EastEnders boss confirms major new story for Suki and Eve after quiet spell

‘There’s something big coming up.’ (Picture: BBC)

Eve and Suki Panesar-Unwin (Heather Peace and Balvinder Sopal) have had a bit of a quieter period in EastEnders recently. According to executive producer Ben Wadey, that’s about to end in a big way.

‘Suki and Eve have something big coming up.’ Ben teased during a recent EastEnders press event.

‘We deliberately played out the adoption story very slowly and very realistically because it’s a real world issue that lots of people go through and we wanted to get that right.’

‘Suki has been a little bit quiet for a while and we wanted to track that. Suki and Eve have something quite major coming up and we are going to do a little announcement in the coming weeks to tease that a little bit more.’

The couple have suffered a long, hard fight in their journey to start a family, with more than their fare share of obstacles on the road to adoption.

It all started when Suki discovered her step-granddaughter Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) was pregnant. Overcome with desperation to be a mum, Suki acted out of character and pressured Avani to continue with a pregnancy that she was clearly terrified of carrying to term.

Fortunately, Eve learned that Avani was not at all on board and intervened, supporting her wish to have a termination even if it meant exploding her relationship with Suki.

Boy, did things explode.

The couple’s adoption journey has not been plain sailing. (Picture:BBC)

When Avani’s parents, Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) and Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) found out, the fallout was so bad that Suki and Eve ended up finding separate living arrangements.

#Sukeve was joyously reunited after Eve was subjected to a disgusting homophobic attack. Their love reaffirmed, Eve warmed up to getting onboard the baby train and declared that she wanted them to consider adoption.

Sadly, this was just the start of the Panesar-Unwins’ problems.

First there was Eve’s bigoted mother Norma (Jessica Turner), who did all the meddling she could to put the kybosh on the couples’ adoption dreams. Then their social worker got ring that Ravi and Priya’s family life wasn’t exactly healthy and happy due to the fact that he’d been running a drug ring.

But the cherry on top was the day the couple met with the adoption panel, which unfortunately also happened to be the anniversary of Jags Panesar’s (Amar Adatia) death, leading to a furious clash between Suki and Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota).

This led to a near hysterical Suki fleeing the panel meeting Suki and having a drunken, violent confrontation with Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington), something that Nicola got on CCTV and was more than happy to use to blackmail the hopeful parents.

Against all odds, Suki and Eve’s dreams came true when the panel accepted them, and soon the couple welcomed Ria Virdi (Aaria Sharma) into their home. They were even able to – sort of – bury the hatchet with Nicola.

The only drama Suki and Eve have struggled through recently in their difficulty in bonding with Ria, who misses her real mum. Eve, who has borne the brunt of this, got some much needed parental advice from an unlikely source – Nicola.

Viewers have seen a thawing between Nicola and Eve. (Picture: BBC)

Now that their beef is on ice for now, it’s safe to say that whatever Eve and Suki’s next big story is, Nicola won’t be the cause of the drama. Or is it?

Actress Laura Doddington, who plays Nicola certainly hopes so, as she shared in a recent exclusive interview with Metro.

‘To come out of that blackmail, shall we say that Nicola performed, to move forward and put it behind them. To have two women of a certain age,able to sit down and chat and be there for each other, I think is really lovely. I hope it continues.’

But will it? Or is there a chance that Nicola could cause further problems for Eve and Suki?

‘Who knows?’ admits Laura Doddington. ‘Six months down the line, has she deleted the footage? Has she not? I don’t know!’

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Alfie’s chaos draws police in as Kat is left utterly furious in EastEnders

Alfie Moon decides to throw a street party, but it ends in disaster… (Picture:BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) is only trying to cheer Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) up next week, but his well-meaning plan quickly turns into chaos when the police are called to the Square in EastEnders.

Kat has been struggling recently, and Alfie is desperate to put a smile back on her face. But rather than sitting down and talking to her about what’s really bothering her, he decides that a surprise party is the answer.

It all starts when Alfie is happily watching footage from Bert and Ernie’s school project.

However, his mood soon changes when he spots Kat in the video looking upset.

Alfie immediately becomes concerned and starts wondering what is going on with his wife. Rather than confronting Kat about what he has seen, though, he decides to keep the footage to himself.

Instead, Alfie secretly ropes in the rest of the family to help him put together something special for Kat.

Alfie is determined to lift Kat’s spirits (Picture:BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

His idea is a Benidorm-themed party, inspired by a happy holiday memory the pair share.

It is certainly an unconventional way of trying to lift someone’s spirits, but Alfie is convinced it will do the trick.

