Walford starts to worry for Phil Mitchell next week but his concerns are elsewhere as he tries to look after his lifelong friend Nigel Bates, who is suffering from dementia
Walford legend Phil Mitchell is set for a tough time next week when his close pal Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley) shows symptoms of his dementia worsening.
As EastEnders fans will know, Nigel reappeared in Albert Square at the end of last year after 26 years. It soon transpired Nigel was dealing with a terrible health complaint that he later revealed to be on-set dementia.
In February, Phil tried to commit suicide as his loneliness and depression became too much to cope with, but was saved by Nigel and Linda Carter (Kellie Bright).
In return, Phil volunteered to be Nigel’s carer as a plan to give them both support and purpose. Nigel has since found it difficult to adjust to his oldest mate’s newfound caring demeanour, and the set-up has been anything but easy.
In a short space of time, Nigel appears to be struggling with his memory after confusing two Walford youngsters for his stepdaughter Clare (Gemma Bissix) and mistaking Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) for his ex-wife Debbie (Nicola Duffett) during the Square’s VE Day celebrations.
In next week’s EastEnders episodes, Phil starts to become more worried about Nigel’s health and safety.
At the start of the week, Nigel leaves the house barefoot, and has also left the kitchen in complete and utter chaos.
Phil attempts to calm Nigel down, but the situation quickly becomes dangerous when the men grapple over a boiling pan of water.
Moments later, Phil heads out into the Square and is spotted by ex-wife Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace).
She recognises that he is injured and piles on the pressure to get Phil to admit the extent of Nigel’s condition, and that is it rapidly worsening.
The former couple have a heart-to-heart, and Kat realises that Phil is out of his depth, physically and mentally exhausted from his care.
As he begins to open up, Kat suggests getting some extra support on board, but he refuses to listen.
When Phil returns home, he finds Nigel offering a helping hand to his granddaughter Lexi Pearce (Isabella Brown), with her school homework.
As they talk about the past, Nigel’s memory begins to fade and he once again confuses Lexi for his own daughter, Clare.
Elsewhere, with Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) away, Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) starts questioning Kat on why she is spending so much time with Phil.
Feeling annoyed, Kat quickly dismisses her thoughts, saying that their relationship is purely platonic.
As Phil tries to manage the fallout of Nigel and Lexi’s conversation, Kat insists that he must get help.
Later in the week, another one of Phil’s ex-lovers, Denise Fox (Diane Parish), also urges him to look after himself as well as Nigel.
Will Phil accept defeat before Nigel’s health becomes too much to cope with?
