Why is Eastenders not on tonight? BBC soap removed from schedule and will not air tonight - here’s why

Eastenders usually airs on Monday through to Thursday but will not air tonight - and here’s why
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Eastenders fans will be disappointed that they won’t be able to get their soap fix tonight (February 8) as the show has been removed from the BBC schedule due to fourth round FA Cup coverage of Sunderland vs Fulham.

Eastenders is not the only British soap to have its schedule disrupted due to FA Cup coverage in recent weeks. Twice in January, Coronation Street was removed from the ITV schedule twice due to coverage of Arsenal v Oxford and Manchester United v Everton.

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Coverage on both ITV and BBC has been heavily disrupted in the last couple of months, largely due to both channels comprehensively covering the Qatar 2022 World Cup, which ended a week before Christmas Day.

Fans of Eastenders will not miss out on an episode, however, as Wednesday’s episode (February 8) will now air on Friday (February 10), a night when Eastenders is usually off air, meaning viewers will not miss out on the full complement of weekly episodes.

It comes during a week full of big storylines starting to develop. Tomorrow night will see Nish and Vinny go behind Suki’s back. Whitney makes an important decision, and Lola confronts her past.

Friday’s episode will see Reiss discover a potential bump regarding his hopeful romance with Sonia. Reiss was introduced to the soap in January as Sonia’s love interest, but things have yet to be plain sailing.

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Meanwhile Nish puts his new plan into action, and Lola revaluates her time. Lola has been terminally ill for some time now, and has been the centre of other storylines involving her daughter and mother, and recently married her long-term love interest Jay.

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