With EastEnders’ Max Branning (Jake Wood) on a mission to win back his former flame Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), he wades in on her son Johnny Carter’s (Charlie Suff) drama with his devious boss Tim Walton (Tom Ratcliffe) next week.

Forthcoming scenes see Johnny reluctantly sleep with Tim in a bid to get him to drop a blackmail plot against Johnny’s boyfriend Callum Highway (Tony Clay).

With the repercussions of Johnny’s actions playing out on screen next week, a guilt-wracked Linda confesses to her mum Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) that she could have stopped the whole thing as Tim had told her he was planning to ‘test’ Callum.

Against Elaine’s advice, Linda reveals all to an angry Johnny, but she makes matters even worse for herself when she later turns up at Johnny’s office and berates Tim, infuriating her son further.

Max then catches a deflated Linda at just the right time, as she opens up to him about the mess she’s got herself into.

Spotting an opportunity to be her knight in shining armour, Linda’s words trigger Max to take matters into his own hands.

After Tim forces Johnny to have a drink with him at The Vic, Max turns up pretending to be Tim’s taxi driver.

Later, Linda is frantic after finding out that Max has taken him and can’t find a way to reach him.

As Max’s plan unfolds and he makes it clear to Tim that he should never set foot in Walford again…

Fans will be left speculating if Tim could have anything to do with how Max will be arrested for conspiracy to murder in the coming months, as revealed in the New Year’s Day flash-forward episode.

Viewers have also been wondering if Linda is set to become Max’s mystery bride ahead of his 2027 wedding.

Meanwhile, Johnny isn’t exactly concerned when he hears about what Max has done, as he has bigger things to worry about when he’s forced to tell Callum he slept with Tim.

At first, Callum is furious, but after Johnny explains how he was trying to protect him and Lexi, he is consumed with guilt.

Will the lads manage to get their relationship back on track, or has the rot already set in?