EastEnders' Jake Wood on flash-forward secrets and why Max has his eye on Jasmine

New Year’s resolutions are always made with the best intentions, but as the months roll by they can be hard to maintain – just ask Max Branning. EastEnders’ tormented lothario vowed to atone for his sins in 2026 and be a better dad, but a flash-forward to January 1st 2027 showed the character embroiled in all manner of chaos.

Exactly how Max gets himself into these mysterious multiple scrapes will be explained as we get closer to New Year’s Day. It’s not just fans entering into a year-long guessing game, actor Jake Wood is just as in the dark as to what’s to come for his chaotic character.

“There are so many questions and directions they can take it in, it’s almost open-ended,” begins the star, speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com. “I was surprised when I read the script for the flash-forward and found out what Max was up to – did he really plan to murder someone or has he been framed? Is he the father of that woman’s baby? Who is he marrying? We just don’t know. Max is one of those characters who is almost capable of anything.”

The soap has explored similar territory before with ‘The Six’ murder mystery pegged on a single scene set 10 months ahead, but this much-hyped gaze into the crystal ball is the first time EastEnders has devoted an entire episode to a flash-forward, and gone as far into the future.

It’s an audacious concept with many logistical challenges, not least of which is the actors having no context as to their motivation, but Wood praises the ambition of the team pulling together to make it work. “Everyone has to be connected and on the same page. Although actors are feeling their way through because we don’t have the specifics, each department has enough information that allows us to tell the story in this way. It’s an incredible thing to be part of.”

One of the main talking points was the identity of Max’s anonymous bride. Several potential Mrs Brannings were posited, some of whom Max has romantic history with – Linda Carter and Cindy Beale – and others he’s barely spoken to before now, including his sister-in-law, Denise Fox.

“Max might’ve been on a date with Denise years ago, I can’t remember – he’s dated most of the women on the Square,” grins Wood. “They throw themselves at him! He just has that effect… Denise is an interesting possibility as a potential bride. At Christmas, Max found out Jack had slept with Stacey, one of the biggest loves of Max’s life. There could be a revenge motivation for Max if he’s with Denise.”

What about Dee’s daughter Chelsea also being in the mix? “There’s definitely a spark between her and Max since he returned, although they don’t know each other very well. It depends how their paths cross over the next year.”

The 2027 wedding looked fraught with drama, perhaps that’s a sign from the universe for Max to give up on the idea of marriage, having spectacularly failed at it four times already? “Even though this would be wedding number five, Max needs to be with someone to feel grounded,” observes Wood. “He’s not good on his own. He is an eternal optimist and can be a loving, attentive partner when he wants to be. He’s an eternal optimist!”

Every move Max makes is being analysed for potential clues to explain the flash-forward. His feud with son Oscar Branning’s girlfriend, the enigmatic Jasmine Fisher, is ramping up, setting Max on a dangerous path as he tries to protect his boy.

“Jasmine is quite conniving when she wants to be. She plans to take Oscar away from Walford, Max wants to rekindle the relationship with his son and doesn’t want him to leave. Jasmine accuses Max of doing something he is actually innocent of, he has his work cut out to persuade Oscar it wasn’t what happened.

“Max is determined to repair things with his children. He can be ruthless and single-minded, and there are other people who want to take Jasmine on, so she better watch out!”

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Max’s many flaws have made him one of the EastEnders’ most enduringly fascinating and multi-layered characters. Despite his womanising, lying, and all-round bad behaviour, you can’t help but feel sorry for him.

“Max is a troubled guy and always connected to his origin story,” says Wood, who began playing the role 20 years ago. “He is still deeply scarred by what happened to him as a child. Max had a difficult relationship with his dad Jim, and is motivated to be a better father to his kids than his own dad was to him.

“He’s very self-aware and doesn’t shy away from knowing what his problems are, but genuinely feels bad when he messes up. In his mind there is always a chance to turn things around but he’s also very easily distracted, which is part of the tragedy of the character.”

Wood’s instinctive and authentic performance imbues Max with sympathy he often doesn’t deserve. His magnetic screen presence has helped create some of the soap’s most unforgettable moments, notably the reveal of Max’s scandalous affair with daughter-in-law Stacey Slater on Christmas Day 2007, and Stacey’s murder confession to Max in EastEnders’ first ever live episode in 2010.

Like many Walford alumni, Wood developed the acting bug at Anna Scher’s famous children’s drama club in Islington, north London, where he grew up. Gillian Taylforth, Patsy Palmer and Natalie Cassidy, among others, were also inspired by the legendary tutor at a young age.

“I’d done plays in primary school, I remember being in Peter Rabbit and Bugsy Malone, and got into Anna Scher’s when I was 10 years old. It was life-changing. Kathy Burke talks about her experience in her autobiography and how she describes it is almost identical for me and thousands of kids who went through those doors. To have someone who made you feel valued and celebrated for who you were, and allowing the freedom to express yourself at that age was revelatory.

“Anna set it up in the late 1960s primarily to get kids off the streets. It gave young people like me, who grew up in a council flat in Islington, opportunities they might not have had otherwise.

“Casting directors would come looking for child actors and I got my first TV job within a few months. I did an episode of The Gentle Touch in 1984, a big police drama at the time, and I loved it. Everyone was aware it was my first job and I felt I was being welcomed into the industry.”

Consistent work followed and over the next 20 years, Wood appeared in everything from Only Fools and Horses to Red Dwarf, and even had a brief stint as a stand-up comedian (“One of the toughest jobs in showbiz,” he reflects).

After a small role in EastEnders as a homeless teenager in 1990, his professional path eventually led back to Walford for his most high-profile part. “I enjoyed doing different things and playing different characters, but what changed things for me was having a family.

“When I got offered Max my daughter was one year old [Wood has two children, Amber and Buster, with wife Alison], I’d been working away a lot and the timing was right to do something with more stability. The Branning family originally came in on a three-year contract, which is unusual to be signed for that long.”

Having returned last autumn after five years away, it already feels like Max never left the Square. Wood admits he likes to be busy and in the thick of things when he’s there, which he certainly will be for the next year at least.

Alongside his EastEnders commitments, he also spins other creative plates as sidelines – he recently took part in The Celebrity Apprentice for Children in Need (above), he and comedian friend Henning Wehn, the self-styled ‘German Comedy Ambassador’, recently started a weekly podcast called Wood Wehn in the Membrane (“We make each other laugh, it’s basically two mates talking a load of rubbish!”), and Wood is also a successful artist: one of his portraits of inspirational figures was recently sold to Vinny Jones.

But being Max Branning remains his top priority for now, and keeps the actor on his toes. “He still fascinates me, I’ve never been bored by playing this well-drawn character. Max has always felt very real to me. Even after 20 years in the job he has never failed to hold my attention, I hope that’s the same for the audience.

“I’m honoured and humbled to have had such amazing storylines, right up to the flash-forward. To be at the centre of a huge story in EastEnders is one of the best jobs on TV, I never take it for granted.”

Read more:

• 5 EastEnders spoilers next week: Mark Fowler Jr returns as Joel Marshall trial twist rocks Vicki
• EastEnders airs dark Ravi Gulati scenes amid revenge story in early BBC iPlayer release
• EastEnders airs dilemma for Priya Nandra-Hart following Nugget Gulati's assault in BBC iPlayer release
• EastEnders 2026 preview: 10 spoilers for the year ahead from Max Branning twists to Sukeve adoption
• 10 EastEnders characters who need to have a huge 2026 – from Chelsea Fox to Oscar Branning

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