Pat Butcher will be buried this week in what will be one of the saddest episodes of Eastenders for many years. Carol and David Wicks are currently planning the funeral which is to cost around £15,000 with all the trimmings, horses, horse-drawn carriages and everything else you can think of. So far we have not seen any leaked photographs of the funeral scenes but over the next few days it is likely that some photographs will be made available to the press.

The date for Pat’s Funeral is Friday 13th January 2012

While there is no doubt that all of the residents of Albert Square will make time to attend Pat’s funeral we should also see a number of faces from years gone by making a one-off visit to the show. It is unclear at this moment in time exactly which of the old cast members will make a reappearance for Pat funeral but this is likely to be one of the biggest and most eye-catching episodes of Eastenders for many years.

There is no doubt that David Wicks and his brother Simon Wicks have had something of a strained relationship with their mother Pat Butcher but there is also no doubt that Pat loved her family deeply. It will be interesting to see how the new characters returning to the Square adapt to the new environment which has changed since many of them left some time ago. Despite the fact that David Wicks has tonight confirmed his love for Carol there are many who are distrusting of the character as he has made some terrible decisions and be involved in some terrible incidents in the past.

Then there is the issue of Derek Branning, Carol’s brother, who certainly has a bee in his bonnet with regards to David Wicks and has already warned him to make himself scarce after the funeral. It is rumoured that David Wicks tries to hold out the hand of friendship to Derek Branning which will hopefully clear the way for him to pursue Carol but this is already doomed to failure. Quite how Derek Branning will make David pay remains to be seen but he has already attempted to bring his younger brother Max into the fray, something which is certain to cause major tension between the two families.

In the aftermath of Pat’s death there is no doubt that Bianchi and Ricky are going to struggle financially and there is still the issue of the family home to sort out. Whether Janine will allow the family to remain there rent-free or indeed handover the family home to Ricky and Bianca remains to be seen but they certainly need to find some stability in their lives.