The teenager has revealed some shock home truths from his time away from Walford

Oscar is currently living with his sister Lauren(Image: BBC)
EastEnders fans have called out a former Albert Square character over their ‘unfair’ treatment of Oscar Branning.

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Now played by Pierre Moullier, the son of Max and Tanya Branning made his return to the BBC soap for the first time in eight years on Monday night (July 14).

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Pierre has made quite the impression as Oscar, who was first played by Gabriel Miller-Williams from 2007 until 2008 before Neo Hall took on the role.

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Last seen paying a brief visit to Max on Father’s Day, viewers were reunited with Oscar at a youth detention centre, where he called his sister Lauren Branning for help.

The teenager’s first four episodes have seen him navigating Walford with a sense of humour and light-heartedness not normally seen on the programme.

From only referring to Ian Beale as ‘Brian’ to constantly flirting with Peter Beale, Oscar is clearly someone who says anything that comes to his mind.

In an attempt to make sure he stays out of trouble, Oscar has been trusted with working on the square’s fruit and vegetable stall, which was previously owned by the late Martin Fowler.

Viewers have been concerned that Oscar is in more trouble than he’s letting on, receiving threatening messages from a gang over something he did prior to his return.

Jo Joyner played Oscar’s mum Tanya Branning(Image: BBC)
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On top of this, details about Oscar’s family life have painted him in a sympathetic light, with the character not seeing his dad Max since 2022 and his mum Tanya kicking him out of his house when the gang petrol bombed her house.

In Wednesday’s (July 17) episode, Lauren was stunned to discover that Tanya never informed Oscar that his nephew Jimmy is blind.

Over on the EastEnders Reddit page, viewers have taken issue with how Tanya has approached parenting her clearly wayward son.

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Raising the issue, @big_white_fishie said: “What was her plan? Oscar is 17 so had to go home with a relative. Tanya refused to pick him up. So what did she think was going to happen? Was she trying to force Max to go and get him? Was she hoping that he’d go into foster care? Or be sent back in?

“She must have known there was a chance that Lauren would get called – Lauren who has enough on her plate as it is. She didn’t think to warn Lauren? Does present day Tanya even like her kids?

“She didn’t tell Lauren her house was petrol bombed, didn’t tell Lauren that Oscar was in a youth detention centre, and didn’t tell Oscar that Jimmy was blind. Pretty crucial information to not tell your kids, no? I love Tanya but come on writers!”

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The post in question saw fans trying to figure out what’s going on with Tanya, who was played by Jo Joyner between 2006 and 2016.

@Awkward_Un1corn wrote: “I think this post-breakdown Tanya. She lost Abi and it broke her, so when things get tough maybe she just ignores them. She doesn’t have the bandwidth to handle them so she just pretends they aren’t happening.”

@Any_Listen_7306 wrote: “Annoyingly, there was no way Oscar was waiting to be picked up – the house is assessed first, then paperwork processed, then they are released on tag.” @bulldog_blues posted: “Most likely she’s struggling to cope so buried her head in the sand about everything and never even thought to tell Lauren about it.”

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@RevolutionaryLook424 commented: “I’m sure I recall Lauren saying ‘mum’s calling again’ or something along those lines recently, but Lauren didn’t pick up due to being busy with the Peter/Jimmy issues. So I was presuming Tanya was trying to call to tell her about Oscar then? But it wasn’t exactly a huge attempt made on Tanya’s behalf I guess, she could have left a message!”