Next week on EastEnders, the new owners of The Vic are revealed, Nigel goes missing, Ravi is arrested, and a pregnancy storyline begins.
Here’s everything in store in Walford from Monday 21st to Thursday 24th July. Next week, EastEnders will air a double bill on Monday from 7:30pm, and single episodes on Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30pm.
1) Will Kat get The Vic?
With The Vic up for sale, the residents of Walford have been falling over themselves to buy their local pub, seemingly unfazed by the recent National Insurance hike and its effect on the wage bill, and the fact that 6 pubs close on average every week.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Ian (Adam Woodyatt) has been the most likely contender, and this week spoke to his bank about leveraging his other businesses to raise the funds needed to buy the pub.
However, Kat (Jessie Wallace), Stacey (Lacey Turner) and Jean (Gillian Wright) were horrified at the prospect of a Beale takeover, and set about trying to scare him off.
They pretended that Stacey had just won £100,000 on a scratchcard, using a fake card she’d bought from a joke shop to make him think they were going to outbid him for the business, but eventually admitted to him that it’d all been a lie.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Yet as if by magic, Stacey soon came into £100,000 for real, as a man from an insurance company arrived at No. 31, where he revealed that Martin (James Bye) had taken out a life insurance policy and left the money to her.
Glazing over the fact that £100,000 isn’t going to buy more than the back bedroom of the bit of East London real estate, Stacey plans on using her unexpected windfall to help Kat buy the pub she and Alfie (Shane Richie) ran between 2010 and 2012.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Next week, the Slater family are excited as they discuss Kat’s potential return to The Vic, but when both Ian and Yolande (Angela Wynter) express their doubts, Kat’s happiness is short-lived.
Meanwhile, Jean takes a call from Alfie, who has spent the past few weeks in Spain searching for Zoe (Michelle Ryan), who made a brief, unexpected reappearance last month.
Alfie asks Jean to pass a message on to Stacey, but when Jean gets distracted on the bap van, she fails to do so.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Later, as the auction gets underway at The Vic, the Slaters face off with the Beales to determine who will be the new owners of the beloved pub.
As Jean finally remembers to relay Alfie’s message to Stacey, will his update on Zoe throw a spanner in the works?
2) Suki and Vinny clash
Last week, Suki (Balvinder Sopal) was shocked to hear that her estranged daughter Ash had announced her engagement. Next week, things are tense at No. 41, as Suki snaps at Vinny as he expresses his delight at his sister’s big news.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Eve (Heather Peace) encourages Suki to make up with her son, and after some words of encouragement, Suki extends Vinny an olive branch.
However, their moment of reconciliation is short-lived when Suki finds out that Vinny is secretly planning on going to Ash’s engagement party.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
When Suki and Vinny end up in a heated argument, tensions fray as Vinny tells Suki what he really thinks about her parenting.
3) Kathy tries to get The Six off the hook
A couple of weeks ago, Bernie (Clair Norris) was caught stealing from the Panesars’ businesses, which she’d been left to manage in Nish’s (Navin Chowdhry) will.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
The thefts were Bernie’s way of getting back at the family for Suki’s part in covering up Keanu’s death, and Suki was eventually forced to let Bernie go with over £20,000 of the family’s money, in exchange for her silence.
However, Vicki (Alice Haig) – who was the one to uncover Bernie’s fraud – still has no idea about the cover-up.
With an absent Sharon (Letitia Dean) currently contemplating kicking Vicki out of No. 43 after she and Ross (Alex Walkinshaw) failed to pay back the money she lent them, Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) is forced to call Sharon and convince her to let Vicki stay in her house.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Can they talk her out of going to the police about Bernie’s actions?
4) Phil presses on with his plans for custody of Lola
This week, Phil (Steve McFadden) and Linda (Kellie Bright) headed upstairs at The Vic for a chat, just as Callum (Tony Clay) and Johnny (Charlie Suff) came out of Johnny’s bedroom.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Despite the fact they could have played it off as two friends hanging out together, Callum immediately panicked and told Phil that it wasn’t how it looked, immediately making Phil realise that it was exactly how it looked.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Furious that Callum had cheated on Ben, Phil grabbed Johnny by the neck, and it was on Linda and Jay (Jamie Borthwick) to get him to back off.
Shortly after, Phil made it clear to Callum that he wasn’t Lexi’s real family, and that Phil would be going for custody of his granddaughter.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Next week, Phil continues to make it clear to Jay that he thinks Lexi should live with him. Can Jay talk Phil around?
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
5) Nigel goes missing
Much of Phil’s anger stemmed from his upset at losing Nigel (Paul Bradley), who this week returned to Scotland with wife Julie (Karen Henthorn), despite Nigel struggling to remember their marriage.
Next week, Julie arrives back in Walford, where she confesses to Phil that Nigel has gone missing.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Phil panics, but Jay and Callum step in to track him down, and before long, Callum and Yolande manage to find him and bring him back to No. 55.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Will his unexpected return to Walford convince Julie that perhaps Nigel is better off staying on Albert Square?
6) Stacey leaves Kat devastated
With the auction just around the corner, Johnny, Elaine (Harriet Thorpe) and Linda are busy putting the finishing touches together at The Vic, as the bidders begin to turn up, including a property developer.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Meanwhile, across the square, Kat returns to No. 31 with some good news from her bank manager – it seems she’s got together the money she needs to put in a solid offer.
However, with Stacey having caught up with Alfie, she’s left in a quandary, as she tells a devastated Kat that she’s no longer going to be able to lend her the money.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
When Stacey confides in her mum, Jean jumps to the wrong conclusion and assumes that Alfie is away from Walford as he’s helping Hayley, with whom he shares daughter Cherry.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
After Jean offers Stacey some words of wisdom, Stacey reconsiders her loan offer – will she lend Kat the money after all, and where will that leave Alfie in his search for Zoe?
