The Branning family are in for a dramatic Christmas, what with deep dark secrets being revealed, and the death of Branning brother Derek…

However, on the flip side, Tanya Branning gets good news next week when her latest MRI scan comes back giving her a clean bill of health, and of course, there’s her wedding to Max on Christmas Eve to look forward to.

And in today’s Sun TV magazine, Jake Wood and Jo Joyner, who of course play Max and Tanya, have been talking about their characters’ dramatic Christmas and they also discussed the ever so long running Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) affair plotline, which of course will see one of the Branning me being unmasked at Kat’s lover in the episode that airs on December 20th.

However, speaking first about the big secret that Max and Derek (Jamie Foreman) have been harbouring – but which Derek is going to make public knowledge on Christmas Day – Jake said, “I got very excited when I read the scripts!” Read more & comment »

‘Tis the season to be jolly in Walford, and all through the Square, the E20 residents are gearing up not only for the festive season but also for Max and Tanya Branning’s second trip down the aisle…

And we have a bunch of pictures for you of the stag and hen nights, as well as some glamorous shots of Jake Wood and Jo Joyner, who of course play Max and Tanya, as well as some of Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie, who look a good deal happier than their characters Kat and Alfie Moon are set to be this Christmas!

We also have a newly released trailer for the soap’s dramatic Christmas storylines, which of course include – finally – finding out who Kat’s mystery man is, and Derek Branning shuffling off the mortal coil… Read more & comment »

Fans of EastEnders will most likely know that villain Derek Branning – who’s played by Jamie Foreman – is due to die at Christmas, and almost as soon as the news broke about Derek’s demise, bookies began taking bets on who would finish Del off…

And so far, Derek’s brother Max Brannning (Jake Wood) is favourite at 6/1 to turn out to be the killer, with Christian Clarke (John Partridge) second at 7/1 and Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) in third place at 8/1.

As to Max turning out to be a killer, one theory that appeals to me most is that Max murders Derek when it’s revealed that he is in fact Lauren’s (Jacqueline Jossa) father… Read more & comment »

We reported last month how dodgy Derek Branning was reportedly leaving the award-winning BBC soap, EastEnders, at Christmas, and now it seems that there will be no return for the loathsome character, as cast have been spotted filming what is believed to be his funeral.

Christmas time is never normally a happy place for the residents of Walford (it’s a wonder the still celebrate it to be honest) and this year will be no exception, as a huge Branning family secret will revealed, resulting in not only a whole festive season of heartbreak, but the dramatic exit of villainous Derek Branning (Jamie Foreman) from the clan.
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EastEnders fans may be in for a treat this festive season, as more details of the big Christmas plot line, in which a HUGE Branning family secret will be revealed, has now been rumoured to include the departure of Derek Branning!

Fans of the show will know how Albert Square favourites, Tanya (Jo Joyner) and Max Branning (Jake Wood) are planning to tie the knot for a second time this Christmas, where a huge family secret will be uncovered and ruin yet another Branning Christmas.
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EastEnders star Jacqueline Jossa has revealed that if her character Lauren’s dad Max turns out to be Kat Moon’s mystery lover, Lauren is likely to have a meltdown and “kick off!”

As fans of the show will of course know, the mystery over just who is Kat’s lover has been rumbling on for months now, and though initially five Walford men were in the frame, just three remain…

And those three are Branning brothers Derek (Jamie Foreman) Jack (Scott Maslen) and of course, Max (Jake Wood).

Ray Dixon (Chucky Venn) and Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd) have been ruled out in the last few weeks.

But of the prospect that Max is seeing Kat (Jessie Wallace) Jacqueline told the Daily Star, “If Max is Kat’s secret boyfriend then Lauren will be fuming… Read more & comment »

As fans of EastEnders may know, when producer Lorraine Newman took over as the show’s executive earlier this year, she vowed to “shake up” the show..

And it was speculate that she planned to axe a number of the show’s younger cast members, fearing that older viewers weren’t interested in their storylines.

Matt Lapinskas – who played Anthony Moon – has of course now left the show, and a report in What’s On TV today hints that two more characters may be axed later this year.

It seems that the characters of Lauren and Joey Branning – who’re played by Jacqueline Jossa and David Witts – are set to be in a car crash later this year, which will leave viewers guessing as to whether they survive.

In scenes that’re being billed as one of the soap’s most expensive stunts ever, having cost around £1million to stage, we’ll see Lauren and Joey stealing Derek Branning’s (Jamie Foreman) Jag and going for a joyride in it… Read more & comment »

In an episode of EastEnders that’s set to air later this month, Tanya and Max Branning are due to set a date for their wedding, which will of course be their second time down the aisle…

However, as we’re set to find out who’s been bedding Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) this week, I’m thinking that the news about the wedding would indicate that Max (Jake Wood) is out of the running in the whodunit over Kat’s affair.

