EastEnders actor Danny-Boy Hatchard, who plays Lee Carter, has opened up about his characters extremely powerful and incredibly important suicide storyline.
The BBC1 soap have been handling Lee Carter's depression storyline with grace and dignity over the past few months, working closely alongside charity Samaritans to try and raise awareness of depression and suicide in young men – hoping that Lee's storyline would convince others in a similar situation to ask for help.
Tonight's episode was a hard watch for all as we watched Lee contemplate suicide after things got too much for him following a horrific day at work. However, thanks to a unknown parking attendant, played by the outstanding Sally Rogers, who made him see his life through someone else's eyes.
We saw Lee berate his Dad, his siblings and his wife in the emotional scenes - coming to the conclusion that he just wasn't good enough and didn't deserve happiness.
A happy ending for Lee is looking less likely by the day as viewers already know that Danny-Boy will be leaving the soap in the near future.
And even though Lee has reconciled with his wife Whitney, his story is far from over yet. We all know that Lee was involved in the robbery that scared his family senseless and surely it's only a matter of time before his dad, Mick Carter, finds out the truth.
Danny-Boy teased what happens next to RadioTimes.com:
"I think this is one of Lee’s biggest worries. Lee ultimately put Ollie’s life at risk and he knows that’s unforgivable. It would be a tough truth for Mick to hear…"
Talking about taking on such a heartbreaking storyline, Danny-Boy told Press Association: "Of course it is a lot of pressure but I think I’m more honoured than anything, because someone has to do it.
"I think it’s become such a common thing, not just people who suffer with mental illness, also people who don’t understand it and form a stigma around it.
"I think that kind of drive to abolish that stigma and to encourage people who are suffering to talk and to know that it is OK, the way that they are feeling…
"It’s a responsibility I’m happy to take."
Danny-Boy also had a few words to say to some horrible Twitter trolls who doubted Lee's performance and think that his characters should just 'man up' and 'deal with life'.
Replying back to a nasty tweet, Danny-Boy wrote: "Theres clearly still a lot of work needing to be done for mental health awareness, because morons like this exist."
And with EastEnders also airing a huge twist that saw a 'reformed' Max Branning self harm as a way of coping with the demons that have plagued him for the past year - it's even more clear that EastEnders are tackling even more extremely important social issues and bringing them to the forefront.
**EastEnders continues New Years Day on BBC1 at 7pm. You'll be a fool to miss it. **
You can call Samaritans anytime of day free of charge on 116123, or email jo@samaritans.org or find the details for your local branch at www.samaritans.org.