Max Bowden has promised viewers an "intense" episode of EastEnders next week as Ben takes centre stage.

The episode - airing on Monday - is told entirely from Ben's point of view on the day of his big job with Phil (Steve McFadden).

"Ben's operation has been cancelled so we find him at a point where he's combating the fact that his dad doesn't think he's good enough, he's starting to think the same and all he wants to do is impress and feel like one of the team," Bowden revealed.

"He's working ever harder to be that alpha male in a world where, at the moment, he's more limited because he hasn't come to terms with his hearing loss. Emotionally he's in a very fragile state and he's searching for the answers within himself.

"He has to prove that he's capable, the job in itself is a gruelling big job with someone who they've had problems with before, but Phil doesn't want to take the chance knowing that Ben could mess things up by not being suitable at this point in time."

Speaking about the episode's key scenes, which were filmed on location, he added: "It was great - it was so intense as I was on set all the time. It's the most focused and driven I've ever been on an episode.

"The pressure was on to get it right so the whole thing was a whirlwind experience. I'd love to watch back the process of making it all again, it was so exciting."

> Click here to browse pictures from next week's episodes of EastEnders