EastEnders airs Ian Beale's return in early iPlayer release - but he's a changed man

EastEnders spoilers follow for Wednesday's episode (7 October), which is available to watch now on streaming service BBC iPlayer and hasn’t yet aired on TV.

EastEnders has aired Ian Beale's return to Walford in today's early BBC iPlayer episode – though he is a changed man. The character leaves prison after serving half his sentence for his drink driving incident, which injured Jordan Fox.

Following his turmoil behind bars, notably his ordeal with evil Gray Atkins, he comes out of prison in today's scenes.

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In the episode, Ian leaves prison and heads home, with Kathy expressing surprise at seeing her son as she was just about to head off to collect him. Ian explains that he got a cab instead, and Kathy shares her happiness to have him back.

Meanwhile, Lily visits Harvey at the chippy, revealing she will have to miss her career open day to take care of Charli. Lily accepts his offer to look after the baby instead, though is concerned about it getting in the way of Harvey's inspection.

Back at home, Kathy tries to speak to Ian, though he is in a more sombre, reflective mood, as she assures him that things will get better.

Later on, Ian turns up at the chippy to find it closed, before he gets an alarming phone call. He later arrives at The Vic for his homecoming drinks, though quickly confronts Harvey, revealing that they have been charged for a missed inspection.

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Lambasting Harvey amid fears of being sent back inside for wrongdoing, Ian then lashes out and punches him in the face. Showing immediate remorse, Ian storms off over worries that he has violated his release conditions.

Following on from this, it looks like things will go from bad to worse for Ian – though there is a glimmer of hope, our Walford insider recently teasing: "Ian discovers that the chippy has been cruelly vandalised, which truly is the final straw.

"Thankfully, Ned is on hand to help clean up the graffiti – and as a therapist, he also helps Ian to finally face up to what happened on the fateful night of Jordan’s accident. Their chat gives Ian food for thought and feels like a proper turning point."

EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.

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