EastEnders has lined up the next stage of Nigel Bates’ emotional dementia storyline as his confusion becomes more obvious to those around him.
Phil Mitchell’s best friend made a surprise return to the soap last year, with the classic character turning up in the Christmas Eve episode 26 years after leaving the Square.
Not long after Nigel’s return to Walford, viewers learned he had been diagnosed with young onset dementia, with Nigel explaining he left his wife Julie because he didn’t want her to see the disease take hold.
Since then, Nigel has shown signs of memory-loss after forgetting who people are and forgetting that he left food in the oven.
As of yet, the only members of Walford who are aware that Nigel has the memory loss disease are Phil, Grant, Yolande and Linda.
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In tonight’s scenes, Nigel continued to display signs of memory loss after confusing the pharmacy for the old video shop he used to work at, prompting a worried Jean to intervene.
After picking up a video at home, Nigel went to the pharmacy which the soap had temporarily dressed to look like a video shop for the scene.
Appearing confused, Nigel said: “I thought I was opening up.”
He was then told by the pharmacist it hadn’t been a video shop in years.
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When a distressed Nigel ran outside to look at the shop front, it was a pharmacy again. Jean found him muttering to himself in confusion.
After taking Nigel home to No.55, Phil tried to cover up what was going on to protect Nigel — but Jean wasn’t convinced.
“He’s been through a lot lately, but he’ll be fine,” Phil said, before thanking Jean for bringing him home.
Setting up the next stage of Nigel’s emotional storyline, it’s clear that more people in Walford will be finding out about his dementia in the coming days as his confusion becomes more obvious.
