{"id":327504,"date":"2026-03-04T00:15:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T00:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/327504\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T00:15:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T00:15:12","slug":"eastenders-unleashes-max-brannings-dark-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/327504\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders unleashes Max Branning’s dark side"},"content":{"rendered":"

EastEnders spoilers<\/a> follow.<\/p>\n

EastEnders’ Max Branning showed his dark side tonight, ahead of his arrest for solicitation to murder<\/a> on New Year’s Day 2027. Max, who has been desperate to get on Linda Cater\u2019s good side, took things to the extreme to protect her and Johnny from evil Tim Walton.<\/p>\n

Thanks to January\u2019s flashforward episode<\/a>, fans know that Max will be arrested on New Year’s Day 2027 as he prepares to marry a mystery woman. <\/p>\n

Since his return to the Square, viewers have seen Max grow closer to Linda, even after she kept the secret of Annie\u2019s paternity from him. <\/p>\n

Last month, Max and Linda shared a kiss as he lent her support when she found out her son Ollie was being bullied.<\/p>\n

\"max<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services<\/a><\/p>\n

But Linda soon regretted the kiss when she realised Max had been protecting his grandson Louie by not revealing he was Ollie\u2019s tormentor. <\/p>\n

She later told Max they could never be together<\/a> as it was too much of a risk for both her and Annie. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Linda\u2019s son Johnny has found himself at the mercy of sinister Tim, who has invested in his business. <\/p>\n

Tim, an old associate of Johnny\u2019s, first appeared last year and seemed unusually keen on Johnny\u2019s new boyfriend Callum. <\/p>\n

Recently Tim asked Callum to dig up some dirt on a competitor and when the policeman refused, Tim set him up by faking a message from Ben. <\/p>\n

\"tim<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

This led to Callum, Kathy, and Ian breaking into Tim\u2019s house, with their escapade being caught on video. Tim then threatened to give the video to the police<\/a>, potentially ruining Callum\u2019s career. <\/p>\n

He then coerced Johnny into sleeping with him to stop him from handing the video over to the police. <\/p>\n

When Linda found out what happened to her son, she spilled all to Max who decided to take matters into his own hands to help her. <\/p>\n

On tonight\u2019s episode Linda watched as Max, posing as a cabbie, drove off with Tim. Linda frantically told Johnny what happened, saying she was scared Max would kill Tim. <\/p>\n

\"max<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

But when Callum overheard, Johnny was forced to confess that he had slept with Tim. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, after driving Tim away from the Square, Max stopped the car saying he had a flat tyre and needed help. When Tim went to look in the back, Max pushed him inside the boot and shut the lid.<\/p>\n

Back at home, Johnny explained to Callum that he didn\u2019t sleep with Tim by choice, instead he was coerced into it in order to get the incriminating video of Callum deleted. <\/p>\n

Johnny then blamed Linda for what had happened, telling Callum she knew that Tim had set him up and wanted to test his loyalty to Ben. <\/p>\n

\"tim<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Callum ended up comforting Johnny, telling him: \u201cWhatever Max is up to I hope he kills him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max was then shown with Tim still in the boot of his car, taunting him by pretending to pour petrol over it. <\/p>\n

When Max opened the boot he told him: \u201cYou hurt a mate of mine. I want you to stay away from Johnny and stay away from Linda.”<\/p>\n

Tim then called Linda \u201cderanged\u201d and Max shut the boot again as Tim pleaded for him to stop.<\/p>\n

Max then told him: \u201cYou\u2019re going to pay that money, even penny and then you\u2019re going to stay away from them, stay away from Walford or else I\u2019m going to kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then threw Tim out of the boot and gave him a kick before driving off. <\/p>\n

\"tim<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: EastEnders reveals special episode in dramatic Clare Bates return week<\/a><\/p>\n

When Max returned home to the B&B he told Linda he\u2019d just had \u201ca chat\u201d with Tim and he wouldn\u2019t be bothering the Carters again.<\/p>\n

Linda told him she\u2019d ruined everything with Johnny but Max assured her it would all be okay as Oscar eventually forgave him.<\/p>\n

Later, Linda saw Johnny and Callum on the Square but when she tried to apologise Johnny told her he was moving out and they were \u201cdone\u201d.<\/p>\n

Do Max\u2019s actions tonight hint that he will only become darker as we get closer to New Year\u2019s Day? <\/p>\n

And with Linda now having lost her son, will she be pushed back closer to Max after he proved his willingness to protect her at all costs? <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

For exclusive soap star interviews, gossip, spoilers and theories every week, don’t miss the Soap Scoop podcast<\/a> from Inside Soap magazine. The latest episode<\/a> delves into next week\u2019s soap spoilers for EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale – featuring Leanne\u2019s new discovery about Megan, Graham\u2019s bold idea for Rhona, and more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EastEnders spoilers follow. EastEnders’ Max Branning showed his dark side tonight, ahead of his arrest for solicitation to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[131124,1105,151472,1107,93,61,60,1135,151471,131322,282],"class_list":["post-327504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-fbdae6f7-a440-4b03-a39f-a95775988a29","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-eastenders-unleashes-maxs-dark-side-ahead-of-murder-twist","tag-subsection-eastenders","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}