Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) is armed and dangerous as she confronts her mystery attacker in deadly scenes to air as part of EastEnders’ 40th anniversary.

Next week, fans look set to finally discover who attacked the Walford icon and left her for dead on Christmas Day, as the BBC soap solves a weeks-long whodunnit.

But a gun-wielding Cindy is out for blood after working out who she thinks is responsible, as lives are put in serious danger.

As viewers will remember, an unidentified assailant whacked Cindy over the head with a shovel in the Square Gardens after evidence of her steamy affair with former stepson Junior Knight (Micah Balfour) was played out in The Vic for all to hear.

The finger of suspicion has pointed at all members of the Beale and Knight families over the last few weeks, but the net closes in on Walford Whacker in forthcoming scenes.

Anniversary week for the Beales begins with Cindy and Ian (Adam Woodyatt) at each other’s throats following a revelation from Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan-Levy), who has been getting weirdly close to the chippy owner in recent days.

Later, a raging Cindy is hell-bent on exposing her attacker and interrupts Honey and Billy Mitchell’s (Emma Barton and Perry Fenwick) wedding celebrations in The Vic to make a shocking accusation.

‘She really is completely and utterly paranoid and running scared,’ says Michelle Collins, who plays Cindy.

‘The scary thing for Cindy is that she knows it’s somebody very close to her, and that’s very frightening that someone could hate her so much that they would want her dead.’

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Face-to-face with the person she believes wielded the shovel, Cindy publicly accuses them, leaving the wedding guests shocked to the core.

But later events take a dangerous turn when Cindy catches one of the suspects in a compromising position and points a gun at them.

Speaking about discovering the identity of her character’s attacker, Michelle reveals she was ‘shocked’, explaining: ‘I actually thought I knew who it was, but I can see why they’ve done it.

‘There are going to be some great scenes when she finds out who it is.’

With a showdown ensuing, bosses have teased that a shock twist will then turn the whole situation on its head…

We already know that next week’s anniversary episodes – which will include a live instalment on Thursday – take place over the course of a day, and will see an explosion rip through Honey and Billy’s wedding reception, raising the pub to the ground.

Will Cindy and her attacker be two of the locals caught up in the devastation?