EastEnders' Joel Marshall inflicts violent attack on Vicki Fowler in BBC iPlayer release amid sick school act – will she survive?

Joel Marshall (Max Murray) has carried out a horrific attack on Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) in a truly harrowing instalment of EastEnders.

With Joel's misogynistic views on women empowering him to see them as inferior to himself, his behaviour came to a head when news reached the Albert Square locals that he had hit Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd).

Outside school, a shaken Amy had confronted Joel for showing a degrading, sexually explicit video, and he had even been looking at her while the woman on-screen was being treated with sickening contempt.

As Alfie (Shane Richie) and Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) were notified of Tommy's (Sonny Kendall) involvement in what happened on school premises, the Gulatis, Mitchells, and Fox-Danes expressed conflicting views that reflected their differing generations.

Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) shouted the odds over Amy's ordeal, and Alfie, along with Joel's dad Ross (Alex Walkinshaw), played the incident down as they searched for their sons and remarked that these subjects were never discussed in their youth.

As Ross's partner, Vicki was increasingly concerned to hear of Joel's latest actions, while Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) told Amy that in challenging Joel as she did, she should have expected a comeback!

Tommy was seen in agreement with Joel, who continued to mouth off about what women and girls did.

Julie Bates (Karen Henthorn) relayed that the headteacher had called the police, and that the teacher in charge, who was told to "shush" by Joel and Tommy, had been new and inexperienced.

Discussions included the ease with which sensitive material is readily available to kids online, whether they want to see it or not.

Arguments broke out between fellow parents, until Julie instructed them to start talking to their impressionable children.

Once home, Tommy rowed with Kat and Alfie as Joel's vile words influenced his explanation and he spoke of "double standards".

Alfie attempted to get through to Tommy that hitting a woman is always wrong, but he despaired at having to have that conversation and more in the future.

Meanwhile, Ross ordered Joel to treat women with respect, but Joel used derogatory language, insulted his dad and branded Vicki "low value".

When Ross came close to hitting Joel, Vicki told him to leave and cool off – but this left Vicki in a vulnerable position.

Vicki tried to have a calm, civilised conversation with Joel, but he continued to try and shame her.

But she pointed out that he was just a child, causing him to punch the wall and tell her to get over the feminist viewpoint.

Undeterred, Vicki saw Joel for who he was, calling him pathetic and adding that she was much stronger than him as a person.

At that point, in distressing scenes, Joel said she was the problem, and hit her with enough force for Vicki to fall to the floor.

"You're the problem. Women like you, and you don't ever speak to me like that, you hear me? No woman disrespects me."

As Vicki struggled for breath, unable to move, the camera panned away and she let out a scream of pain, with Joel going on to kick her.

Joel was then seen checking his reflection, before leaving Vicki for dead.

Will she survive?

A documentary, EastEnders Investigates: The Manosphere, will air on Thursday 9th October on BBC iPlayer at 6am and BBC Three at 8pm to coincide with Joel’s misogyny storyline.

Read more:

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• EastEnders star teases "unfinished business" with Max and hints at "revenge" plot
• EastEnders teases feud for Max Branning return with another iconic character
• EastEnders Autumn 2025 Preview: Joel story explodes, Sharon returns, Lauren and Peter wedding drama

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