EastEnders viewers praise ‘phenomenal’ Bobby Brazier after violent showdown in latest episode

Episode nodded to memorable 2001 scene involving Freddie’s mother, Little Mo

EastEnders fans are calling for “another award” for Bobby Brazier following his dramatic performance in the latest episode of the soap.

Brazier, who is the son of presenter Jeff Brazier and the late reality star Jade Goody, joined the cast of the long-running BBC soap in September 2022 as Freddie Slater. He is currently competing on Strictly Come Dancing.

*This article contains discussion of attempted rape and domestic abuse*

During Tuesday (3 September) night’s episode, Stacey (Lacey Turner) is still being stalked by Theo (William Ellis). The pair have a confrontation near her home, where she tells him to leave her alone.

In the final scene of the episode, Stacey is home alone when Theo enters her house. She asks him to leave and threatens to call the police, but he refuses and takes her phone.

He insists the pair love each other then attempts to rape her, telling her that nobody will believe she didn’t just invite him in the house herself.

All the while, Freddie is outside, but he enters Stacey’s house and hears her muffled screams in the kitchen.

Freddie is left crying on the floor after defending Stacey (BBC)

Freddie goes into the room and pulls Theo, his former teacher, off Stacey. When she tells Freddie that Theo was “trying to rape me”, Theo tries to convince Freddie that it was a “lover’s tiff” and that she had “led me on”.

“Don’t say a word to her,” Freddie threatens Theo, before punching the attacker in the face and calling him “sick”.

Theo throws a punch back, when Freddie picks an iron from the side and attacks Theo with it until he passes out.

Stacey is left crying, asking Freddie: “What have you done?”

On social media, viewers were quick to praise Brazier’s performance, branding him a “hidden gem” and “superb actor”.

“Hope @bbceastenders realise that they’ve got a real star in Bobby,” one viewer wrote.

One tweet read: “And another award for Bobby Brazier?”, while another fan echoed: “I think Bobby Brazier is a fantastic young actor and he deserves every award he has been given and deserves some more too!”

In September, Brazier received the Rising Star award at the National Television Awards. Here, the 20-year-old, who had not acted before joining EastEnders, left her fans and his father in tears at his emotional speech.

“Bobby Brazier has been phenomenal during these last two episodes,” another fan commented.

“This is why @bbceastenders is the best soap right now, this episode was incredible,” one viewer tweeted.

The use of the iron as a weapon is a callback to a classic EastEnders’ plotline involving Freddie’s mother “Little Mo” Mitchell (Kacey Ainsworth) in 2001.

While being beaten by her abusive husband Trevor (Alex Ferns), Mo takes an iron and beats Trevor with it until her hand is covered in blood.

“The way I screamed at that end; the Freddie/Little Mo parallel was EVERYTHING!” one fan commented.

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.

Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)

The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge website. There is a dedicated men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327. Those in the US can call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org