Coming up next week on EastEnders, Tommy’s aggression toward Kat intensifies, Ian expresses his desire to remarry Cindy, Denise works to calm rising tensions, and David Wicks makes a surprising return.
Here’s what’s happening in Walford from Monday 7th to Thursday 10th October.
1) David Wicks returns
In the closing moments of today’s episode, David Wicks (played by Michael French) makes a surprising return to Walford, joining several other characters set to come back ahead of EastEnders’ 40th anniversary next year.
David, Bianca’s (Patsy Palmer) father, was last seen in May 2014 when he left for a new life in America.
Earlier this year, Bianca mentioned she hadn’t been in touch with her dad for years, so his sudden return to Albert Square is bound to stir up strong emotions for her. At the moment, Bianca is focused on proving that Reiss (Jonny Freeman) – not Sonya (Natalie Cassidy) – was responsible for Debbie’s (Jenny Meier) death.
Bianca isn’t the only one taken aback by David’s return – years ago, David had an affair with Cindy (Michelle Collins) while she was married to his half-brother Ian (Adam Woodyatt).
Now that Cindy and Ian are back together, and Cindy is involved in yet another affair, this time with Junior (Micah Balfour), things are set to become extremely tense.
Oh, plus there’s the small matter that David still thinks Cindy is dead!
On Monday, Cindy is unsettled by the sight of her old flame returning to the Square and tries to avoid him.
She confides in George (Colin Salmon) about why David’s presence is making her anxious, and George advises her to face it head-on.
Later, when David meets with Reiss to understand his daughter’s current emotional turmoil, he’s left shocked when he comes face-to-face with Cindy – very much alive and standing right in front of him!
As Cindy and David catch up, there’s a lot to go through as they fill in the gaps from their 20 years apart.
Later, David and Bianca reconnect and share some heartfelt conversations. The question remains: will David’s return be the support Bianca needs to help stabilize her fragile emotional state?
2) Denise prepares to reveal the truth
After hearing about Pastor Clayton’s (Howard Saddler) death, Denise (Diane Parish) cuts her trip short and returns to Walford next week. She has an emotional conversation with Yolande (Angela Wynter), who is struggling with the reality that her former abuser will never face justice.
As Yolande emphasizes the importance of honesty and truth in her conversation with Denise, it prompts Denise to realize that she must come clean about the incident at Peggy’s. The chaos was caused by her daughter Chelsea’s (Zaraah Abrahams) decision to tamper with the club’s booking system, leading to 100 extra tickets being made available.
Denise has been weighed down by guilt ever since finding out about Chelsea’s secret, and she tentatively shares her feelings about her lies.
With Yolande’s remarks about the damaging effects of dishonesty echoing in her mind, Denise resolves to come clean to Jack (Patsy Palmer) about the situation – that Chelsea was the one responsible for the crush!
But will she be able to go through with it?
3) Are Ian and Cindy getting married?
Last week, Alfie secured a job at the Minute Mart, just days after being let go from the bookies for closing the shop early to spend some quality time with his troubled son, Tommy (Sonny Kendall).
As Kat (Jessie Wallace) informs the boys that Alfie has landed the manager’s position at the supermarket, across the road, Ian is busy sharing with Peter (Thomas Law) and Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) that he and Cindy might be tying the knot again, although he confesses that he botched the proposal.
How will Cindy react to Ian’s plans for another wedding, especially since she’s secretly involved with Junior?
4) Ian doesn’t waste any time
Ian’s plans hit another snag when he finds out from Bianca that David is back in the Square.
Determined not to let David’s return interfere with his proposal plans, Ian seeks out Anna (Molly Rainford) to apologize for the way he’s treated her since Bobby’s (Clay Milner Russell) departure a couple of weeks ago. He shares with her that he has grand plans for Cindy.
What does he have in mind?
5) Tommy causes more problems
Next week, financial troubles persist for the Moons, and troubled teen Tommy plans to steal from the café to support his parents. However, Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) catches him in the act.
When Kathy goes to see Kat to update her on Tommy’s attempted theft, she advises Kat to have a serious conversation with him.
However, when Kat later attempts to address the issue, things take a turn for the worse, as Tommy physically intimidates her.
EastEnders producers have already announced that Tommy will be involved in a parental abuse storyline in the coming months, as he starts to use his behavior to control and dominate Kat.
Chris Clenshaw, the show’s outgoing Executive Producer, stated: “Jessie [Wallace] and Sonny’s [Kendall] performances have sensitively depicted the complex realities of child-to-parent abuse with compassion and understanding.
This storyline will highlight how Tommy’s behavior impacts their relationship and the broader Slater-Moon family dynamics.”
6) Jack struggles
Jack feels overwhelmed as he tries to manage the household on his own while also caring for Amy (Ellie Dadd), who is still in a wheelchair following the incident at Peggy’s.
Despite still holding Penny responsible for the accident, Jack reluctantly agrees to let her go over to No. 27 to support her half-sister, giving him a much-needed break.
Later, Jack is pleased to find Amy in a much better mood after Penny’s visit, but he accidentally ruins it with a thoughtless comment, leaving Penny upset and sparking a major argument between them.
Tommy Ruins the Mood Again
On Wednesday, Jay’s (Jamie Borthwick) 30th birthday arrives, and as he shares a touching video message left for him by his late wife Lola (Danielle Harold) with Kat and Phil (Steve McFadden), Tommy walks in and disrupts the moment.
Kat asks Tommy to keep it down, but he responds with vicious rudeness, leaving Phil shocked by the way the teenager speaks to his mother.
Later, the situation escalates when Kat attempts to confront Tommy about his theft from the café. She grabs him to talk, but what happens next?
8) Denise tries to ease tensions
After learning about the ongoing issues between Penny and Jack, Denise resolves to mend their troubled relationship by inviting them both to Denzel’s (Jaden Ladega) 16th birthday party.
Later, as they make their way to the Branning house, Jack expresses his gratitude to Denise for all she’s done for their family.
While he delivers an emotional speech about how incredible she is, one has to wonder if lingering feelings exist between the estranged husband and wife, just weeks after they decided to move forward with their divorce.
Cindy Juggles Tricky Situations
In her final trip to Albert Square next week, Cindy faces a challenging night as she is forced to navigate several complicated situations at once.
When Junior later confides in George about his mystery woman, he reveals that his feelings for Cindy are weighing heavily on his heart. Junior admits to a curious George that what began as a fling has evolved into something much more serious.
However, with Cindy possibly marrying Ian again, does she truly feel the same way about Junior as he does about her?
