EastEnders star teases Max Branning will get up to his 'old shenanigans’ when the soap returns

(Image credit: BBC / Jack Barnes)

Will there be yet another notch on the Branning’s bedpost?

EastEnders star Jake Wood has teased big storylines for his character Max Branning when the soap returns to our screens later in the year.

The 48 year old, who has been a fixture in Walford on and off since 2006, says that he has been filming scenes in which Max reverts to type and gets up to no good.

Says Jake: “Max has been really busy since we’ve gone back. He’s got embroiled in a very unpleasant situation. And, in a completely different situation, there’s something very surprising and unexpected.

“It’s been really busy but it’s great stuff. They’re great scripts and, true to form, it’s definitely Max Branning doing what Max Branning does.

“The viewers will be pleased to see him back getting up to his old shenanigans.”

Max Branning on Christmas Day 2007 — Max Branning hands out the explosive DVD in the classic EastEnders episode, to be shown again next week (Image credit: BBC/Kieron McCarron/Jack Barnes)

Is Max about to bed another Walford woman in EastEnders?

Shortly before EastEnders went off air on 16^th June, Max was given the bullet by younger girlfriend Ruby Allen.

Will the highly-sexed Branning brother set his sights on another Walford woman? And if so, could it be ex lover Stacey Fowler, who is set to return to Albert Square?

Max was hot for Ruby, but she ended up going cold on him...

Meanwhile, Max was also involved in a cunning plan with business partner Ian Beale. Desperate to stop estranged wife Rainie getting her hands on his stake of Walford East in their divorce settlement, he took up Ian’s suggestion to temporarily sign over his shares of the restaurant to him. But will Squeale pull a fast one and refuse to hand them back?

Ian makes Max an offer in EastEnders — Max signed his Walford East shares over to Ian - but will he live to regret it?

EastEnders was forced to shut down production in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Cast and crew returned to filming at the end of June but, like all soaps, they now have to adhere to strict health and safety guidelines, including social distancing.

Bosses haven’t given a date as to when the soap will be back on screens, but it’s believed to be around early September. Four episodes per week will be broadcast, however they will be twenty minutes in length, rather than the usual thirty.

Says executive producer Jon Sen, “Filming will inevitably be a more complex process now, so creating 20 minute episodes will enable us to ensure that when we return, EastEnders will still be the show the audience know and love.”

EastEnders is shown on BBC1.

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Alison Slade has over 20 years of experience as a TV journalist and has spent the vast majority of that time as Soap Editor of TV Times magazine. She is passionate about the ability of soaps to change the world by presenting important, issue-based stories about real people in a relatable way. There are few soap actors that she hasn’t interviewed over the years, and her expertise in the genre means she has been called upon as a judge numerous times for The British Soap Awards and the BAFTA TV Awards.

When she is not writing about soaps, watching soaps, or interviewing people who are in soaps, she loves going to the theatre, taking a long walk or pottering about at home, obsessing over Farrow and Ball paint.