All eyes are on the Brannings this Christmas – but EastEnders’ fans know that New Year’s Day also brings huge storylines for the BBC drama.
We can reveal that the big plot for the hour-long special focuses around pub landlord, Mick Carter, as his desperate attempt to save The Vic from financial ruin sees him turn to the dark side.
Mysterious newcomer Aidan Maguire lures Mick into his decidedly dodgy dealings – and it’s this storyline that’s set to kick 2018 off with a bang.
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With Phil Mitchell, Vincent Hubbard and Keanu Taylor all lined up to help Aidan with his shifty work, Mick finally gives in and agrees to join the gang – desperate to find a way to keep a roof over his family’s head.
But as usual, the illegal job doesn’t get off to the smoothest of starts when Mick’s mum, Shirly, gets wind of what’s going on and tries to stop him going through with his money-making plan.
With Shirley getting involved, Mick is then late for the job and almost brings the whole risky plan crashing down.
But Shirley isn’t a woman to let things lie – is she really going to let Mick go through with his plan with Aidan?
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Teaming up with Mick’s wife, Linda, Shirley then desperately tries to track down the men as the illegal goings on start to unravel in dramatic style…
But what has caused the plan to backfire? Let’s hope it wasn’t Shirley’s doing – Aidan isn’t a man to be messed with.
But the drama doesn’t end there. New Year’s Day also sees the arrival of two new characters for the show when Masood Ahmed arrives in Walford with his aunty Mariam and uncle Arshad.
Nitin Ganatra, who plays Masood, is set to return to the show just a year after his departure from EastEnders, only he’d be returning without any of his regular on-screen family.
Masood will be back on our screens permanently after his brief reappearance recently in which he served Carmel with her eviction notice on number 41.
Mariam and Arshad decide to move to Albert Square when Masood convinces them that renting his house will give them more space for their fostering.
The pair are played by The Kumars At No 42 star Indira Joshi and former Casualty actor Madhav Sharma.