Martin Fowler’s (James Bye) life insurance policy turns heads in EastEnders next week – when it could be used to secure The Queen Vic.

As viewers of the BBC soap have seen this week, the Slater clan decided to play a practical joke on Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), when he announced his decision to buy the famed boozer.

Pretending she’d won £100k on a scratchcard, Stacey (Lacey Turner) took great joy in seeing him squirm.

Unfortunately, the prospect of having that amount of cash in her pocket seemed out of the question. That was, until, a man from an insurance company arrived to tell her that her ex-husband Martin had left the same amount of money in his policy.

It’s been five months since the fruit and veg salesman was crushed under the rubble following an explosion at the pub, and nobody had a clue of the money he’d been squiraling to one side for years.

As Stacey announced her intentions for how to distribute the cash between Martin’s family, she also told cousin Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) that she would like to make an investment opportunity in The Vic.

She would have no say in the operational side of things – as old landlady Kat could step in and take over.

In upcoming scenes, Kat’s relishing in the idea of getting her hands on The Vic again, but Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter) and Ian waste no time in raining on her parade, not happy with her decision to use Martin’s cash.

Meanwhile, Jean’s minding Stacey’s Baps when Alfie reaches out. He leaves a message, but she fails to mention it.

Later, The Slaters arrive only to find the Beales also sniffing around the sale, when Jean finally remembers to pass on Alfie’s message to Stacey.

Kat returns home, beaming after a positive call from the bank – but things soon turn sour when Stacey drops a bombshell: she can’t lend Kat the money after all.

Stacey confides in Jean about the situation, with mum’s words of wisdom soon getting her to rethink.

In a race against time, Jean, Freddie and Mo charge to stall the auction following Stacey’s change of heart and decides to back Kat after all. Meanwhile, the bidding war kicks off properly, with the Beales going head-to-head with a developer.