EastEnders’ Joel Marshall inflicts violent attack on Vicki Fowler in BBC iPlayer release amid sick school act – will she survive?

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This article includes depictions of violence and contains viewpoints that are offensive and sexist, which may be disturbing to some readers.

Be warned: the following contains major spoilers for the EastEnders episode that aired on October 9th, 2025. It’s currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

In a deeply upsetting EastEnders episode, Joel Marshall, played by Max Murray, violently attacked Vicki Fowler, portrayed by Alice Haig.

Joel’s prejudiced beliefs about women led him to believe he was superior to them, and his actions escalated when it was revealed he had physically assaulted Amy Mitchell.

After school, Amy, deeply upset, confronted Joel about showing a disturbing and sexually explicit video. What made it even worse was that he had been watching it while looking at her, and the video depicted a woman being treated with cruel disrespect.

When Alfie and Kat found out their son Tommy was involved in an incident at school, the Gulati, Mitchell, and Fox-Danes families all reacted differently, highlighting the generational gaps between them.

Jack Branning angrily confronted everyone about what happened to Amy, but Alfie and Ross, Joel’s father, tried to minimize the situation while they looked for their sons. They both commented that topics like this weren’t talked about when they were growing up.

Vicki, who was with Ross, grew more worried as she heard about what Joel had been doing. Meanwhile, Sharon Watts advised Amy that she should have anticipated a reaction after confronting Joel the way she did.

Tommy was seen in agreement with Joel, who continued to mouth off about what women and girls did.

I heard from Julie Bates, Karen Henthorn’s character, that the principal had actually called the police. Apparently, the teacher who was supposed to be supervising – the one Joel and Tommy told to be quiet – was new to the job and didn’t really know what she was doing.

The conversation covered how easily children can access inappropriate content online, even if they aren’t actively searching for it.

Parents began arguing with each other, so Julie told them to set a better example by speaking calmly to their children.

Back at home, Tommy argued with Kat and Alfie. Joel’s harsh words had affected how he explained things, and he kept talking about unfairness and inconsistent rules.

Alfie tried to explain to Tommy that violence against women is never okay, but he felt disheartened knowing he’d likely have to have similar talks again and again.

Ross told Joel to be respectful towards women, but Joel responded with offensive language, insulted his father, and made a demeaning comment about Vicki.

When Ross nearly struck Joel, Vicki asked him to step away and calm down, but this unfortunately put her in a difficult and potentially unsafe situation.

Vicki attempted to speak with Joel in a calm and respectful manner, but he kept trying to make her feel guilty.

She reminded him he was still young, which upset him so much that he punched the wall and told her to stop focusing on feminist ideas.

Vicki wasn’t backing down. She saw Joel for the insecure person he was, telling him he was weak and asserting her own strength.

During a disturbing confrontation, Joel blamed Vicki, and struck her hard enough to knock her to the floor.

You’re the one causing issues here. I don’t appreciate being spoken to that way, and I won’t tolerate disrespect from anyone, especially not from you.

Vicki gasped for air, frozen and helpless, as the camera shifted away. Then, she screamed in pain as Joel kicked her.

Joel was then seen checking his reflection, before leaving Vicki for dead.

Will she survive?

A new documentary called *EastEnders Investigates: The Manosphere* will be available on BBC iPlayer from 6am and on BBC Three at 8pm on Thursday, October 9th. It’s being released alongside a storyline in *EastEnders* that focuses on misogyny, involving a character named Joel.

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2025-10-09 08:35