Soap chaos as football fixtures change schedules once again

The Albert Square sign on the set of EastEnders
Soaps will be impacted by the football fixtures this week. (Image credit: BBC)

EastEnders fans will be disappointed to hear that the soap will face another schedule shake-up due to the football fixtures.

The soap will not air tonight (Tuesday, February 27) due to the Match of the Day Live: The FA Cup match between Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United, which will be shown on BBC One from 7:45pm.

The football will impact the EastEnders schedule for the rest of the week, with the soap only airing three times this week instead of the usual four.

This week, EastEnders will air on Thursday, February 29 at 7:30pm on BBC One and Friday, March 1 at 7:30pm on BBC One, which will be an hour-long double episode.

But if you prefer to have your daily fix of EastEnders and can't wait to watch them on TV, the episodes will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer from 6am Monday to Thursday as normal.

Kat Mitchell is in danger from Nish Panesar

Kat Slater is in danger from Nish Panesar in EastEnders this week. (Image credit: BBC)

Coronation Street will also have a minor schedule change due to the football. Coronation Street usually airs hour-long episodes on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays at 8 pm on ITV1.

However, there will be no visit to the cobbles on Wednesday night (February, 28) due to the Live FA Cup Football match between Liverpool and Southampton which kicks off at 7:30pm.

We will instead catch all of the Weatherfield drama on Thursday, February 29 at 8pm on ITV1 and Friday, March 1 at 8pm on ITV1. Episodes will be available to watch on ITVX after they have aired.

If you don't want to miss any of the drama, you can keep up to date with the changes by checking our UK TV Guide for the latest information.

Daisy Midgeley sees her name in the paper.

Daisy Midgeley is front page news this week in Coronation Street. (Image credit: ITV)

It's set to be a dramatic week in EastEnders as nasty Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) unleashes a ferocious attack on Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) and his ex-wife Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal).

Nish has been scheming to get his hands on some of the Mitchell money by introducing Kat to a dodgy divorce lawyer. However, Kat has caught on to Nish's plan and decides to double bluff him with a scheme of her own.

But when she turns up at No.41, she's stunned to realise that he knows exactly what she's up to and he wants revenge. Kat reels over the discovery and she soon sees Nish's true colours as he attempts to violently attack her.

Nish then sets his sights on Suki when she's kicked out of Stacey Slater's (Lacey Turner) house. Left with no option but to leave the Square, Suki's son Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota) begs her to talk to Nish and negotiate a truce.

Over at No.45, however, Nish sneers at Suki's plea and in a rage he attacks her, leaving her life on the line.

Grace Morris
Staff Writer

Grace is a freelancer writer with WhatToWatch.com, and she now writes for our sister site TechRadar. She graduated from Anglia Ruskin University in 2020 with a degree in Writing and Film Studies, which only made her love for creative writing, film and TV grow stronger.

You'll usually find her watching the drama unfold in the latest reality series or much-loved UK soaps (usually with chocolate by her side!). She's an expert in EastEnders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and everything reality-related from Selling Sunset and Married At First Sight UK to 90 Day Fiancé UK. Plus Netflix megahit Virgin River!

Grace also likes to explore new places with her friends and family and, of course, watch and read about the latest films and TV series.