The family, however, aren’t quite as convinced.

They question why Alfie is avoiding the obvious and not simply talking to Kat about the footage. But before they can push him too much, Alfie unveils his surprise and Kat is left genuinely moved by the gesture.

Soon enough, the whole Square gets swept up in Alfie’s attempt at bringing a bit of holiday fun to Walford.

And when Alfie gets involved, things are never likely to stay calm for long.

The street descends into a full-on party, with Alfie going all out to recreate that Benidorm feeling.

There’s even a paddling pool complete with a slide, giving the residents the chance to cool off and enjoy a rather unexpected day of fun.

For a while, it seems like Alfie’s plan has actually worked (Picture:BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

Kat is distracted from her worries and the locals are enjoying themselves.

But the fun doesn’t last.

A community officer soon arrives and puts an abrupt end to the celebrations.

The officer isn’t impressed by the impromptu street party and threatens Kat and Alfie with a hefty fine.

Given that the pair are already dealing with plenty of other pressures, the last thing they need is another problem landing on their doorstep.

Unsurprisingly, Kat isn’t exactly thrilled by the intervention.

True to form, she gives the officer a piece of her mind, while Alfie attempts to calm her down and prevent the situation from getting even worse.

But just when it looks like the drama might finally be settling down, another problem emerges.

Alfie’s street party takes a turn for the worst (Picture:BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

Ria is injured amid the chaos, leaving everyone concerned.

The incident immediately raises the stakes for Kat and Alfie, particularly because of the potential consequences it could have for Suki and Eve’s ongoing custody case.

Suki is quick to make her feelings known and threatens legal action, putting even more pressure on the couple.

For Kat, it is all becoming too much.

Already struggling with her emotions, she storms off, leaving Alfie wondering whether his attempt to cheer her up has actually made everything considerably worse.

What started as a sweet gesture based on one of their happiest memories has now resulted in a potential fine, an injury and the threat of legal action.

And Alfie may soon have to face the fact that throwing a huge party wasn’t quite the solution Kat needed.

With tensions rising and Kat furious, will Alfie be able to explain himself?

Or has his attempt to put a smile back on Kat’s face landed the pair in even more trouble?

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‘Not even looking!’ – Peter Schmeichel tears into three Man Utd stars after Hull humiliation

A nightmare start for Michael Carrick (Picture: Shutterstock Editorial)

Peter Schmeichel took aim at three Manchester United stars for their roles in the woeful opening day defeat to Hull City.

Pre-season optimism was chipped away inside 38 minutes on Saturday afternoon as the newly-promoted Tigers took a 2-0 lead through goals from Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy.

Michael Carrick’s side were twice undone by set pieces with Ajayi lashing into the roof of the net after Oli McBurnie’s initial effort was pushed onto the bar by Senne Lammens.

Record signing Mendy added a second shortly before half-time, powering home a header from Regan Slater’s free kick.

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United were in disarray for Hull’s opener, beaten to the first ball in the build-up which led to the corner. As the ball came in, Dorgu let the ball pass him with Heaven not tight enough to McBurnie as he forced the ball back towards goal.

Dissecting the goal at half-time, Schmeichel blasted Dorgu for ‘not looking at the ball’, insisting Heaven had to be stronger dealing with the Hull striker.

‘Look at Dorgu on the front post, he is not even looking at the guy taking the corner kick,’ the United legend told Premier League Productions.

Heaven struggled at Hull (Picture: Action Images via Reuters)

‘At that exact moment, he loses his concentration, he does not have the ability to block the first ball.

‘And of course, Ayden Heaven on the back post. He allows McBurnie to go in behind him. You can’t allow that. That’s not how you defend, you have to be stronger.’

Schmeichel also took a dim view of United’s defending for the second goal. As United and Hull players jostled for position inside the box as the free kick was being taken, Luke Shaw was spotted inexplicably dropping back to play the opposition onside.

Shaw was also at fault (Picture: REUTERS)

Schmeichel added at full-time: ‘It is the absolute lack of concentration from Man United. That’s what disappoints me the most.

‘I picked on Luke Shaw. Luke Shaw is two yards behind everyone else, playing everyone else onside.

‘He shouldn’t be there. He fell for the dummy. If he stayed up there, he would be either offside or it would have gone out for a goal kick.

‘That’s a disappointment for me, that an experienced team like that makes mistakes like that.’

