EASTENDERS is to surprise viewers with a storyline where Ian Beale watches old episodes of the show on UK Gold and questions the nature of reality.
Forthcoming episodes see Ian Beale taking time off work with a chest infection and watching daytime TV, during which he discovers old Eastenders episodes showing the exploits of his younger self, friends and family.
A BBC spokesman said: “It’s going to trip him the fuck out.
“He’ll be seeing the lives of everyone he knows presented as fictional entertainment, but the interesting thing is nobody else can see what he sees, or at least if they can they refuse to acknowledge it because it’s too much of a ‘mindeo’.
“It’ll be like The Truman Show only you won’t be rooting for him in the slightest because it’s Ian Beale.”
The spokesman added: “We’re thinking Phil Mitchell might be shown previous episodes of the show where his drinking impacted on the people around him.
“It’ll be like a science fiction soap opera intervention.”
