BBC EastEnders Dean Wicks and Linda Carter’s past as villain makes a dramatic return

Dean Wicks became one of the most hated villains in EastEnders history after he raped Linda Carter in the Queen Vic pub nine years ago.

At the time Linda was left so traumatised by the attack she struggled to cope and, to make matters worse, she later discovered she was pregnant and feared that her unborn baby was Dean’s child. Played by Matt Di Angelo, Dean pleads with Linda to put the past behind them but that does not go according to plan and he is forced to leave Albert Square to stay with his sister Carly in York. But, now he’s back, and viewers believe he could be the victim of a murder as part of the soap’s Christmas storyline. Here we take a look at the history of Linda and Dean.

Beginning of Dean’s downfall

Dean Wicks is the son of Shirley Carter, who is the mother-in-law of Linda. The once happy-go-lucky character becomes embroiled in a revenge plot by Chelsea Fox and attempts to frame Sean Slater for the brutal assault on Patrick Truman. Sean is sent to prison for the attack but is released after Carly stumbles across CCTV footage of the real culprit and both Dean and Chelsea are arrested for perverting the course of justice.

Scared of spending time in prison, Dean attempts an escape before his trial but eventually faces up to his crimes and is sentenced to six months in prison. But, after being bullied, he is finally released and is a changed man – for the worse. After a huge violent fallout with his mum Shirley, Dean leaves Walford and moves to Australia where he owns a bar and lives with his girlfriend.

Dean grows close to Linda and becomes obsessed

After some time, Dean returns to the UK and develops a relationship with his maternal grandfather Stan Carter and comes back to Walford. He decides to open a hair salon called Blades, funded by Stan, and attempts to reunite with Shirley, who now lives at the Queen Vic pub with her son Mick and his wife Linda. At first, Dean is attracted to Linda but soon becomes obsessed with her. During a photo shoot for the salon, to which he invites Linda, viewers saw him touch Linda’s bum – and that became the beginning of the end for their seemingly nice relationship.

Dean’s attack on Linda

Dean mistakes Linda’s kindness for a mutual attraction and attempts to have sex with her. After Linda rebuffed his advances, Dean refused to take no for an answer and so raped her, leaving her physically and mentally traumatised. But things turn even darker for Linda as she then realises that she is pregnant and fears the baby could be the result of her rape. The pub landlady refused to confide in anyone and Dean continued with his life as if nothing had happened.

He then started to date Stacey Slater and the pair moved in together. But Stacey, who is also a survivor of rape, started to notice Linda flinch every time Dean was close to her. She then started to work out what had happened. Refusing to believe Dean’s account after he claimed the sex was consensual and her reaction is a result of guilt, Stacey throws him out of the flat and calls time on her relationship with Dean. Stacey then persuades Linda to tell Mick, which she does on Christmas Day in 2014. Mick launched an attack on Dean and Shirley is forced to reveal that they are in fact brothers – because Shirley is Mick’s mum, not his sister like he was brought up to think.

Aftermath of attack

Dean’s attack on Linda causes a split in the family as both Stan and Shirley refused to believe that Dean was capable of sexual assault. But Dean is arrested for rape but is later released on bail. When the Albert Square residents find out about the attack, his life is left in tatters and he is forced to flee and live with his sister Carly in York.

But in a bid to take revenge on the Carter family, he returned to Walford and tried to set fire to the pub. However, Mick catches him in the act and beats him up so badly, that Nancy, Mick’s daughter, feared her dad had killed him. Dean is arrested for breaking his bail conditions but released without charge as there wasn’t enough evidence to take him to trial. Linda gives birth to baby Ollie and Dean immediately believes the child is his but, after a DNA test proves Mick is the father, Dean backed off. The villain remained in Albert Square making Linda’s life as difficult as possible. In 2016, it seemed as though Dean had left for good as Shirley told him at that time she wanted nothing to do with him.

Dean’s return

After Mick disappears at sea on Christmas Day last year, Shirley decided to stay with Carly and it became apparent that she had reunited with Dean. After a picture was posted by Carly on social media in February, Linda saw her worst nightmare come to life as she noticed Dean in the background of the snap of Shirley.

And this month, Cindy Beale tells Ian that she has gone into business with a man who used to live in Walford. This is revealed to be Dean and Cindy is left shocked when Ian fills her in on Dean’s rapist past. And in tonight’s episode, viewers will see Linda come face to face with the man she has tried to erase from her memory.