Ravi Gulati’s (Aaron Thiara) descent into the criminal underworld is proving to be trickier than even EastEnders’ pre-eminent bad boy could’ve imagined.

After Bernie Taylor (Clair Norris) wiped out the his family businesses bank accounts before fleeing Albert Square, Ravi struggled to find a way out of the financial ruin she’d left him in and turned to Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington to provide him with a conduit into dealing drugs.

Although Nicola warned him that the contact she was providing him with was big time and urged him to reconsider, Ravi has thrown himself head first into the shady business, setting up a racket alongside subordinate Okie Okyere (Aayan Ibikunle Shoderu).

With an unwilling Harry Mitchell (Elijah Holloway) ensnared after he tried to save his best friend, Kojo Asare (Dayo Koleosho), who’d flushed Ravi’s stash, the operation has lurched from one problem to another.

When their previous base was raided by the police, Ravi began to cuckoo Kojo, installing Okie into the flat to handle the day-do-day dealing, lead Kojo’s brother, George Knight (Colin Salmon), to became a thorn in the side of Ravi.

Following a further drug drop, Ravi learned that they’d made enemies of a rival drug firm, leading to them breaking into the flat and delivering a vicious beating to Okie.

While Nicola managed to talk (or threaten, more accurately) Ravi into setting Harry free, he was unwilling to leave Kojo to be further exploited, roping his dad, Teddy Mitchell (Roland Manookian), into a scheme that involved putting a hidden camera in Kojo’s flat.

Ravi took swift and callous revenge, imprisoning Harry in a lock-up, demanding to know where the footage the camera has recorded is stored. Next week, while Okie delights in torturing Harry, Ravi is panicked to learn that rival drug dealers are out for blood after his dealing has encroached on their ‘turf’, leaving both he and his family in serious danger.

Faced with the prospect of having to sort out the issue, Ravi decides to flee, and suggests to his daughter, Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) that they family take a holiday.

With his ‘fight or flight’ response clearly veering toward ‘flight’, can Ravi convince Avani to up and leave Walford to avoid the repercussions of crossing a rival drugs gang? And if he does…what will he come home to?