EastEnders has revealed a first look at Shakil Kazemei’s devastating funeral scenes with new pictures from next week’s episode.
The pictures show the teenager’s friends and family gathering to say their final farewell after he was senselessly killed in a knife attack last month.
The soap has been praised for covering such an important issue, raising awareness of knife crime on the streets of Britain.
EastEnders is set to go one step further though, by making the special funeral episode, that airs on Friday 6th July, one that includes real-life knife crime victims.
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In a break from its traditional format, EastEnders will feature stories from real people speaking to the camera about their own experiences with knife crime.
EastEnders executive consultant John Yorke said: “From the very beginning we were determined to treat the difficult subject of knife crime in a responsible, non-sensationalist way.
“We started out with detailed research, and the more stories we heard the more we felt other people should hear them too.
“The episode gradually evolved into something unique for EastEnders – real families telling their own devastating stories alongside our own characters.”
John went on to say that he hopes this special episode of EastEnders will help raise awareness for such a hard-hitting issue…
“We’ve tried to find a way to do justice to an incredibly difficult, tragic and emotive subject, and with huge help from the families of real life victims and the support groups they work with.
“We hope we’ve come some way to getting that enormity across.”
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The images that have been released by EastEnders show Bea and Keegan sharing a few words at their friend’s funeral, with the service packed with the teenagers nearest and dearest, all there to say their final farewell.
EastEnders will air these scenes on Friday 6th July, 8pm, BBC One.
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