 The storyline captivated the public's imagination leading to thousands of bets being placed at the bookies across the UK — bookmaker William Hill said that around 50,000 bets were made on who was responsible.An estimated 22 million viewers watched "EastEnders" on 5 April 2001 to find out that Lisa Shaw (Lucy Benjamin) — Phil's former girlfriend — was the culprit.The episode caused the third-largest TV pickup power surge on record
and the Liverpool and Barcelona UEFA Cup semi-final was postponed for 15 minutes to accommodate a special 40 minute edition of the soap.