Inside Soap UK 24 - 2020

So, our fears have become reality – EastEnders is coming off the air, albeit temporarily, after running out of episodes filmed before the current crisis. It’ll be the first time in 35 years that the show hasn’t been on screen, and I’ll be lost without my Walford fix, as I know you guys will be too. But never fear, Inside Soap is here to fill the gap, with some great “Inside Soap is here to fill the Walford gap…” EastEnders treats in store to keep the fires burning in the weeks ahead. And as the Square gears up to resume production, Corrie and Emmerdale are already filming, meaning this is a very exciting time. Soon, we’ll have news of new plots, exciting fresh actor castings and behind-the-scenes snaps. Like so…

This week, soulmates Peter and Carla face their biggest test since they reignited their love story – after she is forced to confess to committing a huge betrayal during her breakdown last year. Carla is finally able to piece together the fragments of her lost weekend after stranger Chelsey rocks up on the Street again, along with a man named Jordan – who also claims to know Carla very well. The swindlers then proceed to blackmail her for money in exchange for keeping shtum about what happened when she disappeared – leaving her with zero choice but to tell Peter the heartbreaking truth… “Peter and Carla are very much the Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor of the cobbles – and they are at their best at their most explosive,” shared…

Peter’s anger after discovering the truth about Carla’s lost weekend looks set to propel him into dangerous and violent territory. Following Carla’s confrontation, Jordan and Chelsey are marched out from the Rovers by B&B guest Scott, with Carla hoping she never hears from the pair again. However, after some time has passed, a story is broadcast over a local radio station reporting that a man and a woman from a local estate have been seriously assaulted. Peter immediately takes the opportunity to turn down the volume so that Carla doesn’t hear the report. Has Peter taken matters into his own hands, and dispensed his very own form of justice upon Chelsey and Jordan? “Ultimately, Peter will come to love Carla all the more for her mistake, and will be proud…

The future of the Queen Victoria public house hangs in the balance this week, as landlady Linda changes her mind about selling to Phil. Even though Linda agrees with hubby Mick that it’s time to move out – given her battle with alcoholism – and the sale is all poised to go through, Linda suddenly announces she no longer wants to hand it over to Phil any more. But although she cites the way he’s treating wife Sharon as the reason, is there more to Linda’s change of heart than meets the eye? “Mick turns to Sharon for help with Linda…” “It looked as if Linda and Phil were forging an odd kind of friendship when he agreed to be her AA sponsor recently,” our Walford spy reminds us. “She…

2014 Less than a year after moving into the pub, Linda is raped by her brother-in-law Dean on the kitchen table. It takes her months to tell husband Mick what happened. 2015 While pregnant with son Ollie, Linda falls down the stairs, sending her into premature labour! Thankfully, baby Ollie arrives safe and sound. 2016 A fight between Mick and Linda’s children Nancy and Lee leads them to knock poor Ollie out of his high chair! The lad stops breathing, and later suffers a seizure. 2017 Aunt Babe puts a curse on the pub after the Carter family throws her out! Was it just coincidence that the pub’s roof collapsed shortly after? 2018 Stuart frames Mick for shooting him – resulting in Mick being banged up! As if that wasn’t…

The truth about Mandy’s painful past is finally revealed this week, as she confides in Vinny about an incident from 15 years ago. The pair are in lockdown together at the salon after being kicked out of the Dingle homestead, amid fears Mandy could be a coronavirus ‘superspreader’. It’s not massively comfortable, but Mandy and Vinny are making the best of it as they have a laugh trying to crack Leyla’s locked prosecco fridge. Yet when the subject of Vinny’s father Paul comes up, hidden truths come tumbling out… “A massive secret is revealed within the episode that Mandy has been keeping for 15 years,” reveals Lisa Riley, who plays her. “The episode has been so well written, and it is so exciting. I was flattered to be involved in…