EastEnders heartache as Albert Square residents turn out for Paul Coker’s funeral
His boyfriend meanwhile still has deadly revenge on his mind...
IT’S an emotional day in Albert Square as Pam and Les Coker prepare for their beloved grandson Paul’s funeral in upcoming scenes on EastEnders.
As the send-off commences, undertaker Les leads the procession for the murdered youth (played by Jonny Labey) with the residents offering their support to the couple.
One person who is particularly struggling is Paul’s boyfriend Ben Mitchell.
Actor Harry Reid who plays grieving mechanic Ben explained: "Ben has always felt: 'I am a gay man, but I can't show myself to be gay in the public eye'. So he finally bit the bullet and then in the one moment of real love, which they shared amongst the community by holding hands and coming out of the club after a nice night with each other, he's had that taken away from him.
"Ben is angry with the world. He has fought this and in some ways it has proven him right, because he always believed he couldn't be out there. Now Paul has been taken away from him, after he's done exactly what everyone told him was the right thing.
"It's a very confusing time for him. As outsiders we can see it's unfortunate, but Ben will take that as: 'Clearly I can't be who I am'."
Viewers have seen Ben plot with friend Jay Brown to get revenge on the people who killed Paul.
Will he seriously go through with it?
He told : "[Ben’s] not interested in a long drawn-out court case. He has experience with the Old Bill and he knows it will go on for a long time unless he goes and sorts it himself. Plus he's very upset. He has just lost his boyfriend, someone he really loves and Paul was harmless.
"All he is going to think about every single day is some bloke stamping on Paul's face, which is a grim image when you think of it. It was a real vicious hate crime and Ben's a cannon - they have lit the fuse."
EastEnders airs these scenes on Thusday September 8 at 7:30pm on BBC One.