EASTENDERS legend Martin Fowler is laid to rest in emotional scenes – but the sombre occasion is thrown into chaos by a shocking crime.
As Walford gathers to say goodbye, a drunk and heartbroken Stacey Slater makes a dramatic return, but her grief soon turns to horror when an unexpected betrayal rocks the Square.
As emotions run high, a drunken Stacey stumbles home, leaving Sonia desperately trying to sober her up before the funeral.
But when Stacey refuses to attend, tensions boil over with Lily.
At the wake, Ruby’s simmering resentment explodes into a dramatic showdown with Stacey.
Later, a furious confrontation at the allotment leads to explosive revelations that could shatter any hope of peace between them.
Meanwhile, Lily is led astray by Avani and hits the bottle – only for Stacey to find her daughter drunk.
But before she can make things right, tragedy strikes again as Martin’s market stall is torched.
Determined to get justice, Stacey vows to track down the culprit.
But when Ruby suddenly flees the Square, is she running from more than just her past?
EastEnders viewers know that Martin was tragically killed in the Queen Vic explosion last month.
He died in the arms of his ex-wife Stacey from a fatal injury after a ceiling beam fell and crushed him.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”EastEnders’ Sonia Fowler breaks tragic news of Martin’s death to daughter Bex in first look clip – as fans predict her return” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6369216334112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Before he passed away, Martin asked Stacey to marry him and they exchanged vows in emotional scenes.
However, Ruby still believes Martin wanted to be with her, causing tension between the families.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D110985%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]Can the Walford residents move forward after such a devastating loss?
Bex returns to Walford ahead of Martin’s funeral.
She asks her mum to accompany her at the undertakers to say goodbye to Martin, but an overcome Sonia can’t bring herself to go.
Elsewhere, Martin’s niece Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) also arrives to join her relatives.
Vicki will set foot in Walford for the first time in over 20 years to attend her Uncle Martin’s funeral, bringing her new boyfriend Ross and his son Joel with her.
As Ross starts to introduce himself to Vicki’s wider family in the Square, will he win them over, or just leave them with more questions than answers?
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One at 7:30pm or stream from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
