It’s no surprise that EastEnders royalty, Max Branning (Jake Wood), who’s defined by his penchant for lying, cheating and manipulating, is returning home to a number of enemies he left behind in Walford, and fellow Albert Square legend Thomas Law has just added his character, Peter Beale, to that list.
Max is set to step foot on Albert Square for the first time since 2021 next week, just in time for his daughter Lauren’s (Jacqueline Jossa) surprise wedding, organised by Peter and, according to Thomas, his alter-ego won’t be best pleased.
When asked about the immediate state of play between Max and Peter, Thomas said: ‘There’s unfinished business there, absolutely. They do have a nice first engagement when they see each other, although Max comes in at a terrible time!’
‘But I think that’s the first and only time that they’ll be civil with each other, because Max has done a lot of things wrong to Peter’s family, which has caused issues between the Beales and the Brannings. Long may that continue, for the drama in the show!’
As Thomas said, Max’s history with the Beales is plagued with turmoil, with Max’s affair with Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) directly playing into his arrest following her murder.
When Lucy’s dad, Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) discovered that his young son Bobby Beale (Eliot Carrington) had killed Lucy and his wife Jane Beale (Laurie Brett) had helped cover it up, they decided as a family to let Max take the fall.
Max spent a year in prison before Bobby finally admitted to what he did and upon being freed, his thirst for vengeance was extreme, with him scheming to ultimately destroy the Beale’s for good.
There was mass carnage in the war between Max and the Beale family, with one victim being Ian’s stepson, Steven Beale (Aaron Sidwell), who perished in a fire that Max blackmailed him into setting, though the injuries that killed him were, in fact, inflicted by Max.
Though this incident was also supposed to see the death of Jane, she escaped and Max threatened her to leave Walford. Though Jane planned to leave with Ian, Max made it clear that he wanted her to go alone, threatening the safety of Bobby in the young offenders unit should she tell anybody.
Though Max’s scheme was later revealed, tensions between he and Ian were never truly settled, with Max becoming a suspect when Ian was attacked and left for dead in the Queen Vic pub after Ian stole money from Max and attempted to blackmail him into keeping quiet.
Is revenge on Peter’s mind? Thomas said: ‘I would say Peter, now knowing that Max is back, wants revenge for things that happened when he was a kid and for everything Max has done to Lucy.
‘There’s a list of reasons that Peter could be annoyed at Max, so if Max pushes it to the limit, he’ll be in trouble. It was really good to play that with Jake.’
As mentioned, Peter isn’t the only character with an (M)axe to grind (see what I did, there?)
It’s been incredibly apparent through dialogue between Lauren and Oscar Branning (Pierre Moullier) that they’ve had nothing to do with their dad, with no shortage of bad blood between the members of the Branning family.
One person he has had significant contact with is Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan), with a litany of flashbacks revealing their connection.
With Zoe having kept the details of her dalliance with Max under lock and key a secret from her family, will this make an enemy of her cousin Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), with whom Max has shared a long term ‘situationship’, too?
‘When Stacey sees Max and Zoe kiss, it’s such a shock,’ Lacey previously said. ‘She had no idea they knew each other, let alone that they were a couple, so I think she’s in such disbelief.
‘She feels betrayed by Zoe, but she’s reminded that this is typical Max behaviour as it’s what he always does!’
Another dead cert on the enemy list is Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), mother of the previously mentioned Steven Beale, who prepares herself for a major showdown with her sons killer.
When news came about that Max would be returning to the Square, Jake Wood said: ‘I’m over the moon to be coming home to Walford. Max has got lots of unresolved drama with many characters, so I’m sure he’ll be busy.