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Atletico Madrid send message to Julian Alvarez after Arsenal transfer approach

Julian Alvarez has been badly advised, says Atletico Madrid’s CEO (DeFodi via Getty)

Atletico Madrid CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin insists the club will not sell Julian Alvarez to Arsenal or Barcelona and believes the Argentine forward has been badly advised during the summer transfer window.

Arsenal have made a fresh approach to sign Alvarez and have indicated that they would be willing to pay in excess of £100 million for the 26-year-old.

However, Alvarez’s preference is to join Barcelona after he publicly declared during the World Cup that he wants to leave Atletico before the end of the summer transfer window.

But Atletico have been angered by Barcelona’s approach for Alvarez and are refusing to negotiate with the Spanish champions after their €100m (£85.5m) offer was rejected earlier this summer.

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Alvarez, meanwhile, has faced abuse from Atletico supporters as a section of fans chanted against him during the 2-0 win at home to Malaga on Wednesday, while signs saying ‘Julian OUT’ were seen outside of the club’s training ground on Friday.

Speaking to EFE on Friday, Gil Marin insists that Atletico remain fully behind Alvarez and accused rival clubs of being disrespectful in their pursuit of the Argentina international.

Julian Alvarez has faced abuse from Atletico Madrid fans for wanting to leave the club (Shutterstock)

‘Atletico Madrid, like all great clubs, is built with great players, and I’m certain that Julian is one, as well as a great professional,’ Gil Marin said.

‘We must compete based on our values, with homegrown talent and the best players from outside that we can bring in.

‘We are going to help Julian and continue to take care of him so that he can give us his full potential, because we need him to continue competing among the greats of Europe.

‘We must understand that Julian has not had the best advisors around him regarding his professional career in recent months.

‘We cannot allow other clubs and their affiliated media to dictate what we have to do, dictate our sporting strategy, and disrespect us.

‘That’s precisely what they’re trying to do – divide us. It’s clear we’re not as powerful as they are but we have values. We Atletico fans won’t let them corrupt us. Atleti is strong when we’re all together.’

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Two teens seriously injured after sword attack on first day back at school

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Two teenagers have been left with severe injuries after being attacked by a man with a sword at a Swedish high school.

The pupils had just returned to the Brinell High School in the small town of Fagersta, central Sweden, following their summer break.

A massive emergency response was triggered when a man armed with a sword entered this afternoon, with two boys seriously injured, while a third suffered wounds of which the extent is unknown.

Police confirmed in a statement that the alarm was raised at 2.06pm about ‘suspected deadly violence’, and they immediately sent ‘all available resources’ to the school.

The spokesperson declined to address whether anyone had been killed but said that one person at the scene was later taken into custody and that there was no longer any danger to the public.

Local reports have further claimed that the suspect was shot in the leg by officers.

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A man with a sword attacked students on their first day back after the summer break (Picture: Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)

Public broadcaster SVT cited anonymous sources in their reports that the individual arrested was an 18-year-old former student who had a previous assault conviction.

His home was raided after his arrest, with police also investigating a mysterious TikTok account where an image of a sword was shared around 25 minutes prior to the attack.

It is unknown whether the account is connected to the suspect, but it had previously shared pictures and videos praising mass murderers.

The suspect wore a helmet during the sword attack, and students recalled fleeing for their safety.

‘We just all ran,’ said Abdulrahem Salmo.

He added that he had seen one victim with a bloody stab wound to their arm.

A huge emergency response was triggered (Picture: Reuters)

‘Then people called the police, and we just all ran from there because we were afraid.’

Madelene Jansson, whose daughter goes to the school, also spoke to local newspaper Fagersta-posten outside, explaining that she was sent a text message by her child, saying ‘somebody had been stabbed, and the police were on their way’.

‘Then it all just went off. It feels unreal,’ she told the paper.

Several police officers were seen coming in and out of a cordon surrounding Brinell, which has 450 students aged 16 to 20.

The incident triggered a mass lockdown, with measures implemented for eight other schools, which were later lifted.

Public buildings were also locked down in Fagersta, a town with a population of 13,000.

Other schools and public buildings were put on lockdown (Picture: Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)

‘We are moving into high alert status to marshal our resources and gain the clearest possible picture of the situation,’ the Vastmanland county authority said in a statement.

The Swedish government has been liaising with the police force in the aftermath of the attack, with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson urging people to allow the emergency services to work without disturbance.

‘Our thoughts are with all those affected,’ he added in an X post.

Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson also wrote: ‘All of Sweden stands together with Fagersta at this difficult time.’

The sword attack comes 18 months after the worst mass shooting in Swedish history.

A gunman opened fire at a school in Orebro, also in central Sweden, killing 10 people before shooting himself.

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