As December 25 fast approaches, there’s no denying that the festive season is usually full of doom and gloom in soap land.
Emmerdale, EastEnders, Coronation Street and Hollyoaks all tend to save their most dramatic moments for the end of the year - and viewers can’t wait to tune in.
As well as eventful Christmas Days, the popular TV shows also provide plenty of drama - and often very sad scenes - as they ring in the New Year too.
Whether you're tuning in to BBC or ITV - or both - chances are you could be reaching for a box of tissues as well as the tin of chocolates as there's usually plenty of twists and turns as well as deaths.
From Walford siblings drowning together, to a tragic plane crash in the Dales, here we take a look back at the darkest New Year's Eve soap deaths…
EastEnders’ Dennis Rickman - 2005
Walford hunk Dennis Rickman was tragically murdered in scenes that left viewers heartbroken on December 30, 2005.
Dennis (played by Nigel Harman) was stabbed in the chest by one of gangster Johnny Allen's men, Danny Moon, after a brutal fight broke out between them.
Dennis died in partner Sharon’s arms in tragic scenes, as the rest of Albert Square rang in the New Year.
EastEnders’ Ronnie and Roxy - 2017
EastEnders viewers were stunned when 2017 began with a tragic drowning.
Sisters Ronnie (Samantha Womack) and Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) met their fate in the cruelest way when they died in a swimming pool together.
But many fans of the soap were also confused as to how they both drowned, and why Roxy didn’t manage to just swim back to the surface.
However, Roxy had been in a downhill spiral for weeks and had taken drugs prior to her death.
Also, the Mitchell sisters had downed a bottle of champagne each on the rooftop just before jumping into the pool.
While many viewers might be questioning why Roxy couldn’t just swim to safety, the likely explanation would be drugs and booze in her system left her unable to.
As for Ronnie, she was too worried about her sister to question how heavy her massive wedding dress would be when she jumped in to save her.
Coronation Street’s Dennis Stringer - 2002
The year 2002 started with a very sad death in Weatherfield as Dennis Stringer ended up dying in a car crash.
Dennis (Charles Dale) joined the soap in 2000 and ended up living with the Battersby family, but drama began when he and Janice Battersby fell for one another in 2001.
The pair left their respective partners to live together, but following this, Les Battersby (Bruce Jones) attempted suicide by gassing himself in his car.
Dennis prevented the suicide, but while driving Les to Weatherfield General, he sadly died in a head-on collision with another car.
Coronation Street’s Lewis Archer - 2019
Fast forward almost two decades, and things were still a bit gloomy as Coronation Street rang in another New Year.
On January 1, 2019, Lewis Archer (Nigel Havers) was killed off in a shock storyline.
Lewis had asked Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) to meet him at The Bistro, but when he failed to turn up, Audrey and her daughter Gail assume that he has fled town.
However, when Audrey returned home, she found Lewis' body in her bedroom and realises he is clutching an engagement ring.
That morning he'd been complaining of pains in his chest and arm, so it’s thought he died of a heart attack.
Emmerdale’s Tricia Dingle - 2003
Tricia Dingle (Sheree Murphy) sadly passed away on January 8, 2004, but it was a deadly storm on New Year's Eve in 2003 that led to her death.
Tragically, just as she was about to reconcile with husband Marlon Dingle, she was left fatally injured when lightning struck The Woolpack roof and caused it to tumble down on top of her.
She was walking towards the pub to meet him when she suddenly stumbled to the ground, after lightning hit the tree next to her.
But before she could get back up, the second bolt hit the roof and she didn't have time to get out of the way of the falling rubble.
Eight days later, Marlon (Mark Charnock) was left heartbroken as his wife's life support machine was switched off.
Emmerdale's plane crash - 1993
Not one, but four characters died following the Emmerdale plane crash on New Year’s Eve back in 1993.
Residents were left devastated when a Niklovic 745X wide-body airliner travelling to Canada from Eastern Europe suffered a structural failure at altitude and debris crashed into the village and surrounding countryside.
The four victims of the plane crash were Mark Hughes, Elizabeth Pollard, Archie Brooks and Leonard Kempinski.
Five other villagers, who were not characters in the serial, were also killed, as well as all 138 passengers and crew of the airliner.
The episode aired on 30 December 1993, and gave Emmerdale its highest-ever viewing figures of 18 million.
Hollyoaks’ Rob Hawthorn - 1999
Over 20 years ago, villain Rob Hawthorn met a very grisly end in Hollyoaks when he died in a bus explosion - which he had caused himself.
Airing on December 28th way back in 1999, the episode was set on New Year’s Eve and saw Rob’s plans backfire massively.
After torching Finn's bus in an attempt to kill Lucy and everyone else at the party on the bus, Rob became trapped and accidentally set himself alight.
Everyone managed to evacuate the bus, except for Rob who was killed when the bus exploded on the stroke of midnight.
Hollyoaks’ Rick Spencer - 2015
Sadly, Rick Spencer failed to enjoy the year 2015 after passing away on January 2.
Rick ended up in hospital after being knocked unconscious by Joe Roscoe, during a fight between Rick and Robbie.
Whilst in hospital, a mysterious figure entered Rick’s room and injected potassium chloride into his IV drip, causing him to go into cardiac arrest.
The doctors attempted to revive Rick to no avail and Joe was then arrested for Rick's murder.
In October 2015, it was finally revealed that The Gloved Hand Killer was Lindsey Roscoe.
