EastEnders fans have noticed that the existence of one key character has seemingly been erased from the soap’s 40 year history.
It’s something that happens quite often in the soap opera genre – where the established continuity of events that has played out on screen is altered to fit a new narrative.
The device even has its own term – a retcon.
Most notably, there’s been the ‘deaths’ of Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) and Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), who were all later revealed to be still alive.
When it comes to the current blunder, the character that has seemingly been forgotten about was already retconned into existence in 2015.
I am, of course, referring to Kat Moon’s (Jessie Wallace) first born son Luke Slater, who was put up for adoption and then grew up in Ireland. He was subsequently raised as Dermott Dolan, and first met his mother in adulthood.
Who is Dermott Dolan in EastEnders?
Long-term viewers will of course know that Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) spent most of her childhood and teenage years believing that Kat was her sister, when in fact she was her mother.
It transpired that Kat had been abused by her uncle and fallen pregnant, with her parents deciding to bring up Zoe as their own.
However, many years later, Kat discovered that she’d actually had twins. The turmoil of the situation meant that she had no idea of baby Luke’s existence.
She and husband Alfie (Shane Richie) struck lucky when they became millionaires with thanks to a scratch-card win, and they decided to move to Spain.
During a short return to Walford – that sadly coincided with the death of her father Charlie (Derek Martin) – sister Belinda (Carli Norris) noted that she remembered a trip to the Irish fishing village of Redwater in her youth, and this could lead to Kat discovering Luke’s whereabouts.
What was Kat and Alfie: Redwater?
Kat and Alfie: Redwater was a spin-off series that aired in 2017, following the couple’s journey to Ireland.
Standalone from EastEnders, the characters gave very few references to their previous life in Albert Square, apart from an ongoing plot that saw Alfie diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Most notably absent were Kat and Alfie’s twin sons Bert and Ernie, who producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins felt would limit the drama.
The timeline in which the show was set was a bit of a mess – for example, Kat and Alfie left for their trip in January 2016, but didn’t send a postcard to Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) until May 2017, when the episodes dropped on BBC One.
Within Redwater, the events took place in 2015.
Confused? Us too.
Anyway. Kat met Dermott, who was the local vicar, and we viewers learnt that he was a killer.
He was also responsible for causing a boating accident at the conclusion of the series, which saw Kat being dragged beneath the water – apparently to her death.
Meanwhile, Alfie headed into theatre for his operation and seemed to die on the operating table.
Has Dermott been referenced since?
As we know, Kat and Alfie are still very much alive. It’s like the events of Redwater, and the preceding storylines leading up to it happened within some sort of parallel universe.
Shane Richie told Metro at the time: ‘Redwater was always going to be one series we were led to believe and then we’d come back to EastEnders but of course the show was never as big as they thought it was going to be, personally because I think Redwater sent out mixed messages.
‘But we do talk about certain characters, so those who have watched will see the link there. To not mention it, it just seemed a bit silly, so we do.
‘But we don’t harp on about it, because of course at the end of Redwater, Alfie was flatlining, Kat had been eaten by a whale or something, I don’t know, whatever happened there!’
Some years on, Hayley Slater (Katie Jarvis) and Mo Harris (Laila Morse) discussed Dermott’s existence.
However, in Monday’s episode, Kat had completely forgotten about him.
Reuniting with Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey) for the first time in over a decade, the two spoke about how their lives had changed – and how many children they now had.
‘I’ve got three [boys], and an Alfie,’ she noted.
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‘That’s right, you were expecting twins,’ Anthony replied, to which Kat chirped: ‘And Zoe, you remember Zoe?’
Yes Kat – we all remember Zoe. But do you remember Dermott?
What the fans have to say…
One fan took to X to note the mistake, writing: ‘Love how this show keeps forgetting Kat’s son in Ireland.’
They did, however, later provide an explanation for why that might be.
‘Love how they made her son a complete psychopath in the spin off so narratively it makes sense for ar Kat not to mention him and therefore much easier for US to retcon!!’
Another viewer added: ‘I prefer to forget it. Silly storyline.’
A third said: ‘They retconned their own retcon, love it.’
