EastEnders' Laurie Brett tried to make 'drunk' joke after Jo Joyner's live episode howler

Laurie Brett tried to make a "drunk" joke to cover for Jo Joyner\'s infamous \'EastEnders\' howler.

The 51-year-old star - who played Jane Beale on and off from 2004 until her exit in 2017 - has opened up on the soap\'s 30th anniversary live episode five years ago, during which her co-star Jo (Tanya Branning) accidentally referred to Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale) by his real name rather than his character.

Appearing on \'The One Show\', Laurie said: "The whole country knew it was live then, and she\'s a fantastic actress. Everybody felt for her.

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"The problem was I had no lines to say afterwards! I was thinking, \'What can I say?\'

"I was about to say, \'Tanya, have you been drinking?\' when a third AD [assistant director], Tish, took this really massive decision to throw Mimi [Keene], who played Cindy, on early.

"For a third AD to take that chance, and think, \'Is this the right thing to do?\' was really brave, so everybody just pulled together."

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Laurie joked her co-star Mimi "got thrown through the door" while she was still trying to come up with an improvised line to cover the mistake.

She added: "As I say, I was trying to think of something to say. Jo held it together. I held it together. Like I say, someone took the decision to throw Mimi on rather quickly. I think she got thrown through the door."

The classic episode - which was a huge part of the \'Who Killed Lucy Beale?\' storyline - was shown again on BBC One this week.

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Reflecting on the murder mystery and the big reveal that Jane\'s stepson Bobby Beale - then played by Eliot Carrington - was behind Lucy\'s (Hetti Bywater) death, Laurie insisted she was determined not to ruin the surprise.

She explained: "There were three cast members who knew the secret for about three or four months. How do you keep a secret? You tell no-one, but everyone and their dog was trying to get it from us."