EastEnders airs Mick Carter twist for Janine Butcher return plot in early BBC iPlayer release

*Warning: Contains spoilers for Monday's episode of EastEnders, which airs tonight at 7.30pm on BBC One or can be streamed now on BBC iPlayer.*

EastEnders has aired a shocking twist related to Mick Carter in Monday’s episode.

The BBC One soap aired Danny Dyer’s exit as the pub landlord back in 2022, when his character Mick was lost at sea following a car chase involving then-pregnant wife Janine Carter (Charlie Brooks) and ex-wife and soulmate Linda Carter (Kellie Bright).

Mick was later declared dead after his belongings washed up, but his son Lee Carter (Danny Hatchard) recently revealed that he had Mick’s declaration of death revoked.

However, in Monday’s episode, Linda picked up drunken Lee’s phone and answered a call: Mick’s body has been found.

Linda is devastated by the news and leans on boyfriend Max Branning (Jake Wood), mum Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe), and best friend Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean).

The former Queen Victoria landlady was also infuriated as Janine, as Mick’s next of kin, is the person handling arrangements related to Mick’s death, prompting Linda to attempt to track her former love rival.

Managing to get an address for Janine through calls, Linda tracked Janine down to a hotel.

Janine immediately made a dig at Linda, saying she looks “weathered”, but Linda remained firm that she wouldn’t be going anywhere until she found out where her husband was.

Will Janine tell Linda where Mick’s remains are? And can we trust anything that Janine is saying at all?

Elsewhere, as Lee continues a spiral into alcoholism, he clashed with his mum’s new boyfriend and reminded Max that he could never replace Mick.

We later saw Max looking at Mick's old wallet with an old photo of Mick and Linda as childhood sweethearts, clearly mindful of how he will always struggle to compare to her first love.

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Tomorrow, Linda’s confrontation with Janine continues, and Linda can’t believe what the schemer has to say about the situation with Mick.

We’ll see Linda head back to the Square and lean on Max once more before they both decide to face Janine once more together.

But what will happen in this confrontation, and what is it that Max does that he could live to regret?

Read more:

• EastEnders legend Charlie Brooks reveals reason why she returned to Janine Carter role 4 years on from exit
• EastEnders legend Jo Joyner returns to Walford set for Branning 'family reunion' - 8 years after last Tanya appearance
• EastEnders star teases "fire and carnage" when Penny Branning's baby paternity secret is revealed
• EastEnders favourite Balvinder Sopal teases Ash return is "grenade" to the Panesar family unit this autumn

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Lewis is the news and trends editor at Radio Times and leads our approach to news, reactive content, and serving audience demands and interests. An obsessive fan of television and film, Lewis is a Nicole Kidman fanatic with a side of passion for science-fiction, art-house cinema and the latest HBO drama. Lewis has a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Film Studies. After working in advertising, Lewis worked at The Mirror for three years in community management and SEO, showbiz, film and television reporting.