INSIDE SCOOP
LINDA’S SON IS BACK – AND DETERMINED TO DEAL WITH THE EVIL RAPIST…
EASTENDERS | BBC1 THURSDAY
Linda is in need of a knight in shining armour this week – and her prayers are answered when her beloved son Johnny returns!
Struggling to deal with her recent run of dramas, the alcoholic landlady has lost the plot and hit the bottle hard. Johnny vows to help his fragile mum, starting by confronting her rapist, dastardly Dean. How far will he go to drive him away?
“Johnny has caught wind from his gran Elaine that things aren’t going too well for Linda,” reveals EastEnders newcomer Charlie Suff, who takes over from Ted Reilly in the role of Johnny six years after the character was last on screen. “The family needs him home to steer the ship and get things back on track. When he first sees the state his mum is in, he’s utterly devastated.”
Linda’s precious ‘little sausage’ – who has been living up in Manchester since 2018 – arrives to find his mother on a boozy bender, and is shocked to learn that his estranged uncle Dean is back in town and making her life a misery. Ben spots his old pal storming into Beale’s Eels and dashes in to stop Johnny decking Dean, as the confrontation threatens to turn violent. Protective Johnny wants to step up and prove he’s not the mildmannered mummy’s boy he once was. He demands Linda stop drinking, but she still manages a few sneaky sips when he’s not looking and embarrasses herself at Gina’s birthday gathering in the Vic.
“Johnny’s knee-jerk reaction is to try to control Linda’s drinking,” explains Charlie. “He soon realises that doesn’t work. Johnny just wants to be a shoulder for her to cry on, for her to know he’s got her back.
