EastEnders airs horrifying Halloween return in early BBC iPlayer release

Linda (Kellie Bright) found herself mediating between her mother Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) and George Knight (Colin Salmon) following the discovery that he will be giving half of the sale profits of the bar in Marbella to his ex-wife Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins).

Amid an honest conversation with Elaine at McKlunkey’s, Linda revealed how she was struggling this Halloween without her presumed dead husband Mick Carter (Danny Dyer).

The Carters had always had such a special time at Halloween and now Mick is nowhere to be found, Linda confessed that she felt tempted to relapse into alcoholism but was resisting this.

Elaine and Linda then returned to the Vic where George reassured Elaine that the pay-out for Cindy was to get her out of their hair and they reconciled.

Linda was delighted when Elaine and George got the party going, with help from George’s daughters Gina (Francesca Henry) and Anna (Molly Rainford).

As the party got going, Cindy shared a call with her husband Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) about their new sleeping business partner for their pie-and-mash venture.

Ian revealed he had reviewed the contracts and seen the name of their partner, revealing something shocking to Cindy who exclaimed: “He did what?!”

As all this happened, a taxi pulled up in Walford and a smartly dressed mystery figure stepped out and walked down Bridge Street before entering the side door to the Queen Vic cellar and making his way upstairs.

Later, we saw Linda putting her son Ollie Carter (Harry Farr) to bed and then she made her way to the kitchen, where the mystery figure was also upstairs.

As Linda worked at the sink of the kitchen she heard the door shut behind her and turned around to see Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo), Mick’s younger brother and the man who raped her in 2014.

Linda was terrified to see Dean in the room where he had raped her nine years earlier. Dean then warned Linda not to scream in an unsettling cliffhanger.

Dean was last seen in EastEnders in 2016 when he faced trial for the attempted rape of his former girlfriend Roxy Mitchell (2016), having previously escaped justice for raping Linda.

Despite this, later that year, Dean was not convicted and escaped justice once again but was exiled from Walford by his loved ones, being paid off by his biological father Buster Briggs (Karl Howman) and disowned by his mother Shirley Carter (Linda Carter).

Earlier this year, a horrified Linda learned that a grieving Shirley had reunited with Dean away from the Square - in the same episode as the epic flash-forward to Christmas 2023.

So, what brings Dean back to Walford?

Anyone affected by Linda's story can find support by visiting Rape Crisis, or calling their 24/7 Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Line on 0808 500 2222.

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EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer. Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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