. Ronnie stands up to Archie and he pushes her into the bar, not knowing she is pregnant, though Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) then reveals it. Ronnie has a miscarriage and Peggy tells Archie he has killed another of Ronnie's children, warning him to stay away from her. Peggy eventually hands over the keys and the family of Peggy, Phil, Ronnie, Roxy, Ben Mitchell (Charlie Jones) and Roxy's baby Amy Mitchell leave on 24 December 2009. They end up being taken in by Jack, who vows revenge on Archie.
  On Christmas Day, Archie tells Ian the CD of the recording is under Ian's Christmas tree for Jane, but Ian fails to find it. Archie tells Janine that they should skip Christmas dinner as he has made a surprise treasure hunt for her. Janine eventually finds an envelope containing a one-way ticket to Poland and Archie throws her out onto the street telling her he knows how she and Ryan tried to double-cross him. Archie is visited by Jack who threatens to kill him if he hurts Ronnie again. Archie finds Ian searching his living room for the CD and Archie says
caption: The Queen Victoria's bust of Queen Victoria (pictured on display at the Elstree and Borehamwood Museum) was the murder weapon in the storyline.
exif: {"Image Make": "EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY", "Image Model": "KODAK EasyShare Z981 Digital Camera", "Image XResolution": "480", "Image YResolution": "480", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Picasa", "Image DateTime": "2015:08:29 20:27:04", "Image Artist": "Picasa", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Rating": "0", "Image ExifOffset": "2344", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[51, 39, 364365/16384]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[0, 16, 14950995/524288]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "Image GPSInfo": "5068", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5330", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6400", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/40", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:08:29 13:06:13", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:08:29 13:06:13", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "53/10", "EXIF ApertureValue": "7/2", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "18/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Partial", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "89/10", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "000", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "000", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2637", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3523", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "3216", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "4288", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5194", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "200", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "50", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "8a638dccb0d64f9a2d558f5b7e5e84bf", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "-10006"}