So soon we are going to find out why he hasn't been in contact with any of his family or why none of them can reach him.

What do we think this means? I'm trying to think back incase I've missed any Steven scenes which might suggest he has Peter locked away somewhere. I'm wondering if that Thomas Law picture, which has since been deleted, might have been an indication Peter is indeed back in a few weeks after all.

I was thinking this myself. Steven said Peter was in the middle of no where down under but what if he is actually being held somewhere in London like Steven did with Ian and Lucy?

Only downside is that if Steven has done this he will probably be leaving so no Johven

I have a feeling Ben Hardy is going to return. His role in X-Men was pitiful and he doesn't seem to have done much since. Or....Steven killed him.

Peter needs to return. Would let us find more about Steven

I thought we already knew what happened? He couldn't cope with all the Lucy stuff so ran off to the middle of nowhere and didn't contact anyone? I find this explanation less strange than the fact that no one ever mentions him.

I think from the way the spoilers read it turns out Steven lied about the above.

I'm not sure how long Aaron Sidwell is back for but if its only short term then it looks like they are just going over old ground with him.

He is currently filming a big role in another film. He is one of the main characters and so I don't think he is returning

I've just never got over how Peter after a year and his brother being locked up (I'm assuming that we are supposed to believe he would have seen this) would not contact his dad, his sister (who would know the details) or Lauren to find out about his son. It would suggest mental illness for him to just isolate hmself from his entire family and sit back whilst his brother plays happy families with his son and ex-fiance. The story always felt there was something else behind the scenes. Especially with recent spoilers re louis. At the end of the day, Steven is not Louis's dad regardless of what has gone on. If this was real life, you'd need to be prepared to see your brother at some point and accept your brother is your girlfriend's son's real dad. It wouldn't surprise me if Steven did have hm locked up or has engineered Peter staying away. As with Bobby now locked up, I would have thought he'd want to come home, complicated by Ben Hardy being in Hollywood. But there is a lot of drama to be had there as Peter/Lauren are not just a quick fling. They were best friends and childhood sweethearts.

Grief can affect people in different ways and I can't imagine it gets much than loosing your twin- especially when they were as close as Peter and Lucy were.

I think all the theories about Steven having Peter locked up or some such are a bit far fetched and exactly the kind of sensational story-line that EE seem to be moving away from at the moment.

I think it's far more likely that when Lauren mentioned Peter and Steven reacts angrily or upset or jealously or whatever- I'd say it's more to do with his own insecurities about his place in the family, after spending so many years cast out. He probably feels that Peter could swoop in and take his girlfriend, take his child back and replace him in Ian's affections.

I would love Peter to return (As much as I loved Ben Hardy toppless ) I think giving the role back to Thomas Law would be most sensible as Ben is hardly going to be able to commit to playing Peter long term.

I don't want Peter to return though just so Steven can become a villain- why not have both Peter and Steven on the square and have them be close, friendly and really be their for one another!

Maybe Steven has bumped Peter off and Lauren was also involved.

But we're they really that close? The Beale twins as played by Law and Suffield were for sure, but the Hardy/Bywater versions weren't at all. She was the ambitious businesswoman and he played with his apples- they had moved on to different circles of friends and aside from him giving her cocaine, I can't think of a single story when she was alive involving them

The fact they had different career aspiration and even different friends does mean they didn't have that innate bond.

Granted we might not have seen much close interaction on the Hardy/Bywater pairing. However Peter explained it perfectly in his speech at her funeral, he knew that no matter where they went in life, what they did Lucy would always be in his corner, she always defended him. His grief in the aftermath was great to watch I thought (some of Ben Hardys best scenes as Peter IMO)

I think the fact he would risk his own personal freedom buy going out onto the streets to buy cocaine for her in order to keep her safe also speaks volumes about their closeness.

Peter has always been the child Ian never cared about, Ian always favoured Lucy, and the moment Bobby was born Peter might as well have died.

That ship has firmly sailed There is no way two "brothers" could become close in these circumstances. There are boundaries you don;t cross, whatever the circumstances and hookingup with, getting together with your brothers ex-fiance who you have a child with is one of them. You want Eastenders to be non-sensationalist and real; well the above scenario could not be less real if you tried. No family or "brother" would be accepting of the scenario in real life. There would be no happy families, with Peter watching his brother with his childhood sweetheart, best friend and mother of his child. Steven is already a "villain". He shot his step mum and is currently ripping the family off. In no way is Steven a "nice guy". And what kind of brother hones in on his brother's ex, so soon after and in a rather sensitive time, and just after the woman has given birth!

I'm not so sure Peter is kidnapped and emprisoned somewhere but wouldn't surprise me if Steven was fuelling his insecurities and has "kept him" away from family and Lauren contact in some way.

What on earth do you mean? Phil and Grant have never fallen out over a wo.... oh wait....

Yeah I had temporarily forgotten about Lauren while I was writing my post, I agree it would be very unusual for a brother to get past that- then again this is the soap where a man can forgive his wife for disposing of his daughters corpse in a field and covering up her murder..

It will add more to Steven's character if Peter Returns

Which most put in the "sensationalist" bucket you said was keen to be avoided What soap in their right mind would not utilise a great storyline feud opportunity like this? Especially when quite realistic!

I would certainly say they loved each other as twins do, and I find it believable Peter would have bought coke for Lucy, but then probably for another family member he got on with if they needed it. They loved each other but had certainly drifted apart

Until 2014, it was actually Peter who was Ian's favourite. Lucy caused Ian endless amounts of grief whereas Ian always pushed Peter from a young age, such as pushing him to train hard for the Olympics from a young age. Even when Peter came back, Ian put Peter on the stall and expected him to take over the Beale family business. Ironically this is what inspired Lucy to become so ambitious as she felt second best to Peter until the night she died which was the first time that Ian favoured Lucy over Peter (largely to suit the storyline and to give Peter a motive to kill Lucy)

I doubt Ben Hardy will be back. However they could easily recast Peter and bring back Thomas Law if he's up for it.

What do the recent spoilers say?

To be fair I said they seemed to be moving away from sensationalism which was just an observation. I didn't say what my preference on sensationalism is