It’s fair to say Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) has a somewhat tortured history with the Wicks brothers in EastEnders – and next week, his worst nightmare comes true.

Long-term fans of the BBC soap will know that Ian’s wife Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) first had an affair with her ex-boyfriend and his half-brother Simon Wicks (Nick Berry), which resulted in her falling pregnant with son Stephen.

While Ian and Cindy eventually reunited – with Ian agreeing to bring Stephen up as his own – their marriage was rocked once again when Cindy fell for the charms of Ian’s other half-brother David Wicks (Michael French).

So intense was Cindy’s love for David that she even hired a hitman to kill Ian so they could be together without Ian getting custody of the children.

Ultimately, the failed plot is what landed her in prison, where she was later believed to have died during childbirth in 1998. 

Twenty-five years later, we found out that Cindy actually entered a witness protection programme while behind bars, and went off to live a new life in Spain as Rose Knight. 

With Cindy now back on the Square and shacked up with Ian once again, there’s a huge threat to his happiness next week when he finds out that David is back in town. 

The character, who was last seen in Walford a decade ago, made a return on Thursday to support his daughter Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer), whose erratic behaviour has caused concern from her friends and family. 

However, he is stunned when he comes face-to-face with Cindy after 27 years, not realising she’d been alive and well this whole time. 

As they catch up on the past two decades, Bianca wastes no time in telling Ian that her dad is back in town leaving him horrified. 

Worried what his arrival could mean for his relationship with Cindy, Ian heads to The Vic to make amends with Cindy’s daughter Anna Knight (Molly Rainford) and hatches a plan… 

But while he’s desperate to cling to his relationship with Cindy – not actually realising she’s currently having an affair with former stepson Junior Knight (Micah Balfour) – it sounds like David and Cindy could soon fall back into their own ways.

Actress Michelle Collins teases: ‘Ian is like a security blanket for her, but who knows how long that’s going to last because Cindy loves danger and adventure, all the things that David Wicks brings.’

EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 7 October at 7.30pm on BBC One and from 6am on iPlayer.