EastEnders’ Mark and Sam team up for sinister plan in early iPlayer release

EastEnders spoilers follow for Thursday’s episode (14 May), which is available to watch now on streaming service BBC iPlayer and hasn’t yet aired on TV.

EastEnders’ Mark Fowler and Sam Mitchell have teamed up for a rather sinister plan, as they attempt to solve Mark’s worsening money issues. In the last few weeks, Phil Mitchell got his nephew out of the dangerous gang he was trapped in, but Mark was left with a total of £100,000 to pay as a result.

Since then, Mark has been going to desperate lengths, including giving Lauren stolen cars to sell, to find the cash – but he is still struggling. His dad Grant got involved this week and appealed to gang boss Russell, who he said was an old mate of his.

It turned out that Grant once slept with Russell’s wife and he still holds a grudge, so after a fight ensued, Russell doubled Mark’s debt and warned that he’ll kill him if it’s not paid in a week.

In today’s episode, Mark’s sister Vicki got a shock when she found Russell sitting in her house. He reiterated that Mark’s debt is doubled and explained that he and the entire family were in danger if the deadline isn’t met.

Vicki confronted Mark about her interaction with Russell and told him about the debt update, and Mark was furious that Grant had meddled and made everything worse as a result.

Mark headed over to see Grant and raged at his dad for his actions. Grant revealed that he was selling his bar in Portugal to generate the money he needed, but Mark refused and ordered him out of his life.

Meanwhile, Vicki sparked Lauren’s suspicions about Mark, so she headed to The Arches to check on his welfare as she was worried about him, but he insisted that he wasn’t in any trouble.

Later in The Vic, Sam asked Mark what he was going to do about the debt, and he felt that he was out of options. She suggested that he should continue selling dodgy cars with his contact, but Mark reminded her that Lauren would never buy them as she’s currently working with legit motors.

“What if something happens to them?” Sam pondered. “What if she loses them? And I mean, loses them forever. If they get torched, and she loses that bet you were telling me about…”

Sure enough, that evening Mark and Sam headed to a wasteland and the pair secretly set fire to a classic car that Lauren was about to buy. Will this illegal scheme help get Mark the money he needs?