EastEnders’ Mark Fowler Jr (Stephen Aaron-Sipple) is under huge pressure from his criminal associates next week when he’s given 24 hours to deal with the informant in their gang if he wants to secure his innocent sister Vicki Fowler’s (Alice Haig) safety.

Fans of the BBC soap know that Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) is the one who has been feeding information to the cops about the organised crime group’s activities – and when Mark’s suspicions about his friend are confirmed, forthcoming scenes will see a deadly showdown unfold.

With Ravi’s mental health also quickly unravelling amid pressure in both his criminal and personal lives, next week sees the bad boy desperately trying to cover his tracks when Mark confronts him.

Despite trying to call Mark’s bluff, his work is undone when Ravi’s partner Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan-Levy) spikes Mark’s suspicions by pleading Ravi’s innocence a little too hard.

Mark goes in search of evidence at the pair’s flat, and while he wants to be proven wrong about Ravi, actor Stephen Aaron-Sipple reveals his character is feeling ‘under the cosh’ as his first priority is to neutralise the gang’s threat against Vicki.

‘I think deep down, Mark doesn’t want it to be Ravi because Ravi is a family man and he sees a lot of similarities between himself and Ravi,’ Stephen says. ‘But, at the end of the day, in Mark’s mind, his family is more important, and Vicki’s safety is more important.

‘He knows that he is stuck between a rock and a hard place, but Vicki is the most important person to him in this situation. Which means if it is Ravi, he needs to be 100% sure it is because he is going to have to do something that he doesn’t want to do.’

He continues: ‘Priya has unknowingly put him back onto the idea that it is [Ravi], so he has to find evidence. The only way to do that is to break into Ravi and Priya’s house, and confront Priya to find absolute evidence that Ravi is the informant.’

While Priya manages to buy some time by spinning the truth about Ravi’s connection to local copper Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), the situation escalates when Ravi goes rogue and recklessly drives out of the Square with Mark inside the car.

It’s a moment of sheer panic for Mark, with Stephen explaining: ‘When Mark gets in that car, he’s not sure if this is a fallout from the bosses, if this is a fallout of him breaking into Ravi’s house, or if this is Ravi taking matters into his own hands.’

As a worried Priya panics about Rav’s worsening mental state, she heads to find Vicki to reveal all in the hope she will help her track down the two men.