(née '''Jackson'''; born''' Branning''') is a
Fictional Character in the popular
British BBC Soap Opera ''
EastEnders ''. She is played by
Natalie Cassidy .
Trumpet-playing Sonia Jackson first arrived in
Walford in
1993 with her mother,
Carol , stepfather, Alan, and half-siblings
Bianca ,
Robbie , and Billy. Since then, she has also gained an aunt, April, grandfather,
Jim , and cousin,
Bradley . She was the result of her mother's fling with a man she never knew called Terry Cant. She is the second youngest of Carol's four children.
Sonia's storylines were pretty much non-existent until her half-brother, Billy, was kidnapped in
1997 by the people who he'd witnessed rob a shop. The whole Jackson family (except Bianca and Robbie) had to leave Walford and go on
Witness Protection Programme .
The clan (without Alan or Billy) returned two years later. In
2000 Sonia had under-age sex with
Martin Fowler . After Carol's departure and her new romance with
Jamie Mitchell , a stunned Sonia gave birth to a daughter on
26 October 2000 . Baby
Chloe was a result of Sonia's one-night stand with Martin (although Sonia didn't know that she was pregnant), and was subsequently given up for
Adoption .
Her relationship with Jamie survived this blow, and they fell in total love. Sonia began to grow an obsession with her daughter, and after tracking down her whereabouts, she abducted her, and locked herself in her house. Despite all the pleas of Chloe's (now renamed Rebecca) adoptive parents and other residents of Albert Square, it was step-grandmother Dorothy that managed to persuade her to hand the little girl over, after a tearful heart-to-heart which also revealed Dot's secrets (she had an
Abortion at a young age).
She and Jamie got engaged, but due to the consequences of Jamie's fling with
Zoe Slater and constant rowing, the pair split up. Sonia began to date kind-souled
Gus Smith , who was planning to propose, but was left ripped apart after Sonia decided to give it another go with Jamie, who became her fiancé for the second time.
This happiness was, however, short-lived, as Sonia's ex-lover, Martin, accidentally ran over Jamie in his car. After keeping a bedside vigil, Jamie passed away on
Christmas Day .
Sonia eventually managed to forgive Martin for all their past differences, and the reconciled. After declaring their love for one another, the pair eloped and got married.
Just months later, Martin woke up in the bed of a barmaid, Sarah, who he'd been drunkenly flirting with the night before. Sarah began to stalk Martin and became best friends with his wife Sonia, convincing herself that Martin truly loved her even though he told her otherwise. One night, Sarah admitted the truth to Sonia, in the hope that the pair would separate and Martin would go to her. Instead, Sonia tearfully forgave Martin, and while shouting at Sarah to tell her why Martin was 'the one', she snapped and revealed that Martin didn't actually have
Sex with her, and only fell asleep in her bed. She then stabbed herself and Martin Sonia then killed Sarah by smacking her on the head. and nothing has been mentioned of her since.
The Fowler marriage has been under even more pressure, though, as they discovered that their daughter, Rebecca's adoptive parents had been killed in a car crash. Concerned for their child's welfare, they posed as friends of the dead couple to Rebecca's adoptive grandmother, who told them to get out of her granddaughter's life after discovering the truth.
Martin's mother,
Pauline , found out that Martin and Sonia had been in contact with Rebecca, and she tracked her biological grandchild's home down and eventually persuaded Rebecca's adoptive grandmother to allow her to see Rebecca regularly. After a fight broke out when Martin and Sonia found out, Pauline decided it was time to say goodbye to her granddaughter.
In
October 2005 , just months after last seeing Rebecca, Pauline accidentally sent a birthday card of Sonia's, that was actually for Rebecca which was supposed to be sent years before. Margaret (Rebecca's adoptive grandmother) turned up at the Fowler house thanking Martin and Pauline for the card, and asked if they'd like to go to Rebecca's birthday party. They agreed to keep it from Sonia, and agreed. When Martin told Sonia the truth, the strain of their marriage increased. Then with the arrival of Sonia's friend
Naomi Julien , their marriage turned into a spiral downfall. Sonia and Naomi constantly spent time together and Martin was feeling left out. On 28th November 2005, Sonia, after furious rows with Martin, turned to Naomi for comfort and kissed her but regretted it straightaway.
Martin discovered this but with the persuasion from Naomi he forgave her, although Sonia's attitude to her and Martin's lifestyle continued to place strain on their marriage. They eventually agreed to split just before Christmas 2005, at the same time that Rebecca was brought to stay at their house by Pauline Fowler after her foster grandmother Margaret fell ill. The pair agreed to remain together temporarily for Rebecca's sake although this quickly became more than temporary for a while.
In
August 2005 , Sonia struck up a friendship with fellow trainee nurse,
Naomi Julien . Martin became extremely jealous of the amount of time Sonia was spending with Naomi, however Sonia refused to give up her new best-friend and so Martin had to put up with being delegated to the sidelines. In
November 2005 , Sonia was surprised when Naomi planted a tender kiss on her lips as she had previously been unaware that she was
Gay , nevertheless she returned the kiss only to panic later and deny that it meant anything to her. Sonia grew distand from Naomi for a while following their kiss, but they eventually patched things up and agreed to remain friends. However, Martin and Sonia's marriage has took a rapid downward spiral over the next few months and their continuous bickering left them both feeling extremely unhappy in their relationship, which only sought to worsen when Rebecca left in mid-February 2006. Sonia began to imagine what life would be like with Naomi and in March 2006, Sonia kissed her again during
Garry Hobbs ' birthday party. Naomi initially felt that Sonia was playing with her feelings. However, Sonia soon confessed that she was in love with Naomi, and she left Martin soon after to move in with her. It remains unspecified whether she considers herself
Lesbian ,
Bisexual or simply someone who happened to fall in love with someone regardless of gender.
The breakup of Sonia's marriage and her new lesbian relationship sent shockwaves around the Square and her grandfather refused to speak to her after discovering it, although they appear to have since reconciled their differences. Her relationship with Martin continues to be hostile, and their shared friends are currentlty finding themselves caught in the middle of their feud as they fear that any display of support to one will alienate the other.
3a Albert Square
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/eastenders/characters/character_content/character_sonia_j.shtml Sonia Jackson, BBC character profile]
- Natalie Cassidy, BBC profile
