Next week on EastEnders, tensions are high as Albert Square says goodbye to Martin, Ross talks Vicki into staying in Walford, and Lily drinks through her grief.

Here’s everything in store in Walford from Monday 7th to Thursday 10th April.

1) Martin’s funeral takes place

Next Monday, the day of Martin’s (James Bye) funeral arrives, and emotions continue to run high as his loved ones prepare themselves to say goodbye.

While Lily (Lillia Turner) does her best to support her devastated siblings, Stacey (Lacey Turner) arrives home drunk as she continues to unravel.

Sonia (Natalie Cassidy) does her best to help Stacey sober up, but despite Sonia’s words of comfort, she’s dismayed when Stacey tells her that she can’t face going to the funeral.

Meanwhile, Lily’s fury towards her mum builds as the funeral draws closer.

Later, as the black horse-drawn carriage arrives and the emotionally charged funeral service gets underway, Martin’s friends and family lay him to rest in a touching service.

2) Sharon and Ross clash

This week saw the return of Vicki Fowler to Walford for the first time in over 20 years, as she returned for her uncle’s funeral.

Now played by Alice Haig, she returned without long-term boyfriend Spencer Moon (Christopher Parker), and revealed that she’s now dating new boyfriend Ross (Alex Walkinshaw), who she brought to Albert Square with his son Joel (Max Murray).

Across the square, Sharon and Vicki are also struggling as they try to compose themselves and say goodbye to Martin.

When Vicki’s return was announced, outgoing Executive Producer Chris Clenshaw explained: “Vicki is back under the most tragic of circumstances, representing her distraught mum Michelle, and she’s changed a lot since we last saw her.

“We’re excited to let viewers get reacquainted with Vicki and to introduce Ross and Joel to the Square. It won’t be long before Vicki and this new branch of the Fowler family are making waves in Walford.”

This week saw Alfie (Shane Richie) react angrily towards Vicki, when it was revealed that Vicki had cheated on Spencer with his best friend – who just so happened to be her new boyfriend Ross!

So when Ross decides to accompany Vicki to the service to support his girlfriend, Sharon makes it clear that she thinks it’s a bad idea.

Will Ross and Alfie clash again?

3) Tensions rise between Ruby and Stacey

In Tuesday’s episode, following the funeral, Ruby’s (Louisa Lytton) anger and resentment towards Stacey builds, as she continues to resent her former friend and love rival over her attachment to Martin.

At the wake, emotions bubble over. When Stacey comes across Ruby at the allotment, their confrontation leads to revelations which could destroy any hope of peace between the former friends.

Lily is understandably struggling following her adoptive father’s death, but Avani’s (Aaliyah James) efforts to help continue to backfire.

Last week saw Avani, Lily and Amy (Ellie Dadd) hauled to the police station after being caught wagging school, and next week Lily turns to booze with encouragement from Avani.

Later, Stacey is shocked to return home to find her daughter drunk. She tries to make amends with Lily, but her efforts are in vain.

5) Martin’s stall is set alight

At the end of Tuesday’s episode, Stacey is horrified by the sight of Martin’s stall on fire! Who would have done such a thing?

As Martin’s friends and family take in the sight of his destroyed stall, Stacey assures Lily that she’ll find out who was to blame.

Jack (Scott Maslen) tells Stacey to leave it to the police, but Stacey can’t rest until she finds out the truth. She’s soon convinced that she’s found evidence of the culprit, as she confronts the person she believes is to blame.

But is she making a mistake?

6) Ross talks Vicki into staying in Walford

After Ross and Alfie’s bust-up, Ross tries to put things right with Sharon by apologising to Alfie – however, Sharon makes it clear that his smooth talking won’t be enough to win her over.

It soon becomes clear that Ross has another motive for keeping the residents of Walford on side. He takes a mysterious call, before trying to convince Vicki into staying in the area for longer than they’d planned.

Ross has already encouraged Vicki to ask Sharon for money, before asking Ian (Adam Woodyatt) for a loan after claiming that Vicki had fallen into debt – and today’s episode revealed that the debt is actually Joel’s.

Why has Ross made it his mission to stick around in E20?

On Wednesday, Ross continues his mission to keep Vicki on the square, despite the fact she’s already booking flights back to Australia. He fails to convince her, so turns to Ian for help.

He wants Ian to talk Vicki into sticking around, insinuating that it’s Mark Jnr rather than Vicki who needs to step up for a grieving Michelle.

This week, Vicki explained to Sharon that Michelle – Martin’s sister and Vicki’s mum – was struggling to come to terms with Martin’s death, and had barely been able to get out of bed since she heard the news.

When Vicki later gets a call from Michelle, it looks like Ross’s plan has worked…

7) Ruby says goodbye

As the situation between Ruby and Sharon reaches breaking point, Ruby decides that she needs to get out of Albert Square.

Jean (Gillian Wright) begs Stacey to stop fighting with Ruby and allow herself to heal, but when Stacey tries to find Ruby to talk things through, Zack (James Farrar) reveals that she’s already left.