Beloved EastEnders legend left to die in senseless attack in early BBC iPlayer release

Events have turned from bad to worse for Nigel Bates (Picture: BBC/Kieron McCarron)

This article contains spoilers for tonight’s episode of EastEnders, which airs at 7.30pm on BBC One or can be streamed on iPlayer now.

Phil Mitchell’s (Steve McFadden) fears for Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley) have intensified – but things are about to get a lot worse.

Earlier this week, Nige’ suffered another setback in his young-onset dementia journey, when he mistook young Hope Fowler for his adoptive daughter Clare.

In horrifying scenes, he tried to snatch the girl away from Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman), branding him a ‘paedo’.

When Nigel returned home, he questioned whether his memory was deteriorating significantly, and watched a video recorded at Christmas where he posed a number of questions about horror films to himself.

Phil walked in, and witnessed the video for himself. He was devastated to hear Nigel conclude his questions by saying he should take ‘further action’ if he was unable to remember the answers.

An argument with Phil Mitchell broke out (Picture: BBC/Kieron McCarron) Phil sought help from Linda Carter (Picture: BBC/Jack Barnes)

Having recently contemplated taking his own life on more than one occasion, this is horrifying to hear.

As we caught back up with the pair today, a huge argument had errupted, with Nigel admitting that he’s scared of what the future could hold.

Phil tried to compare his own mental health battle with Nige, but was quickly shut down and told that they weren’t comparable.

Unable to face the situation any longer, Phil told his best pal that he’d washed his hands of him – they were done, and if he wanted to kill himself, he should.

Phil reflected on the death of his mum Peggy (Picture: BBC Picture Archives)

Later, the Walford hard man sought advice from Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), clearly needing a shoulder to cry on.

He told her that he felt betrayed and let down by Nigel, feeling that he’d been made a mockery of after the pep talks he was given in February.

Phil also reflected on the death of mum Peggy (Barbara Windsor), who committed suicide in his house alone, after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.

If he allowed Nigel to do the same, history would repeat itself.

When Phil came home, Nigel was gone (Picture: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

When he returned home to make amends, Nige had gone. He’d left a goodbye letter citing that he didn’t want to be a burden to Phil and it was best if he moved on.

Where could he have fled to?

Thankfully he hadn’t got very far – but still found himself in a dire predicament. Nigel had been accosted by a group of young men, who had tried to steal his bag.

During the scuffle, he fell to the floor and banged his head on the pavement.

How did he end up in this situation, and will he be ok?

If you’ve got a soap or TV story, video or pictures get in touch by emailing us [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you.

Join the community by leaving a comment below and stay updated on all things soaps on our homepage.