EastEnders airs emotional Vicki Fowler scenes as Joel Marshall's trial takes a tragic turn in 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.
This article includes discussion of sexual harassment and assault that some readers may find distressing.
Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) has been left devastated after facing Joel Marshall (Max Murray) in court in EastEnders.
It was a day she'd been dreading for months - having to recall the horrific ordeal she was subjected to at the hands of her vile stepson, who was wrapped up in a disgusting online community of misogyny and thought it was acceptable to mistreat women.
As viewers will recall, when she defied him, he knocked her to the ground and began to record himself abusing her.
Having spent months in court, Vicki has been given a lot of time to dwell on her future, and who is part of it. She pondered whether she could have a future with Joel's dad Ross (Alex Walkinshaw), but eventually agreed to take things slowly with him.
In the meantime, she's fought feelings for Zack Hudson (James Farrar), but as sparks flew on the eve of the trial, she was unable to resist temptation.
In today's episode, after waking up in his bed full of regret, Vicki made her way across the Square and faced Ross. He wanted to know where she'd spent the night, and she quickly made the excuse that she had stayed at Phil Mitchell's (Steve McFadden) house after catching up with brother Mark (Stephen Aaron-Sipple).
The trio then made their way to court, swiftly followed by Zack who wanted to show his support.
Joel was confident that his time in young-offenders was coming to a close and he'd soon be a free man, boldly telling Ross that he wanted to grab a McKlunky's takeaway when he got home.
The first person to give evidence was his one-time mate Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall), who was also entwined into Joel's vicious ideologies.
Joel's defence lawyer began to tear strips off the lad, noting his own violent behaviour towards women didn't exactly paint him as a credible witness. This left Tommy's parents Kat and Alfie Moon (Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie) enraged, and they cried out for the court to have more faith in him.
Vicki then took to the stand to tell her side of the story, and broke into tears as she recalled the disgusting attack. The lawyer then began to mention several pieces of damning information, that would discredit a number of her arguments.
Joel had told them about how she borrowed £25k from sister Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) to pay off the family of a girl he'd up-skirted in Australia, and how Vicki paid off another of his victims after he inappropriately touched her on the tube.
Overcome with emotion, Vicki charged out of the courtroom and into the road outside. To her, the battle was over, and she had lost.
But will Joel eventually face justice?
Anyone affected by the issues raised above can find support by visiting Rape Crisis, or calling their 24/7 Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Line on 0808 500 2222.
Read more:
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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.
