BEN Mitchell will be held at gunpoint next Monday (June 1, 2020) in EastEnders as he tries to save his dad Phil from a dodgy robbery.
The special episode will be dedicated entirely to Ben’s hearing loss storyline and will be told from his perspective to give viewers an understanding of his suffering.
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What do we know about Ben Mitchell’s special EastEnders episode?
EastEnders has confirmed that the upcoming episode will have limited audio levels and on-screen subtitles to highlight what Ben is going through as the day of his dodgy job with Phil arrives.
And now official spoilers have revealed that viewers will see Ben get distracted from the job when he spies Lola sitting with Peter and puts two and two together about their affair.
Later, Phil and Ben quickly run through their plan but when Ben struggles to hear, his dad gets frustrated.
Ben then pulls out a gun he’s bought especially for the task, leaving Phil horrified.
Ben’s devastated when Phil tells him he’s not up to doing the job and storms out.
Distraught, Ben heads out on a rampage and drags Lola out of the salon and forces her to admit she cheated on Jay with Peter.
After knocking back a few drinks in the Prince Albert, Ben spots a van following Danny and Phil as they leave for the job.
Growing suspicious that something isn’t right, Ben jumps into a car in the Arches and changes the number plate before racing to the warehouse.
But disaster strikes when Ben finds himself being held at gunpoint and makes a shocking discovery.
What’s gone wrong with the robbery and will Ben make it out alive?
Executive producer Jon Sen said of the episode: “The story of Ben’s struggle with his deafness has given us a gripping insight into his character.
“This special point of view episode is a ground-breaking episode unlike any other attempted in the history of EastEnders.
“Helmed by a compelling performance by Max Bowden, it allows the audience the opportunity to experience the world through Ben’s eyes and ears – a story communicated purely by his dialogue and the snatched words of those around him.
“I am so proud of what the team have achieved and cannot wait for the fans to see it.”
What has actor Max Bowden said about his character’s special episode?
Max Bowden spoke to Digital Spy about the challenges of filming the special episode.
Max said: “It’s been a massive challenge as it’s so different to anything I’ve ever done before. Obviously it’s a big difference to Ben’s personal psychology and the level he was at before.
“It’s been a challenge to do something that goes so against the grain of my normal everyday life but it’s also been really beautiful to get to know the deaf community and to feel like I’ve become part of that as well.
“To be able to represent the deaf community is so important as they’ve been underrepresented for a long time. That’s been great.”
He added: “We haven’t seen a lot of it in film and TV. We obviously had Rachel Shenton’s film Silent Child which was excellent and she won an Oscar for it. In terms of something that has really put the deaf community on the map and made it represented, I think this is a real first.”
