EastEnders spoilers follow for Thursday’s episode (12 March), which is available to watch now on streaming service BBC iPlayer and hasn’t yet aired on TV.

EastEnders has confirmed the end of Mark Fowler’s tense story, as he is tasked with killing Ravi Gulati to ensure the safety of his sister Vicki. Things take a turn when Phil Mitchell gets involved, but Mark’s next dodgy scheme is soon revealed…

Mark came close to committing murder this week, when Ravi admitted to being the police informant in the gang that he was trying to hunt down. However, he was stopped by Vicki, Ross, Priya and Phil before he could take Ravi’s life in the woods.

In the aftermath of this dramatic showdown, Mark was given a final 24 hours to kill the mystery grass, or Vicki would be in serious danger – so he remained firm that he would have to kill Ravi.

Vicki confronted her brother again in today’s episode, begging Mark not to resort to murder and pleading with him to find another way out.

Desperate, Vicki sought out Phil and urged him to intervene and help Mark. Phil was reluctant to get involved, but he reluctantly agreed to talk to Mark, reminding him that Ravi’s death would stay with him for the rest of his life.

Phil offered to help one final time and Mark agreed, so Phil used his criminal contacts to make some calls. Luckily, Phil was owed a few favours by former associates, so he managed to get Mark out of the gang and his murderous dilemma.

However, there was a catch – as Mark’s former boss demanded £100,000, and he was tasked with finding this huge amount of cash to properly settle his debt.

Vicki was overjoyed that she was no longer in danger, with Mark majorly downplaying how much money he owed – and remarking that vulnerable Ravi was “the luckiest man alive”.

Later, Mark showed up at the car lot and has a charged conversation with Lauren, asking to test drive the classic car that Max tasked her with selling by the end of the day.

After a ride around the block, Mark admitted that he had no intention of buying the car. But as he left Lauren to buy her a sandwich, she was assaulted by a stranger who took the keys and drove off with the expensive motor.

Lauren was affected by the incident, while Max was furious that the vehicle had been stolen. But it was later revealed to viewers it was none other than Mark who paid the man to steal the car.

As he makes Lauren a dodgy offer next week, will Mark’s latest criminal scheme be discovered?