EastEnders to return with 20-minute episodes when filming recommences

Final episodes: Linda and Mick Carter (played by Kellie Bright and Danny Dyer) in next Monday's EastEnders (Picture: BBC/Kieron McCarron/Jack Barnes)

EastEnders will return with shorter episodes when the soap is back on air, bosses have confirmed.

The long-running show will go off-air next week when the BBC runs out of episodes filmed before the pandemic.

Filming is set to resume by the end of the month, with the show's return date yet to be announced.

The new instalments, to be filmed with social distancing, will be around 10 minutes shorter than the usual running time - but fans will get their fix four times a week when the new episodes return.

EastEnders executive producer Jon Sen said: “Resuming production is incredibly exciting and challenging in equal measure.

“Since we postponed filming we’ve been working non-stop trialling techniques, filming methods and new ways of working so that we can return to screens four times a week – as EastEnders should be.

“Filming will inevitably be a more complex process now so creating 20 minute episodes will enable us to ensure that when we return, EastEnders will still be the show the audience know and love.”

After the soap goes off-air, classic EastEnders episodes and a spin-off featuring Stacey Dooley will plug the gap.

Dooley, 33, will host EastEnders: Secrets From The Square on Monday nights with two members of the cast.

Secrets From The Square will look back on some of the show's most iconic moments (PA)

They will “reflect on their time on the show, tease what’s to come when EastEnders returns as well as the occasional sneak peek behind the scenes” in the show, which launches on Monday, June 22.

EastEnders stars Letitia Dean, Adam Woodyatt, Danny Dyer, Diane Parish, Tameka Empson and Kellie Bright are among those taking part.

BBC One will also screen “a selection of iconic episodes including the classic two-hander between Den and Angie, Sharongate and the explosive reveal of Max and Stacey’s affair” on Tuesday nights.

Coronation Street and Emmerdale have resumed filming.

Restrictions mean older cast members are absent from the Corrie set, meaning stalwarts such as William Roache (Ken Barlow), Barbara Knox (Rita Tanner) and Sue Nicholls (Audrey Roberts) will be off-screen.

Additional reporting by Press Association