EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders’ Max Branning makes a surprise return to Albert Square later this month, fuelling an explosive chain of events. His homecoming shatters the lives of several residents, and leaves more than one family wishing he’d stayed away…
“With impeccable timing, Max turns up unannounced on the day of the fire at No.25,” says our Walford insider. “Nobody’s exactly rolling out the red carpet for him, but Max doesn’t care – and soon makes his presence felt…”
Within hours of his reappearance, Max is holding a vigil at Oscar’s bedside as his son recovers from the fire. Max also comes face-to-face with ex-lover Zoe, who also survived the blaze thanks to Oscar’s act of bravery.
The last time Zoe saw Max, he rejected her – hoping for another chance with her cousin Stacey, only to be kicked to the curb by her too as she jetted off to Brazil.
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That’s not the only blast from the past for Max, as he sees Linda Carter for the first time in nearly five years. The pair had a fraught fling that ended badly when Linda realised she still loved husband Mick.
After being on a cruise for the last few months, Linda is also back in Walford at the same time as her former lover. Agreeing to a drink at the Albert with Max, Linda is uneasy as her old flame still has no idea little Annie is his daughter, the product of their ill-fated affair.
Is Linda going to come clean about the paternity secret, seeing as Oscar and Lauren both know they have a half-sister?
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Photographer://BBC
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Talking of Lauren, she’s also hiding her shameful theft of Jimmy’s charity money after being scammed by a bogus doctor. Only Ian is aware of what she did, and Max is suspicious when he clocks the odd atmosphere between his daughter and her father-in-law, who clearly have something to hide.
Confiding in brother Jack that he reckons something is going on between Lauren and Ian, seething Max then makes an outrageous declaration in The Vic…
“The punters are practically spitting out their beer after they hear what Max has to say,” says our source. “But the twists keep on coming, as further info comes to light shifting the focus onto Lauren.
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“Suddenly on the backfoot, Max finds himself having to leap to his daughter’s aid as the pub reels from all the revelations.”
What secrets have been spilled? And can Max make amends for the sins of his past?
These scenes will air on Wednesday, 17 December and Thursday, 18 December.
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.
Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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