EastEnders star Alice Haig has spoken about the show’s special episode for the first time, as Joel Marshall’s storyline takes another dark turn. Show bosses have confirmed that next Thursday’s visit to Walford (9 October) will focus exclusively on Joel’s misogynistic views, as his behaviour continues to spiral out of control.

In an issue-based episode, Joel and his friend Tommy Moon spark an incident at school, which has far-reaching consequences for their peers and the Albert Square community as a whole.

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Alice’s character Vicki Fowler will be central to the episode, as events culminate in Joel attacking her.

Speaking exclusively to us on the red carpet at the Inside Soap Awards 2025, Alice spoke about the longer-term future of the plot.

“We’ve been filming it recently and it’s been a long fallout,” she explained. “It’s going to get very dark with Joel – and things are going to get kind of dangerous. It’s not going to be the best for Vicki.

“So that obviously, in itself, then creates a whole fallout and working out what’s going to happen to her, to him, to Ross. It’s been beautifully written and really well executed – I hope, anyway! And it’s all coming very soon.”

Asked specifically about the special episode, Alice continued: “It’s basically focused on male toxic masculinity, misogyny and the brainwashing that’s going on for young people – young men in particular.

“And women, actually – I think there’s a lot of young women who are intertwined with men with all these views, and are taking them on themselves as well.

“It’s basically an episode about talking to our children about these things and trying to get the message out that it doesn’t have to be this way.

“I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say, but we’re going to see all the young people dealing with this theme – and then we’re also going to see their parents attempt to deal with it.

“I think a lot of the parents are really, really out of their depth – and it does get quite dark.”

Alice confirmed that she and co-star Max Murray, who plays Joel, were both pleased to be taking on this emotional new chapter of the storyline.

“When I heard about it, both Max and I were really inspired by the story because we know how important it is,” she said.

“Obviously on shows like EastEnders, it has to be done dramatically. It does have to escalate to a level that is dramatic and people want to watch, but also the core of the story is true.

“It’s happening and there are kids out there, all over the country, who are being poisoned like Joel is. So I really felt like it was an amazing storyline to be trusted with, really. I was flattered and thrilled.”

Meanwhile, Vicki recently took centre stage in another big episode as she violently clashed with Zoe Slater in the middle of the Square.

Alice laughed: “The fight with Zoe is one of the top moments of my life! I wanted to do it all, I didn’t want a stunt person. I had a massive back pad attached to me so she could push me over for real. I was really getting into it!

“Then doing the actual hits and stuff, it’s so bonkers because you’re miles away from the person, but of course the camera makes it look like you’re doing it. So when I watched it back for the first time, I was like: ‘Wow, that looks amazing!’ It was so fun.”