He met his maker earlier this week.
But eagle-eyed EastEnders fans are convinced that Ray Kelly is still alive after they noticed a bizarre detail.
Earlier this week, the ex-policeman was shot dead by his stepson, Hunter, after he tried to strangle Mel – for the second time.
Fans quickly became convinced that Ray was still alive after they noticed he was still breathing, taking to Twitter to point out the awkward error.
You can see Ray breathing #Eastenders pic.twitter.com/ZCW16FhiRm
— Ash Skinner (@Villaboy89) January 4, 2019
Either he’s crap at acting dead or he’s actually alive cos I’ve just saw Ray breathing 😂 #eastenders
— Bekka Forsyth (@Bekka_Matthews) January 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/MrNoseyUK/status/1081280232131358723
https://twitter.com/jesslauren93x/status/1081281205176287243
Quite clearly seeing Ray breathing as Mel digs hole! #Eastenders
— Del Bird (@01DelBird) January 4, 2019
Ray is quite clearly still alive and is gunna come back to the square. I can’t be the only one that saw he was clearly still breathing after being shot??? #EastEnders
— Paj 🦋 (@paigeharvey_) January 5, 2019
After Hunter shot Ray in the chest, he and his mum, Mel, searched throughout the surrounding woodlands to find the bullet shell. They then buried him in the forest.
If he were actually still alive, it wouldn’t be the first time that EastEnders has brought back a character from the dead in recent weeks.
The soap featured four ‘back from the dead’ plot lines throughout the holidays, with Stuart Highway, Alfie Moon, Ray Kelly and Mel Hunter all dodging death (well, OK, it caught up with Ray in the end).
Stuart was beaten by Mick Carter, who he had wrongly sent to jail for shooting him, but came back in the next episode.
Then, Alfie was through to be dead after he was pushed down the stairs during a row with the Slaters – although he was also alive, managing to sneak out the house with his and Hayley’s daughter, Cherry.
Mel was also left for dead after Ray strangled her with her veil on their wedding day, leaving her body in a cupboard – only for her to reappear.
She ended up running over Ray with her car, before burying him in the forest. However, he climbed out of the shallow grave to attack her.
