EASTENDERS - September is about to get HOT!

It's about to get HOT HOT HOT in Albert Square - and not just because Alfie decides to set fire to his family home...

As you can see in the official Autumn trailer over on the BBC EastEnders website, there's going to be more than a few reasons to check in with our favourite EastEnder's this month.

Like I said above, Alfie makes the terrible, life-changing decision to torch his own home, in a desperate need to claim from the insurance. As the Moon/Slater's are about to be evicted, Alfie feels he has no other option left, despite being begged to back out by Mick. (Yes, another situation poor Mick has got involved in, that only spells trouble and strife from, well, his trouble and strife!)
While the rest of the clan are over at Sharon's hen-do, Alf trots over to the home, flickers a match and waits for the fire to burn. Kat then calls. She's left the party, and is 'at home'. Seconds later, before he can do anything about it, Alfie watches as his house goes up, with his beloved Kat in it.

Now, we know that Kat is to suffer life-changing burns from the blaze, but as the trailer shows, Stacey is more worried about the children. Had Kat collected Tommy and baby twins Bert and Ernie, before she went home? And what about Stacey's girl, Lily?

EastEnders like to have heard-hitting plots, but would they really kill off Kat and Alfie's children in such a way? Or maybe, even more heartbreaking, would be if one of the twins perished, while one survived?

Over to the brilliant writers for that one...

The next big story will surely be the Phil and Sharon marriage-to-be from hell! The trailer shows both Ben and pregnant Ronnie's returns. Exciting stuff ahead!

Poor Charlie Cotton is seen telling Dot that he'd be a terrible father, while Roxy looks thrilled by her sister's pregnancy. I am, too... Let hope nothing goes wrong for our tragic heroin this time!

Ronnie has come back because she wants to stop Phil from marrying Sharon, while Ben is seen yelling at Phil that he has always and will always love Shirley, so should be with her. Of course, we then see Phil declare to Shirl' that he will leave Sharon for her... Yay! I've been calling for a Phil/Shirley reunion since, well, they first split up. The comedy Shirley brings to EastEnders also gives another layer to the character of Phil. They're a pairing made in, not quite heaven, but somewhere in the clouds!

Will Shirley be able to forgive Ben, though, for killing Heather? I hope so, because their relationship was also one I loved. (Back when Ben was played by the cute little kid who looked over his glasses!) The new Ben, from what I've seen so far, has come back more mature, less irritating and, I hope, with a substance to go the distance.

Other plots see Dean proposition Tosh, with Tosh confessing to Tina that she and Dean slept together, and Lauren telling Peter 'I love You'... Now, Tosh is going to (totally) end up pregnant with Dean's child and Lauren and Peter will get together, until a spanner is thrown into the works (probably to do with Lucy's murder inquiry!)

We were also given a glimpse of the big Carter story for the coming months, where Dean also comes onto Linda again. This leads to Linda's rape... How will the family cope with such a horrific circumstance?

The end of the trailer goes back to the Mitchell household.

With Phil leaving Sharon for Shirley, Sharon having a major dislike for Ronnie and even more so for Shirley and Ben being back... A gun shot rings.

Who is on the end of the bullet and who pulled the trigger? I'd like to make a guess, but I think I'll wait a while.

What do you all think of the upcoming stories?

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