EastEnders viewers baffled as swinging story unfolds amid news of Peggy Mitchell's cancer
IT WAS publicised to be an episode full of emotion as Peggy braced herself to receive the results from her recent medical tests - but viewers of EastEnders were distracted by a different storyline involving Mick and Linda Carter tonight.
Neville blackmails Mick Carter into being their new swinging couple
As both Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) and Sonia Jackson (Natalie Cassidy) attended separate doctor's appointments to hear the outcome of their cancer tests, a simultaneous plot line saw Mick and Linda (Danny Dyer and Kellie Bright) invited to the home of another couple, who seemed overtly interested in them.
Belinda Peacock (Carli Norris) was seen at the beginning of the episode inviting the Carters to her home for a get together with her husband Neville (Gary Webster).
A reluctant Mick accepted the offer having been previously caught in her garden returning koi carp that Buster had stolen.
But things took a bizarre turn when, on arrival, Belinda lured Linda upstairs to look at her racy lingerie, and Neville enticed Mick into the hot tub. It soon became clear that the couple were hoping to engage in some swinging with the Carters.
Mick and Linda are in for a bizarre evening
Four's a crowd? Mick is lured into the jacuzzi by Neville
Swingers and terminal illnesses... you can't say EastEnders doesn't do light and shade!
The scene was shown in parts, throughout the second half of the episode, running alongside both Peggy and Sonia's scenes at the doctors' offices.
This lead viewers of the show to become somewhat distracted by the direction the episode was taking, having already geared themselves up for an emotional series of events surrounding the prognosis of Peggy's illness.
Tweets appeared online pre-empting the sad storyline that was about to unfold, with users writing posts such as "I'm not ready at all to say goodbye to Peggy on eastenders" and "How the heck am I gonna cope when Peggy dies?! #EastEnders #LastOrders".
But things changed direction drastically as the swinging plot began to unravel.
Elsewhere, Peggy was being told she is dying
Sonia received somewhat better news
What's happening in #EastEnders are nev & belinda swingers?? I don't get it ????????????
— Natalie Anderson (@Natalie0x) May 10, 2016
So glad I turned into Eastenders, Peggy is being overshadowed by a swingers party ?????? #eastenders
— Chris Keating (@cj_keating) May 10, 2016
Mick being blackmailed into becoming a swinger ?????? and peggy being told her cancer is terminal ?????? mixed emotions about #EastEnders tonight.
— Matt Jackson (@MattChesterUK) May 10, 2016
Swingers and terminal illnesses... you can't say #EastEnders doesn't do light and shade! Livid we're probably not getting Peggy Vs Sharon.
— Anfunny™ (@Anfunny) May 10, 2016
One Tweeter posted: "What's happening in #EastEnders are nev & belinda swingers?? I don't get it."
Another typed: "is this Nev guy looking for a four way or a wife swap or are they just swingers or what??? Either way this is not #EastEnders anymore."
A third posted: "Eastenders is hurting my brain why is it being so so weirdddddd. Are they swingers or what?"
Summing it up nicely, one user wrote: "Mick being blackmailed into becoming a swinger and peggy being told her cancer is terminal mixed emotions about #EastEnders tonight" with a second commenting: "Swingers and terminal illnesses... you can't say #EastEnders doesn't do light and shade!"
Reflecting how the rest of the nation seemed to feel, a third Tweeter wrote: "I tuned into Eastenders, Peggy is being overshadowed by a swingers party!"
Both storylines were left hanging as the episode ended on the news that Peggy's cancer has spread and she had only months to live. Sonia simultaneously discovered that her results were in fact clear.
As for Mick, Linda, Belinda and Neville - that will play out on Thursday night.