Eastenders actors Steve MacFadden and Daniel Coonan are set for a thrilling drive on the BBC soap.
The actors, who play longterm bad boy Phil Mitchell and newcomer Carl White, were seen filming a car chase in a red motor at the soap’s North London studios on Saturday.
The high-speed chase is set to end in Steve’s character Phil Mitchell hurtling through a windscreen and fighting for his life in a coma.
Boy racers: Phil (Steve McFadden) and Carl (Daniel Coonan) are involved in a car chase which will leave Phil in a coma
Phil and new character Carl White crash into a lorry on their way to undertake a dodgy deal.
The dramatic scenes, which reportedly cost the BBC £1 million, are part of the Beeb’s efforts to reverse this year’s major ratings slump.
A source for the soap said: ‘This is going to be the most dramatic and the most expensive stunt in EastEnders' history.’
Dodgy dealings: Phil, played by Steve MacFadden is to get into trouble yet again
‘No expense has been spared and show bosses are determined to make sure it is the most talked about TV moment of the year.’
The source explained that the crash will happen when ‘Carl gets distracted from the road and swerves into the path of a lorry, resulting in a huge smash.’
‘Phil flies through the windscreen on to the road, leaving him with terrible injuries’
Burning rubber: The pair are set to crash the car on their way to a dodgy deal, putting Phil Mitchell in hospital
The dramatic episode is expected to include a bird’s eye view of the aftermath of the accident taken from the helicopter which is used to fly Phil to hospital.
It is also set to see one of the show’s most iconic characters, Peggy Mitchell, played by Barbara Windsor who left the show in 2010, return to the soap to visit Phil in hospital.
The source added: 'EastEnders has been going through a bad time as far as ratings go. These days it's regularly the third most watched soap, way off Corrie and even behind Emmerdale.’
High-speed: The thrilling car chase will be filmed from a birds eye view and on the ground
In May this year, the show had just 5.2 million viewers— 2.3million fewer than Emmerdale attracted on the same night.
The show attracted a peak of 30 million viewers in the 80s, when Dirty Den (Leslie Grantham) gave Angie (Anita Dobson) divorce papers on Christmas Day.
Phil’s car crash is expected to be shown this autumn.
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