EastEnders pays tribute to Michael Owen Morris after long-serving director's death

EastEnders has shared a touching tribute to Michael Owen Morris, following his death earlier this year. Morris was one of EastEnders' longest-serving directors, having worked on the soap for 16 years.

During that time, Morris collaborated with a number of executive producers such as Louise Berridge, Kate Harwood, Diederick Santer, Bryan Kirkwood, Lorraine Newman, Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Sean O'Connor, John Yorke, and Kate Oates.

Tonight's episode of EastEnders is dedicated to Morris' memory and features a tribute to the director, which is shown following the end credits.

Related: EastEnders pays tribute as fan favourite Derek Martin dies, aged 92

Morris first joined the soap in 2003 and was trusted with various special features, including the 2004 spin-off Pat and Mo.

Set in the 1950s, the hour-long episode explored the backstory of Pat Evans (Pat St. Clement) and Mo Harris (Laila Morse), which led to their enduring feud.

He also served as a producer on several episodes before leaving in 2019.

Morris later returned to EastEnders in 2023 to direct the episode explaining Cindy Beale's shocking rise from the dead. The character was supposedly killed off in 1998, but was revealed to be alive in France with Ian and Peter Beale.

The episode explored why Cindy was forced to fake her death and live under a new identity. It also explained her connection to the Knight family and her reaction to her daughter Lucy's death in 2014.

As well as working on EastEnders, Morris' other credits include The Onedin Line, Doctor Who, Vanity Fair, Tenko, Holby City and Casualty.

EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.