EastEnders boss Ben Wadey wants the Brannings "at the heart of the show" and teases future stories
Executive producer Ben Wadey has discussed his vision for the show as Max Branning returns.
Executive producer Ben Wadey has discussed the future of the Brannings on EastEnders.
The BBC One soap first introduced the dynasty in the 1990s in the form of Carol Jackson and her clan, and the family reached its zenith in soap domination from 2007 onwards with the arrivals of womanising brothers Max (Jake Wood) and Jack Branning (Scott Maslen).
Now, Max has finally returned to the soap after leaving in 2021. A surprise twist revealed his romantic connection to fellow returnee Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan), and he is set to return to Walford, where various secrets threaten to unravel.
It's a dramatic period on the way for the family as he is to be reunited with his younger brother Jack, always their father's favourite and with whom he has always had a complicated dynamic, and his estranged children Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) and Oscar Branning (Pierre Moullier).
If that wasn't enough, Max will also inevitably discover he has another daughter in the form of Annie Carter, his love child with former flame Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), which his other kids and Jack are well aware of...
Speaking at a press event for Max's return, executive producer Ben Wadey revealed he always wanted to get Jake Wood back as Max – and just as much for the Brannings as a family as for Max as an individual.
On whether Max's return was always on his mind, Wadey answered: "Oh, absolutely. Max is a brilliant character and Jake's such an incredible performer, but the whole Brannings are an iconic legacy family. I wanted to put them at the heart of the show. I wanted big stories for them.
"And what I'm really excited about is that we've got those legacy characters in the Brannings that can give us so much story and are brilliant in terms of what they can continue to give us, but we also have the new generation coming through, not just Oscar and Lauren, but you've got Penny, you've got Amy, Ricky. So there's a new generation coming up who also have loads of stories."
So, we can also expect big things for Jack's children: Penny Branning (Kitty Castledine), Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd), and Ricky Branning (Frankie Day).
When asked to tease the upcoming stories further, Wadey added: "I won't tell you much, but there's plenty of drama ahead, and I think because the Brannings have so many connections to the other amazing families as well, it brings in a lot of other characters.
"But Max has got a lot of history on the show, but there are a lot of secrets that Max doesn't know about, which other characters, including his own family, do know about. So secrets tend to have a way of coming up in Walford at all the wrong times. So I imagine there's going to be some things that come up. It's going to create some drama in this family."
That might be where Linda's daughter Annie fits in...
Wadey noted: "There's a lot for him to come back and find out. But Max, because he is such a big personality within the square, he's got friends there, but he's got a lot of enemies as well. So he's a joy to have back, because everybody has a different reaction to seeing him, not all of them positive."
That might be a potential feud with Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) that has already been teased on-screen!
Additionally, speaking more on the renewed focus on the Branning clan, actor Scott Maslen noted at the same event: "I think Ben's been clever in getting Jake back, because that's a key player."
He added: "Listen, I don't want to say we're at the centre, because it's divisive. That language, to me, is a little bit divisive. The show is many families, many people, and they're all really strong, you know? So Jake's come back at a time when the show's in a really good place.
"Yeah, he is a phenomenal character, and it is going to be seminal, but I think EastEnders used to be certain families get you go and have a cup of tea, when the other ones are on, now it is you go from person to person, and you're watching and you're involved. They're all working well together. It's about playing, you know? It isn't just 'Oh, I like the Brannings' or 'I like the Slaters', they're all working well together. It's about playing."
Maslen then joked about Max: 'Listen, here's a dirty dog, what do you wanna know? We've got great history, and I'm very excited about putting it on screen."
Read more:
- EastEnders needs to complete the Branning reunion with a Tanya return
- Who is the father of Zoe Slater's secret children in EastEnders? Anthony Trueman and other possibilities
- EastEnders teases feud for Max Branning return with another iconic character
- EastEnders' new boss teases dramatic reunion for old rivals Sharon Watts and Zoe Slater
- EastEnders star confirms filming break: “I won't be on it for a while”
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