EastEnders begins Alfie Moon prostate cancer story with test news
Phil offered some unlikely support.
Alfie Moon's (Shane Richie) big new storyline began in tonight's EastEnders (15th August), as he was informed that he needs to be tested for prostate cancer.
Earlier in the week, Alfie was left in pain when his son Tommy (Sonny Kendall) lashed out and punched him in the stomach. Returning to the house the following day, Alfie attempted to have a serious conversation with Tommy, who showed no remorse for his actions.
As Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) walked in, Tommy rushed off and Alfie was bent double in pain. Phil forced Alfie to sit down and explain what was going on, but Alfie initially avoided telling him about Tommy's violent behaviour.
Phil pointed out that Alfie was clearly in pain, and Alfie finally revealed the truth. Alfie was defensive, until Phil dropped a bombshell of his own about Tommy – the youngster had also lashed out at mum Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) last year.
Alfie was horrified, stating that Tommy hitting his mother was inexcusable. The two men exchanged harsh words as Alfie accused Phil of being to blame, while Phil suggested that Tommy's biological father, Alfie's cousin Michael Moon's (Steve John Shepherd) violent streak was behind everything.
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Phil issued Alfie with a threat, and Alfie went to confide in friend Linda Carter (Kellie Bright). Linda advised Alfie to work together with Phil to help Tommy, as some boys didn't have a dad (like her son Ollie), let alone two. Alfie returned to talk to Phil, who revealed he had already come up with an idea to deal with Tommy's behaviour.
At the Boxing Den, Phil had arranged for another boy to spar with Tommy in the boxing ring, with the idea being that Tommy needed to learn to take punches if he was going to dish them out. Later, Phil urged Tommy to apologise to Alfie, and praised his sparring efforts.
As Alfie headed off to use the toilet, Phil could see that he was still struggling with his injury, and he made Alfie show him his bruised stomach. Phil insisted on going to the hospital with Alfie, who complained that he was surely wasting the time of the NHS. Alfie was also keen for Phil not to tell Kat what had happened.
Back in the waiting room, Alfie told Phil that he needed to have a CT scan for some internal checks, as blood had been found in his urine. Alfie wasn't concerned at this point, and didn't want to stick around. But Phil insisted that Alfie needed to be checked out properly for the sake of his kids.
Alfie was touched by Phil's words, grinning as he agreed to do as he was told. Alfie was then called back in, and when we next saw him, he was sat in front of a consultant, where he told a typical Alfie-style joke about doctors.
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But when the consultant took his turn to speak, he explained that Alfie's scan showed he has an enlarged prostate. While this was said to be common in men of Alfie's age, the consultant added that he was referring him to urology and ordering a PSA blood test straight away.
When Alfie played this down, he was told that the scan and the blood in his urine meant they needed to rule out prostate cancer.
Sadly, Alfie will later receive a diagnosis, with EastEnders confirming that they are working with Prostate Cancer UK and Macmillan Cancer Support.
Chris Clenshaw, executive producer of EastEnders, explained: "When we first embarked on this storyline we knew it was imperative that we worked alongside Prostate Cancer UK and Macmillan Cancer Support to take on and accurately portray such an emotional and pivotal storyline for Alfie, and one that many viewers may relate to.
"Shane [Richie] has thoughtfully portrayed the realities of being diagnosed with prostate cancer with grace and understanding. We hope that this storyline resonates with the audience, and that we represent it as sensitively, and as accurately as possible."
Help and support around prostate cancer is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information on 08000 560 190.
For more information on prostate cancer please visit Prostate Cancer UK: https://prostatecanceruk.org/ and Macmillan Cancer Support: https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/prostate-cancer
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EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer. Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
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