EastEnders airs deadly cliffhanger for fan-favourite character in upsetting early BBC iPlayer release
Warning: Contains spoilers for Wednesday's episode of EastEnders, which airs at 7.30pm on BBC One or can be streamed now on BBC iPlayer.
Nigel Bates's (Paul Bradley) vow renewal to wife Julie (Karen Henthorn) in EastEnders has ended in tragedy.
The last minute event took place after Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) discovered Nige - who is living with young-onset dementia - was still looking forward to the event, which had been postponed.
She also found out that Julie had a number of bruises on her arms, sustained when her confused husband has lashed out over recent months.
As viewers know, Nigel and Julie are currently living at the B&B after she chose to leave Phil Mitchell's (Steve McFadden) house in a fit of a rage. Mark Fowler (Stephen Aaron-Sipple) had divulged Phil's plan to take Nigel to Portugal, when she'd rather he spend the last of his days in a care home.
A place in a care facility came available yesterday, though an angry Phil chose not to pass on this information.
In today's episode, he pondered over the idea of telling her, knowing that there was only 24 hours to accept the offer. It would undoubtedly be the best for Nige, and although Phil came to terms with the fact that he would eventually be unable to support his best mate, he still chose to keep schtum.
A confused Nigel stumbled over the road, wrongly assuming that Phil was his best man. He reluctantly agreed to help him prepare for the big day, but ultimately had no intention of staying for the ceremony after dropping him off.
However, as the day went on, Julie could see that Phil was guilt-ridden over his actions, and that forgiving him would be the best thing for everyone.
She even decided that living back at the Mitchell residence would do Nigel the world of good, and asked Phil to escort him home.
It had been a long day, and Phil began to run a bath for his pal. Mark was helping move suitcases back into the house, and as the two men chatted, they had no idea of the danger unfolding upstairs.
Nigel was falling asleep, and began to slip under the water.
Will he be found before it's too late?
Read more:
- 5 EastEnders spoilers next week: Jake Moon reunites with Alfie plus shock passion for ex-lovers
- EastEnders reveals Mark Fowler Jr's secret and surprise connection to Walford local in BBC iPlayer release
- EastEnders airs dark Ravi Gulati scenes amid revenge story in early BBC iPlayer release
- 10 EastEnders characters who need to have a huge 2026 – from Chelsea Fox to Oscar Branning
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Authors
Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
