Tonight’s EastEnders saw Sonia Fowler denied bail for the murder of Debbie Colwell, days after her friends and family watched on in shock as she was arrested.
Sonia has been sent to prison where she will await trial for Debbie’s (Jenny Meier) murder. As she faces a tough fight to clear her name, Natalie Cassidy tells us what’s going through her head.
The residents of Walford faced a seismic shock in Monday’s episode, as both Sonia and Reiss (Jonny Freeman) were arrested on suspicion of the horrific crime.
As viewers know, Sonia’s fiancé Reiss is the real culprit, smothering his wife to death almost exactly a month ago. Debbie has spent the past few years in Olivewell care home, after suffering a stroke.
Reiss is currently going through serious financial difficulties as he tries to fund a third round of IVF with Sonia.
In a desperate attempt to get his hands on more cash, he pocketed the remainder of Debbie’s savings, before going on to scam Phil (Steve McFadden) and Sharon (Letitia Dean) in a fake investment scheme.
In late July, Reiss made his most drastic move to date as he smothered Debbie with a pillow, hoping to pocket her life insurance. He later stole her engagement ring, which he planned to sell to raise even more money.
He panicked when he learnt that the post-mortem results were pending, fearing that they would reveal that Debbie didn’t die of natural causes.
In Tuesday’s episode, as Sonia and Reece celebrated their engagement at a party thrown for them by Kathy (Gillian Taylforth), they faced a huge shock when the police entered The Vic to reveal that the evidence suggested that Debbie had been killed.
Debbie’s airways contained fibres from the pillow, with both Sonia and Reiss’s DNA present.
The newly-engaged pair were arrested for murder and led out of the pub in front of their friends and family.
After being hauled down to the police station, it was revealed that Reiss had an alibi for the time of Debbie’s death, with his phone showing that he was at Peggy’s at the time.
Of course, in reality, he had intentionally left his phone at Peggy’s as he headed to the care home, knowing that it would give him a solid alibi.
However, as Sonia had also visited Debbie on the day of her death, and had failed to sign herself into the hospital, all evidence pointed to her being responsible, and she faces an uphill battle to clear her name.
Natalie Cassidy, who has played Sonia off and on since 1993, revealed that her character’s arrest is her worst nightmare:
“It’s her worst nightmare coming true,” she tells us. “She absolutely cannot believe it, especially when Reiss has been let off because he has an alibi.
“I think it happens so quickly and in a flash that she’s just desperately scared about the baby and the impact this level of stress and trauma will have on a pregnancy that’s so fragile.
“That’s her main concern, losing her baby or having her baby and them taking it away, like what happened with Bex. She’s worried that history is going to repeat itself.”
When Reiss visited her in her prison cell, he promised her that he had nothing to do with Debbie’s death.
Despite knowing he’s in financial trouble, and aware that Debbie’s death will potentially see Reiss receive her life insurance payout, she believed him.
“She falls into Reiss’ arms and is petrified,” Natalie explains. “This is the man she loves, and she needs him.
“She does ask Reiss, ‘Did you do anything?’ but that’s mainly for Jack’s benefit. When Reiss says no, she believes him and apologises for even asking.”
Natalie explains that she can’t believe Reiss would do such a thing to the woman he loves, especially when he sticks by his story even when she faces being carted away to prison:
“I can’t [believe it]!” she exclaims. “To the point where she’s going to go down for it, and he doesn’t say, ‘This was me, I did this.’ You are like, ‘Oh my god, he’s a psycho.’ It’s really shocking and dark; I look forward to seeing what happens next.”
As for whether anyone can save Sonia, Natalie isn’t sure.
“Who knows?” she shrugs. “But she’s got a lot of champions there on the Square…”
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