EastEnders airs distressing scenes with fresh Linda Carter lows in early BBC iPlayer release

The BBC One soap has continued to document the Queen Vic landlady's latest relapse into alcoholism, haunted by the traumas of the last few years and displaying her at her very worst.

On Tuesday, Linda drank herself into a stupor, stole and caused Christmas to almost be ruined for the Watts household by leaving Sharon's house unlocked.

In Wednesday’s episode, Linda tried in vain to hide her continued drinking from best friend Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), who remained furious with her for letting burglars into her home to steal son Albie’s Christmas presents, while soiled bedding from the sofa also remains uncleaned.

Sharon ordered Linda to apologise to Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) for stealing booze from the Minute Mart and also to son Johnny Carter (Charlie Suff) for walking out on her young children.

Linda poured away her pink sippy cup of drink, but Sharon angrily found her hidden bottle of booze and removed it.

At the Minute Mart, Linda approached Alfie and apologised for her behaviour, while Alfie questioned whether she would turn nasty again when drinking later.

Linda responded by calling out Alfie’s past criminal behaviour, and soon had to deal with Alfie’s partner Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) defending him too.

As Linda soon responded by mocking Alfie’s new job and his issues with sexual performance following his prostate cancer treatment, Kat handed her a bottle of vodka, but he withdrew it as Linda reached out for it.

Kat ordered Linda to take booze from elsewhere, prompting Linda to leave.

On Bridge Street, Linda hid behind a market stall when she spied Johnny out for a walk with his little sister Annie.

When Linda approached Johnny and Annie and lied that she was sober, her son retreated with Annie.

Recovered alcoholic Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) - albeit currently struggling with a painkiller addiction - spotted troubled Linda and picked up her half-sister Annie’s dropped soft toy.

In The Albert, Linda continually ordered more shots and proceeded to get further inebriated.

At the Beale’s Eels Santa float event, Linda drunkenly interrupted and made a spectacle of herself, climbing onto the float where Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) sat dressed as Father Christmas, proceeding to cause him to fall out of the float.

Alfie tried to usher Linda away from the scene, but she went on to throw presents from the float into the crowd.

Recovered alcoholic Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) took a tough approach and ordered Linda down from the float, and she had an incontinence issue on her way down - being mocked by Kat in the process, who questioned Alfie’s continued concern as he called Johnny.

Even Bernadette Taylor (Clair Norris), who had sought to exacerbate Linda’s upset in recent days, looked pained by what she had seen.

Upstairs in the Queen Vic, Phil and Lauren gave Linda more tough love about he situation, and encouraged her to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting with them as they finally got Linda to admit that she’s an alcoholic.

Johnny was moved to overhear the exchange and embraced his mother on the sofa as Phil and Lauren departed.

Revealing his worry for his mother’s life, Johnny said he feared her heart would stop or she would have a stroke if she kept drinking, leaving Ollie and Annie without a mum or dad.

As Linda told Johnny what he wanted to hear, she continued to eye a bottle of vodka.

When Johnny noticed, he ordered his mother out of the pub and said he would not let her harm her family anymore and to return when she changed.

As night fell, Linda headed back to Sharon’s house but found herself locked out. Inside, Sharon felt tormented, but her half-brother Zack Hudson (James Farrar) said he was prioritising Sharon’s wellbeing and wouldn’t let Linda in the house as Sharon’s son Albie shouted in fear of her.

Linda continued to bang on the front door before Zack came out and physically restrained her and asked her to leave and go to a hotel that he would pay for to sober up, whatever she needed.

However, a distressed Linda screamed that she needed a friend "after everything" she had done for Sharon, before staggering off alone.

Inside, Zack held and tended to a saddened Sharon on the stairs.

At Kathy’s Cafe, Linda staggered in where Bernie was working an evening shift, professing how she needed to drink to live with the guilt of killing Bernie’s brother Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters).

Bernie revealed she would always hate Linda for what she did for Keanu, but she regrets how she’s behaved towards Linda as she can’t see her hurt other people or have Linda’s death on her conscience.

Putting an offer to Linda, Bernie said that if the landlady put down the bottle and stepped up for her family, she would forgive her.

Despite seeing herself as unworthy of forgiveness, Linda thanked Bernie for what she said, but Bernie warned her that whatever she did next was not to be excused with Bernie or Keanu as a reason.

After leaving the cafe, drunken Linda continued to be disorderly and down a bottle in the square gardens.

A struggling Phil spotted her and returned home - even being tempted to return to the bottle himself before resisting the urge and pouring the liquor away.

The episode concluded with Linda sitting on a bench by the Square’s Christmas tree and falling unconscious there.

Tomorrow, Linda’s mother Elaine Knight (Harriet Thorpe) will return from her honeymoon and see how low her daughter has sunk.

While she tries to stand by Linda, the day will only prove more traumatic for Linda’s family and force Linda to choose between her family and alcohol.

However, she may not get the answer she’s hoping for…

For support with issues around alcoholism and other forms of addiction, please see Mind's website.

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EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

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