EastEnders’ Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) makes the life-changing decision to call time on her 11 years as landlady of The Queen Vic next week, but there’s one obstacle standing in the way of her plan – her mum Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe).
Linda has been co-owner of the Walford boozer since she and then-husband Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) debuted on the BBC soap at the end of 2013.
She currently owns The Vic with Elaine, who came on board in 2023, buying Mick’s share from his new wife Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) following his presumed drowning.
Recently, recovering alcoholic Linda has been struggling to run the pub single-handedly, as Elaine has been behaving erratically since her split from husband George Knight (Colin Salmon) earlier this month.
With rumours currently swirling that previous landlady Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) is poised to take the reins of the Vic once more, there are tense scenes next week when Linda tells her mum she wants to sell her half of the pub.
Reeling from the bombshell, Elaine tries to convince Linda to rethink her decision, but a furious argument breaks out.
After Linda retreats to the café, she bumps into George, who encourages her to see the situation from her mum’s point of view. But when Elaine spies their conversation, she becomes convinced they are plotting behind her back.
Trying to take charge of the situation, Elaine meets with a bank manager, but it doesn’t go to plan, and so later puts a proposal to her grandson Johnny Carter (Charlie Suff) to become a silent partner, but he refuses.
Feeling deflated and emotional, Elaine loses it in The Vic and orders all the punters out, before getting into another blazing row with Linda – but the stress of recent events becomes too much, and she suddenly collapses.
Elaine later tries to play her collapse off as a panic attack, but it’s clear something more is at play.
Felling guilty, Linda reasons she should keep her share of The Vic for Elaine’s sake, but Johnny is adamant she should sell – but as they return to the bar, Elaine has collapsed again.
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Is Elaine OK, or could this be part of a plan to stop Linda selling her share?
Of course, this is not the first time Linda has sold the boozer – back in 2020, Sharon Watts (Letita Dean) bought it from her and Mick, as he sought to get his beloved L away from the temptation of alcohol.
However, following Linda’s subsequent affair with Max Branning (Jake Wood), she convinced Sharon to sell the pub back to her and Mick, realising it was what they needed to get their marriage back on track.
Will this be last orders for Carter/Knight era of The Vic?
EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 30 June at 7.30pm on BBC One or stream first from 6am on iPlayer.
