EastEnders<\/a> star Max Bowden has reflected on the parallels between his character Ben Mitchell\u2019s rape ordeal and that of Ben\u2019s mother Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) several years earlier.<\/p>\n Ben will be sexually assaulted by Lewis Butler (played by Aidan O\u2019Callaghan)<\/a> at The Albert \u2013 the very same venue where Kathy was raped by James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde) back in 1988.<\/p>\n Willmott-Brown later went to prison for his crime, but returned in 1992 and again in 2017 \u2013 at which point Ben learned what happened to his mum.<\/p>\n Kathy now owns the bar<\/a> where she currently employs Lewis, who gave the early impression of being a charming and friendly openly gay man. But amid Ben\u2019s growing bond with the newcomer, Lewis will brutally attack him.<\/p>\n Many viewers will recall Kathy\u2019s history, and make the connection between past and present plots. And Bowden has now commented on this for the first time in a chat with RadioTimes.com<\/a> and other media.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Kathy, there\u2019s obviously that commonality and the fact that she was raped by Willmott-Brown,<\/span>\u201d the actor said, adding that EastEnders chose to place Ben\u2019s experience in the same venue.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe yes, it was a deliberate move from the writers. What\u2019s really great about what\u2019s happening with the show at the moment is there\u2019s a lot of referencing and a lot of links back to history, which I think the fans love. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey love the show, love to be reminded of stuff that\u2019s happened before. And also for that to then correlate within the story I think is genius, keeps the show at its roots and about family, heritage and all of the things that makes EastEnders what it is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Bowden added that his close working relationship with on-screen mum Taylforth aided the filming process.<\/p>\n Read more:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cGillian and I have the most amazing relationship and we\u2019re really close, so there was a lot of cross-referencing between us as to her experience of when she filmed it and my experience going through it. There\u2019s always a conversation to be had with Gillian Taylforth!<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether the actress offered him any advice about tackling the tough subject matter, the actor said: \u201cNot advice as such, more an insight; and that I will keep with me, it\u2019s very private. But as an actress she just gets it and understands what we go through and the emotional journey.\u201d<\/span><\/p> Bowden concluded that he believes Kathy could play a key role in Ben\u2019s recovery going forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI think she\u2019ll be very important,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a kind of missing link for a while with Ben and Kathy, so much emphasis on the relationship between Ben and Phil for years that we\u2019ve missed a lot of the Ben and Kathy elements that keep them fresh. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey are a wonderful little pairing, I adore working with Gillian. And they have a lot more in common than they realise, personally I think maybe more than Phil.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDiscovering that going forward, I think is going to be really important, not just for the characters, but for the fans. It\u2019s been crying out for some kind of rekindling of Ben and Kathy, and I think this might be the opportunity to bring that together.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n EastEnders is working closely with\u00a0Survivors Manchester<\/a> on Ben\u2019s storyline. You can find help and support at https:\/\/www.survivorsmanchester.org.uk\/<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0https:\/\/www.survivorsuk.org\/<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Visit our dedicated\u00a0EastEnders\u00a0<\/a>page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.\u00a0<\/strong>If you\u2019re looking for more to watch check out our\u00a0TV guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a> with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n Max Bowden speaks about the similarities between the two storylines, airing decades apart. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":15593,"template":"","categories":[2,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/eastenders-star-on-ben-mitchell-and-kathy-beale-plot-parallels.png",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/eastenders-star-on-ben-mitchell-and-kathy-beale-plot-parallels-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/eastenders-star-on-ben-mitchell-and-kathy-beale-plot-parallels-300x200.png",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/eastenders-star-on-ben-mitchell-and-kathy-beale-plot-parallels.png",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/eastenders-star-on-ben-mitchell-and-kathy-beale-plot-parallels.png",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/eastenders-star-on-ben-mitchell-and-kathy-beale-plot-parallels.png",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/eastenders-star-on-ben-mitchell-and-kathy-beale-plot-parallels.png",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Max Bowden speaks about the similarities between the two storylines, airing decades apart.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/15592"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2017\/10\/14277293-high_res-eastenders-october-december-dahsaohdashdasiha2017-147e92a.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C407"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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