'EastEnders' characters Kat and Alfie Moon are to get their own series.
Kat and Alfie Moon
The on-screen couple - played by Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie - will leave Albert Square later this year to start a new life in Ireland, but will return to screens with their own drama series on BBC One in 2016, which the pair have described as a "dream come true".
Shane gushed: "Both Jessie and I are absolutely thrilled to be given this amazing opportunity. To have a whole drama focussed around Kat and Alfie is a huge honour for us both and we just can't wait to start filming."
Jessie added: "I have always loved working on 'EastEnders' so when I heard of this new drama to take Kat and Alfie outside of Walford, I couldn't believe our luck. To be exploring the next chapter for Kat as well as working alongside my best mate, Shane, is a dream come true and a huge compliment."
In the series - which will consist of six hour-long episodes - viewers will see the couple leave Walford in a bid to repair their turbulent relationship, following several "huge twists" which 'EastEnders' Executive Producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins has teased viewers will witness in the coming weeks.
Dominic - who has created the new series alongside the soap's team - said: "In the next few weeks on EastEnders, viewers will witness several huge twists for Kat and Alfie Moon that will change their lives forever. Now is the perfect time to take two of EastEnders' most beloved and enduring characters out of their comfort zone as they head to Ireland to search for answers to some very big questions... My team here are very excited about creating a whole new drama that stands apart from EastEnders while taking our style of storytelling to a place of stories, myth, secrets and immeasurable beauty."
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