Mainly because surely Tanya (Jo Joyner) wouldn’t be planning on marrying Max if she learned that he’d been doing the do with Kat?

That said though, I guess that doormat Alfie (Shane Richie) may, for the sake of the mystery man’s other half, keep the news of the affair a secret. He is of course going to hear Kat confess to having been unfaithful yet again in this week’s shows… Read more & comment »

In episodes of EastEnders which will air on Thursday, September 13 at 7.30pm and Friday, September 14 at 8pm on BBC1, we’re finally going to learn who it is that Kat Moon has been having an affair with!

As will poor old doormat Alfie (Shane Richie) who has been completely oblivious to the fact that Kat (Jessie Wallace) has been playing away, yet again.

So who will Mr X turn out to be? Well, I think it’s Max (Jake Wood) based only on the fact that when Kat was bandaging up her mystery man after the fight in the Vic, the ‘patient’ wore a black shirt, and of all the men who were brawling, only Max wore a black shirt.

But of course, that may have been a red herring, designed to throw us off the scent, and still in the Mr Lover Lover running are Derek, (Jamie Foreman) Jack, (Scott Maslen) and Michael Moon, (Steve John Shepherd) in addition to Max… Read more & comment »

Coming up on EastEnders a week on Thursday, Max, Tanya and Alfie are going to be shocked to find Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) sleeping rough on the streets of London…

Ian of course went missing after his fiancé Mandy Salter cruelly dumped him on what should have been their wedding day, which was just days after Ian’s brother Ben Mitchell (Joshua Pascoe) confessed to Ian that he’d murdered Heather Trott.

And of course, with bills and debts piling up, and on the verge of losing everything, Ian simply walked away from the Square, and he hasn’t been seen since.

That is until Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) spots him while she’s doing volunteer work at a homeless shelter, and she immediately alerts her mum Tanya (Jo Joyner) and dad Max (Jake Wood) who enlist Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) into hunting Ian down… Read more & comment »

So, tonight’s the night we have all been waiting for, when Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) will begin her whodunnit storyline as she embarks on an affair with a mystery man in EastEnders.

We reported weeks ago that the storyline was coming where Kat would start seeing someone behind her husband, Alfie’s (Shane Richie) back, and the viewers too, as the man in question was to remain unidentified throughout the plot.
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As fans of EastEnders may know Jo Joyner, who plays the role of Tanya Branning, is taking a couple of months off from the show early on in 2013 in order to spend some time with her young children.

However, she will be back later in the year, but in the meantime Jo has told Inside Soap magazine that yet again, the Branning family is going to be front and centre of the show’s major Christmas plotlines for 2012.

Viewers will surely recall that in 2007, Max Branning’s affair with his daughter-in-law Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) was exposed on Christmas morning by Lauren Branning, who was at the time played by Madeline Duggan…

Click ‘Read more’ for a reminder of how that cat got out of its sordid little bag… Read more & comment »

Since Max Branning returned to Walford last year, with dodgy dealer brother Derek in tow, there have been hints about a dark secret that Derek (Jamie Foreman) is holding over his brother, just waiting for the opportunity to use his knowledge for his own purposes…

Whatever the secret is, it happened while Max was staying with Derek in Manchester, and intriguingly, Jake Wood – who of course plays Max – has told Soaplife that this secret could stop his character saying ‘yes’ when Tanya (Jo Joyner) proposes to him in a forthcoming episode.

The proposal comes after Max and Tanya share a moment of passion at the car lot, but apparently, Max’s reaction is not the one Tanya was expecting.

Jake explained, “Tanya proposes to Max – but he hesitates and that upsets her.

“He tells her that it’s what he wants, but he wanted to propose to her. To make it really special… Read more & comment »

The plot thickens!

Hands up who was disappointed that the obvious sparks between Alfie Moon and Roxy Mitchell didn’t manifest into a juicy EastEnders affair?

Well, they may be hope yet!  Bosses at the BBC soap have confirmed that when Jessie Wallace returns to reprise her role on our screens tomorrow, she will start sewing the seeds for a huge, but very different kind of who-dun-it as she embarks on a mystery affair, leaving the path of true love clear for Alfie and Roxy when it all comes out in the wash!
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The relationship between Max Branning and his on-off wife Tanya has always been a fiery one…

But it’s survived so many hurdles it could go for gold in the Olympics! There have been affairs, lies, illness, and even an attempted murder or two, but still, the couple always seem to end up with each other.

And the culmination of Tanya’s (Jo Joyner) cancer storyline saw them together again, albeit with some issues in their sex life, but as we’re about to see, Tanya’s going to get over those issues in a bout of lust with Max at the car lot!

Not only that, the surge in passion between them prompts Tanya to ask Max to marry her again, and today, in TV Choice magazine, Jake Wood – who of course plays Max – has been talking about his character’s reaction to that… Read more & comment »