With Christmas approaching, EastEnders is piling on the drama – with Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) central to a devastating series of events.
With her addiction consuming her, Linda reacts terribly to Elaine’s (Harriet Thorpe) intervention and things get seriously out of hand.
Alone, drunk and self-destructive, Linda soon finds herself in the midst of a terrifying night.
Speaking of terrifying experiences, it seems like looming Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) is about to carry out the first phase of his vengenace.
And Denise Fox (Diane Parish) is the target.
Elsewhere, after a baby scare, Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) finds herself in a showdown with Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), who issues an ultimatum.
Monday December 16
Faced with Elaine’s ultimatum, Linda chooses the bottle and leaves and a dangerous night of alcohol abuse ensues.
Tuesday December 17
Lauren is struggling with her withdrawal symptoms but refuses Cindy’s offer of more pills.
When her symptoms worsen, oblivious Peter rushes Lauren to the hospital as she fears she’s hurt the baby.
A sᴄᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴꜰɪʀᴍs ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀʙʏ ɪs ᴏᴋ ᴀɴᴅ Cɪɴᴅʏ ɪs ʜᴏʀʀɪꜰɪᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀʟɪsᴇ Lᴀᴜʀᴇɴ ɪs ᴜsɪɴɢ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ.
Away from Peter and Ian, Cindy and Lauren have a vicious showdown, and Cindy delivers an ultimatum – either Lauren tells Peter the truth, or she will.
Ruby and Martin get the devastating news that the donor liver for Roman’s transplant isn’t viable.
However, the doctors confirm Martin is a match and could be Roman’s best hope. To Ruby’s shock and relief, Martin immediately agrees.
Lily gets upset when she realises Martin will undergo surgery to save his son, fearing what will happen to his other kids if something goes wrong.
Later, during a heart-to-heart with Stacey, Martin admits his fears and, after an emotional moment, tries to kiss her.
Kim faces some obstacles as she works towards the Christmas Eve carol concert.
Wednesday December 18
Cindy piles the pressure on Lauren while Peter confides in Ian about his fears over Lauren’s mood swings.
Ian suggests that he should cheer her up by proposing, as it will show Lauren that he’ll be sticking around to co-parent with her this time.
Stacey and Martin are both confused by the kiss and Stacey ends up confiding in Jean.
Avani manages to convince Denise to let her have a casual job in the salon. Later, Jack lets Denise know there’s been a suspected sighting of Nish by an anonymous caller.
Avani and Denise are in the salon when two masked men break in and say Nish sent them.
Thursday December 19
Jean is busy preparing for Christmas as Stacey frets over Martin.
Ravi, having consoled Avani after the ordeal, goes over to confront Denise but finds her in the middle of a panic attack.
After calming Denise, Ravi quizzes her on why she’s so frightened of Nish coming back but will she admit the truth?
