EastEnders’ Ian Beale seen in jail as he faces off against serial killer Gray Atkins

Ian Beale on EastEnders(Image: BBC)

EastEnders’ Ian Beale has been sent to the same prison as serial killer Gray Atkins, but is he in danger or will the two end up in cahoots? As Gray’s plan for ex Chelsea and son Jordan is set into motion, the BBC have released an image which shows him and Ian facing off.

In yesterday’s episode, Ian’s prison sentence kicked off. The character, played by Adam Woodyatt, was sentenced to eight months in jail after running Jordan Fox over whilst over the limit.

Once he was shown into the prison where he would serve his sentence, the soap cut to Gray, who was in the same prison, watching his former neighbour enter.

Gray told Sheila about his feelings about Ian and Chelsea (Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

This came directly after Gray told his grandmother Sheila that he felt Ian deserved worse than eight months for hurting his son. But the killer promptly re-directed his anger towards his ex-wife Chelsea when he learned that she had yelled at Jordan, causing him to run into the road. As such, some fans were torn about whether Gray would want to hurt Ian or start plotting to get back at Chelsea.

One fan asked: “Does anyone else think that this is where Gray might feed back into a storyline somewhere involving Ian with him being in prison already and of course he is Jordan’s father?”

Gray watched Ian enter prison(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

While a second agreed and said it would be “interesting”, another said: “Gray will definitely mess with Ian.” A fourth added: “Of course Ian is in the same prison as Gray! To be tormented.”

Some leaned more towards being worried for Ian, as the clip of him and Gray followed Kathy’s warning about “monsters” and “victims”.

Ian’s mother said she thought some people survived prison because they were “already monsters” and liked to pick “victims” that they could bully. She then said that of those two, Ian was a victim.

The BBC have released an advanced image of today’s episode, which certainly makes it look as though Gray plans to hurt or “torment” Ian.

Ian looked scared of Gray(Image: BBC)

In the picture, Gray stares at Ian with no emotion visible on his face and a hand hidden in his pocket. Ian seemed trying to keep his distance from Gray, who killed three people before he was arrested in Walford. He kept his hands up, almost looking like he was trying to beg Gray not to hurt him.

In another picture, Ian could be seen behind bars, using a telephone to call someone. He did not look happy, so it does not look as though he was told about the appeal Chelsea is trying to organise for him. During Tuesday’s episode, Kathy said she didn’t want Ian to know about the appeal as she didn’t want him to get his hopes up.