EastEnders: Phil Mitchell fights for his life after car smash - new pictures released

The scenes, which will transmit in September, find Phil at the mercy of bad boy Carl’s (Daniel Coonan) reckless driving as the pair race off to take part in a dodgy deal. But a close encounter with a lorry leaves both Carl and Phil unconscious, with the latter in a critical condition.

Executive producer Lorraine Newman said of the plotline (which will also lead to the return of Barbara Windsor as Peggy Mitchell): “A suitably explosive start to a jam-packed autumn and winter full of love, romance and reprisals. Treats for audiences old and new. And one literal vanishing act... It's time to take your seats!"

This isn’t the first time that Phil has been involved in a road-traffic accident: in 1999, he and brother Grant drove at high speed into the River Thames after Phil went ballistic with a handgun. More recently, in 2007, Phil and Ian’s male-bonding weekend went disastrously wrong when the four-wheel drive they were in flipped over.

EastEnders isn’t the only soap set to feature a high-profile car crash – a forthcoming storyline on Coronation Street to air next week will see David Platt’s twisted revenge plot reach new extremes when he and his brother Nick are involved in a life-threatening smash-up.

More behind-the-scenes pictures from Phil and Carl's collision can be seen below: