6 EastEnders spoilers for next week: Stacey attacked and Phil fights for Raymond

Here are all your EastEnders spoilers for 19th - 23rd October 2020.

Who attacks Stacey?

The bitchy bickering bants between Stacey and Ruby Allen (Louisa Lytton) continues as the female's feud takes a more sinister turn. Is Martin Fowler (James Bye) really that much of a catch that he's worth falling out over so spectacularly? After almost making up this week, the girls have another massive shouty showdown, and the next day something rather unsavoury is shoved through the Slaters' letterbox.

Stace immediately accuses of Rube of trying to intimidate her, and even though Ms Allen denies sending a warning she menacingly maintains she could get her 'mate' off the Square in a heartbeat if she wanted to. So it looks like no coincidence when Stacey is attacked by an anonymous hooded figure (is there any other kind of soap attacker?) and left for dead. In fact, Ruby may not be channeling her gangster father, it's more likely the incidents are connected to Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) and his secret spiralling debt that we presume will lead to him being written out in a few months' time.

Phil fights for Raymond

Turns out Ellie hasn't been completely honest with Phil and Denise Fox (Diane Parish), and Raymond's adopted granny is not quite the God-fearing, spiritual sort she's painted herself to be. Tracking her down after she suspiciously slips under the radar for a few days, Phil realises the kind of woman he's dealing with and enlists the unstoppable Ritchie Scott (Sian Webber) to help him fight for full custody of his son.

Mr Mitchell's lengthy criminal record could be a snag in the court's eyes, so he swiftly concocts a cunning, albeit risky, plan. Meanwhile, copper Callum Highway (Tony Clay) is still being corrupted from both sides as he digs for dirt on Ellie on Phil's behalf, insisting to shady boss DI Thompson (Philip Wright) it's another sneaky way of earning the patriarch's trust in their long game of taking him down. Sounds like a house of very flimsy cards is being built.

Habiba takes on the Panesars

Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) going all Corleone and sending her own son to prison just because she didn't approve of his choice of girlfriend (we're paraphrasing) showed us this is one matriarch who means business.

Her cruel treatment of jailed Jags has unsurprisingly angered Habiba Ahmed (Rukku Nahar), the aforementioned disapproved of girlfriend, who publicly slates the entire Panesar clan for throwing her fella under the bus. When Ash Kaur (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha) refuses to go to her brother's court hearing, not understanding she's too scared of her mum to step out of line, Habs demands she move out. Caught between her angry sibling and conflicted partner, who will Iqra Ahmed (Priya Davdra) choose when Habiba issues an ultimatum - her or Ash?

Beales in crisis

Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) is desperately hiding the extent of the financial mess he's in with Max Branning (Jake Wood), but when Peter Beale (Dayle Hudson) learns the truth about his dad's predicament he puts grandma Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) in the picture. She kindly offers to re-mortgage the cafe to help out, unaware her sneaky son has been busy practising how to forge her signature to do just that.

In a break from her family's cash crisis, Kathy is thrilled when she gets a match on her dating app with a man called - wait for it - Iain. She gets herself in a lather when Peter admits he shaved a bit off her age on her profile, but there's no need. Taylforth barely looks a day older than she did in EastEnders' first episode 35 years ago so she's got nothing to worry about. What is worrying is Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell) spiralling into a mental health meltdown as Peter catches his unstable brother obsessively cleaning and scrubbing, gripped by counting rituals…

Elsewhere on EastEnders

• Sharon is all tears and quivvery lips when dead son Denny's belongings are returned after the boat crash. Devastated by the reminders of her loss she's offered support from an unlikely source - Ian. All is forgiven between the old friends as they apologise for their recent falling out and wipe the slate clean. Let's hope Ian can resist going in for a cheeky snog while she's vulnerable.
• In a storyline we feared had been forgotten about in the COVID shutdown and subsequent rewrites, we revisit the cracks in the relationship between Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) and Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold). Jay admits to Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton) things have been rocky for a while, so she tries to help the couple bond. Guilty Lola decides to meet Jay for a drink and has something to tell him - will she reveal she cheated on him with Peter pre-lockdown?

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