EASTENDERS fans were left horrified by the sex and violence before the watershed tonight as Stuart Highway beat Linda Carter and tried to rape her.

Viewers flocked to Twitter to express their shock over the disturbing scenes.

In the show, Linda tried to seduce Stuart to get a recorded confession out of him after he shot himself to frame her husband Mick.

However, he saw through her plan and became aggressive.

He threw her to the ground, grabbed her throat and tried to rape her in the Queen Vic in seriously disturbing scenes.

The episode ended after she got rid of Stuart by whacking him on the head with a vase, later revealing she'd managed to record everything on a secret device hidden in her hair.

Viewers headed online tweet about the dark and twisted scenes, with many insisted it should not have been shown before the watershed at 9pm.

One wrote: " Wellllll this is a bit much for 7:30!! #EastEnders."

Another added: "#EastEnders is far too nasty for before the watershed @bbceastenders."

A third wrote: "Is this Eastenders not a bit too much before the watershed? #eastenders."

One more tweeted: "I'm feeling very uncomfortable watchin this right now #Eastenders."

Another wrote: "Being a prude, but this is a bit much for pre watershed on a Thursday #EastEnders."

A representative for EastEnders declined to comment.