6 EastEnders spoilers for next week: search begins for Ian's attacker and Kush betrays Kat

Here are all your EastEnders spoilers for 7th - 11th December 2020.

Sharon finds Ian after the attack

An unseen individual (of course they're unseen, this story is sure to rumble on for ages) sneaks out of the Vic after delivering a bashing to Ian so brutal the businessman is out cold on the floor.

Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) gets home and is horrified to find her friend in such a state. The panicking landlady struggles to find a pulse and contacts Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) to break the news about her son. Watch Kaff's reaction, as it could give away whether she's the one who delivered the blow. As the Vic becomes a crime scene and Ian is rushed to hospital, the search is on to find out who had finally had enough of the bullying Beale.

Jack leads the investigation

Suspicion is rife among the locals as pretty much everyone had beef with Beale, thanks to his abhorrent recent antics that saw him make more enemies than J.R. Ewing circa 1980. Someone has even daubed 'Burn in hell' on the pub door - now that's a grudge. Super cop Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) is on the case to find the culprit and quickly makes a breakthrough, leading to an arrest. First rule of a whodunnit: disregard the first person to be accused by the cops, it's way too obvious…

As the week progresses more evidence emerges, alibis are agreed and secrets threaten to explode while someone tries to cover their tracks. Jack soon hauls in another of his neighbours to assist the police with their enquiries - has he got his man? Or woman?

Max, Bobby and Peter look guilty

Surely Max is the prime suspect - him and Ian had been at odds for months, after his business partner stole from him to buy the boozer. Threatening Ian to pay up or else, Max didn't have a leg to stand on when his enemy spied him canoodling with Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) and used it as leverage.

Meanwhile, as the extent of his deceit and financial double dealing became evident to sons Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell), Peter and mum Kathy, the rest of the Beales are also looking guilty. And actually not too bothered their relative is fighting for his life. Others to keep your eye on are Linda, scared of her dalliance with Max being revealed to Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White), who plotted to get the Carters back in the pub, and Stuart, who blamed Ian for destroying their hopes of Tiffany Butcher-Baker (Maisie Smith) being a surrogate. Place your bets now!

Kush hands himself in

Having been the second person this year to hide out in Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty)'s loft, Kush has managed to escape and is ready to flee Walford with lover Kat after the heist drama. Kat sneaks off to seek out Phil so she get her share of the money she's owed, but the hard man effectively tells her to jog on by handing her a fraction of the funds.

Deciding there's no way out, and going off the idea of a life on the run constantly looking over his broad shoulders, Kush hands himself into the police. This angers Kat, as her partner in crime doesn't bother to consult her first, and infuriates Phil, who fears Kush will implicate everyone involved in the robbery. If he does, it won't just be Ian nursing some serious injuries.

Elsewhere on EastEnders

• Sinister Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) catches young Will Mitchell (Freddie Phillips) stealing food from the Minute Mart, but he defends his theft by insisting it's for a friend who's family are struggling to make ends meet. And he's only nicking the stuff past its sell-by date. Don't expect this sob story to cut any ice with Suki, who's attitude to naughty children is more Miss Hannigan than Maria von Trapp.
• Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton) has news on her attacker, Paul, who she learns has been convicted of assaulting another woman and now faces a jail sentence. While she's pleased the rotter who tried to rape her is going to be behind bars, will it bring closure or is Hun set to be haunted by her ordeal forever? She can rely on Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) who is there for support - but is that all he's offering?

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