EastEnders films most 'explosive' stunt ever

There were fast and furious scenes in Walford as EastEnders stars put the pedal to the metal while shooting the soap's most explosive stunt ever.

Filmed on location, the dramatic scene sees veteran bad boy Phil Mitchell and manipulative newcomer Carl White in a high-speed crash with a lorry - leaving Phil fighting for his life.

Actors Steve MacFadden (Mitchell) and Daniel Coonan (White) looked suitably banged up as they played their part in the storyline, which will screen in September.

The plot twist will also see Albert Square old-timer Barbara Windsor reprise her role as Phil's mother, former Queen Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell, for a special episode.

Barbara left the show in 2010 amid reports she would never return to a part that was hers since 1994.

EastEnders executive producer Lorraine Newman said: "A suitably explosive start to a jam-packed autumn and winter full of love, romance and reprisals. Treats for audiences old and new. And one literal vanishing act. It's time to take your seats."

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.