EastEnders’ tragic knife crime storyline will "go on for a long, long time" and "get darker".
Bonnie Langford admitted she is "pleased" that the plot, which has seen her character Carmel Kazemi’s son Shakil Kazemi (Shaheen Jafargholi) and his pal Keegan Baker (Zack Morris) stabbed by gang members, is a slow burner because it shows the ramifications of such an awful incident after Shaki dies.
She said: "It goes on a long, long time, and I’m so glad it does."
When asked if it gets "darker before it gets brighter", she replied: "Yes."
The 53-year-old actress hopes the hard-hitting storyline will lead to some people "thinking differently" in real life, and revealed the plot will look at some of the non-politically correct things people do and say following a tragic stabbing.
She said: "It’s not a post-watershed story but they’ve tried to be as realistic as possible.
"This is just the beginning of the story.
"We see so many who are affected by this at a press call, we see them in an interview, we never see them at home. We never see all the people it affects.
"Because we’re on a soap we’re able to follow all the different people it does affect.
"What we’ve tried to do is very realistically and over a very long period of time, this isn’t a story that’s going to go away, we’ve tried to look at the often very un-PC things that people do.
"The way that people respond.
"With Carmel it’s her personal grief, the absolute spiral she goes into completely.
"But also it’s all the other people around. For everyone else maybe life still goes on but for her and the family it will never ever be the same.
"We’re not trying to be preachy and say this is what you should or shouldn’t do, nobody knows the answers.
"But maybe by covering this story so sensitively and realistically it might get somebody just thinking differently."
Bonnie is hopeful families will "start talking" about such horrific events as a result of the BBC One soap’s plot.
She said: "I think a lot of families watch the soaps and if it gets a family talking and listening …
"How do we fix this? I don’t know. But maybe we can start talking about it and maybe through this forum it’s a way of saying, ‘Look what happens.’
"Life’s not pretty sometimes."
‘EastEnders’ teamed up with Brooke Kinsella to work on the storyline after her brother Ben was stabbed to death 10 years ago, and she is heart-broken that people are still being attacked in such a way so often.
Speaking in a joint interview with Bonnie on ‘Good Morning Britain’, she said "It breaks my heart in all honesty because the only thing that’s kept my family going these past 10 years is trying to make a difference so it doesn’t happen to somebody else’s family.
"And 10 years on, I’d give anything to say we’re in a better place, and Ben’s legacy has helped somewhat, but I can’t say that right now.
"This is why education is so important and that’s why we set Ben’s trust up, it’s to educate children.
"Firstly on choices and consequences, that’s what we try and teach young people. The smallest choice, the smallest mistake, one wrong look, one glance, it can lead to devastating consequences.
"There are children who think they’re better off, they’re better protected, if they carry a knife, and it’s proven that’s not the case. It’s such a waste of life."
EastEnders knife crime plot ‘to get darker’