Stacey heads to give Kat the good news, leading to Jean, Freddie (Bobby Brazier) and Mo (Laila Morse) having to try to stall the auction, as a bidding war breaks out between Ian and the property developer.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Will Kat have time to save The Vic from a Beale takeover – or worse, the pub being knocked down and replaced with an apartment block?
7) Avani reveals that she’s pregnant
Avani (Aaliyah James) faced a traumatic bullying campaign after sleeping with Joel (Max Murray), but her ordeal is about to get a lot worse.
Next Tuesday, Avani appears distracted as something’s clearly on her mind. She tries to talk to Priya (Sophie Khan Levy) and Ravi (Aaron Thiara), but with both of them otherwise preoccupied, she seeks out Barney (Lewis Bridgeman) and reveals what’s worrying her.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
As the pair head to Harry’s Barn, Avani later returns home to take a pregnancy test, and the result soon comes back – she’s pregnant!
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
The following day, Avani tries to tell mum Priya about her pregnancy news, but she decides against it at the last minute.
However, she’s soon discovered by Suki as she looks at a family planning website, leading Avani to confess to her step-grandma that she’s pregnant and planning to get an abortion.
A day later, Suki heads to meet with the Granthi to discuss Avani’s pregnancy. Back on the square, Avani catches up with Barney, where she discusses the reasons why she doesn’t want to keep the baby.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Later, Eve expresses to Suki how distant she’s been recently, and Suki apologises as the pair make amends.
8) Phil decides to make more effort with Julie
Despite Nigel being found safe and sound, Phil continues to butt heads with Julie as they talk at No. 55.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Julie later heads to the café where she confides in Jay, who reconnected her with Nigel in the first place, while Yolande attempts to talk some sense into Phil.
The following day, as the pair both try to care for Nigel, things get off to a bad start as it becomes clear that they’ve both got a very different idea of Nigel’s likes and dislikes.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
However, after a chat with Billy (Perry Fenwick), Phil agrees to make more effort to work together with Julie.
9) Ravi is arrested
After Bernie ran off with the Panesars’ money, Ravi was left desperately trying to raise the cash to keep their various businesses afloat and pay their staff. Turning to Nicola (Laura Doddington), he asked for a dealer’s contact details, and was put in touch with Okie (Aayan Ibikunle Shoderu).
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
When Ravi stored his new car in The Arches, the boot of which was filled with £50,000 worth of drugs, Harry (Elijah Holloway) and Kojo (Dayo Koleosho) soon discovered the secret stash.
Kojo refused to continue working in the garage until the drugs were gone, but while Harry tried to get hold of Ravi to get him to move his car, Kojo was busy flushing the stash down the toilet.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Harry faked a break-in to hide what Kojo had done, but it wasn’t enough to convince Ravi, who knew that something was up. He now has Harry working for him, but next week sees things come crashing down for their new business partnership.
Nicola discovers that Harry is working for Ravi, and when she steals her son’s phone, she discovers exactly what’s going on. Tipping off Jack (Scott Maslen), the police soon swoop in and arrest Ravi and Okie!
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Ravi stays quiet as he’s questioned by the police, but they soon raid No. 41 looking for evidence of his criminal activities.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
As the Panesars panic, Priya springs into action and calls Harry to help shift drugs from one of Ravi’s other properties, with Kojo offering to help.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Is Kojo about to make the situation even worse?
10) Linda makes a mistake with Oscar
Oscar Branning (Pierre Moullier) returned to Albert Square this week, where he made quite the impression on his new neighbours after moving in with Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) and Peter (Thomas Law).
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Next week, Linda decides to tell Oscar that her daughter Annie’s father is actually Oscar’s dad Max Branning, making her Oscar’s half-sister. What she doesn’t expect is for Oscar to insist that Max should know the truth!
Linda faces an uphill battle as she tries to convince Oscar otherwise. With Max set to return to Walford in the weeks ahead, will Oscar tell his dad the truth?
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
11) Oscar is threatened
Oscar has spent much of the past week receiving threats via text message from his nemesis, Fat Mike, who promised he’d eventually track Oscar down and get revenge.
In the final episode of next week, Oscar wakes up after a one-night stand, and Jack has a word with him, telling him not to add any more pressure to Lauren and Peter, who already have enough stress in their lives.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
When Oscar discovered that baby Jimmy was born blind, he had an immediate change of attitude, and returned to his new job on the fruit and veg stall determined to make it a success to help his sister out.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Next week, he offers to babysit for Lauren and Peter, and the pair happily head off for a meal, but things take a dark turn when Fat Mike turns up at No. 25 and threatens Oscar!
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron
Lauren and Peter return home just as Mike scarpers, but not before he leaves a threat behind for Oscar to find…
Here are the EastEnders spoilers for next week:
Monday 21st July (Episode 7157)
The Slaters discuss an exciting potential venture, Vinny shares some harsh home truths, and Phil helps a friend in need.
Monday 21st July (Episode 7158)
Drama unfolds as The Vic auction looms, Phil and another resident fail to see eye to eye, and Nicola makes a situation worse for Harry.
Tuesday 22nd July (Episode 7159)
Linda wonders whether she has done the right thing, Avani attempts to process some news, and Harry tries to rectify a situation.
Thursday 24th July (Episode 7160)
Change is afoot in Walford as the new owner of The Vic takes the helm, trouble brews at No 25, and Suki gets some much-needed advice.
