Sonia Fowler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Natalie Cassidy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Duration | 1993–2007, 2010–2011, 2014– | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First appearance | Episode 922 2 December 1993 |
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Created by | Tony McHale | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by |
Leonard Lewis (1993) Matthew Robinson (1998) Diederick Santer (2010) Bryan Kirkwood (2011) Dominic Treadwell-Collins (2014) |
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Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Nurse Café worker |
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Family | Branning |
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Father | Terry Cant |
Mother | Carol Jackson |
Stepfather | Alan Jackson (1996–1999) |
Half-brothers |
Robbie Jackson Billie Jackson |
Half-sisters | Bianca Jackson |
Husband | Martin Fowler (2004−2006, 2007–2015) |
Daughters | Rebecca Fowler |
Grandfathers | Jim Branning |
Grandmothers | Reenie Branning |
Uncles |
Derek Branning Max Branning Jack Branning |
Aunts |
April Branning Suzy Branning |
Nephews |
Liam Butcher Morgan Butcher Sami Jackson |
Nieces | Tiffany Butcher |
First cousins |
Bradley Branning Lauren Branning Abi Branning |
Sonia Ann Fowler (also Jackson) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Natalie Cassidy. Her first appearance was on 2 December 1993 and she departed on 2 February 2007. She returned briefly in 2010 along with other members of the Jackson family, and re-appeared in the soap from 8 to 18 February 2010 and again in January 2011. Sonia returned as a permanent character on 14 January 2014, as part of a storyline that saw her mother Carol (Lindsey Coulson) develop breast cancer. Sonia is the first character in soap opera history to tackle the issue of the BRCA gene. Cassidy took maternity leave in 2016 and Sonia left on 20 September 2016 for her dream job in Kettering. Sonia made a guest appearance via computer on 25 December 2016.
Trumpet-playing Sonia Jackson arrives in Albert Square in 1993 with the rest of her family. The third of Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson)'s four children, Sonia was the result of her mother's one-night stand with Terry Cant, whom Sonia never knew.
During her early childhood, she becomes close friends with Clare Tyler (Gemma Bissix) and the two are inseparable until Clare falls in with the wrong crowd at school and starts bullying Sonia but they reconcile before Clare leaves in 1998. Sonia herself briefly leaves Walford in 1997, following her brother Billie Jackson (Devon Anderson)'s kidnapping, but returns to visit her family, eventually moving back permanently to live with her sister Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer), in 1998.