EastEnders airs tantalising clue in Ian storyline in early BBC iPlayer release

Ian has taken a series of calls and texts from a mysterious person, with whoever it is asking to meet him. But first, Ian needed an excuse to slip away from his family.

So, with Ian now claiming to be running for council, viewers saw him heading out of the house in a hurry, with son Peter (Thomas Law) telling his very put-out mother Cindy (Michelle Collins) that Ian had already left for a meeting.

Later, Peter and Cindy discussed Ian's disappearing act, and Cindy rebuffed lover Junior Knight's (Micah Balfour) flirting. Meanwhile, Peter called the council and enquired after his dad, as Ian finally resurfaced to meet Cindy at Walford East.

He claimed the meeting wasn't anything to write home about, but Cindy made a real effort to back Ian's plans. She was soon disappointed when Ian revealed he was going on a leadership course in Manchester, and Cindy couldn't join him.

As Cindy sulked, Peter accosted Ian for a private chat, declaring that he knew Ian was up to something. After Peter confirmed that he knew Ian had never applied to run for council, Ian was forced to make an admission.

"There is something going on, okay?" he told his son. "And you're not gonna like it."

We've already speculated over just what Ian is hiding, but now we're left wondering: what exactly is Peter not going to be happy about here?

Might this tally up with our hopeful theory that Jane Beale (Laurie Brett) is due to reappear? Peter hasn't seen his stepmum since 2015, mere hours after he learned that she had covered up his half-brother Bobby's (Eliot Carrington, Clay Milner Russell) murder of Peter's beloved twin sister Lucy (Hetti Bywater).

If Ian has brought Jane back, perhaps to pave the way for a reconciliation with Bobby before the latter's exit, might Peter be furious to see her?

He forgave Bobby, given that Bobby was just a child when he killed Lucy. But Jane was an adult at the time, and her confession that she transported Lucy's body in her car boot left Peter disgusted and unable to stick around in Walford.

Next week, Peter and Cindy follow Ian to an unknown address, and there are huge repercussions for the Beales. Is Jane about to make her comeback, or is Ian's secret something else entirely?

Read more:

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