Vicki Fowler’s (Alice Haig) time in EastEnders is threatened next week – when sister Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) finally snaps.
Earlier in the year, Vicki returned to Albert Square from Australia after two decades for her uncle Martin’s (James Bye) funeral.
Bringing along boyfriend Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw) and his son Joel (Max Murray), it soon became clear that the trio were carrying more than just duty free baggage.
Joel had upskirted a pupil in his class, and Ross had to pay $50,000 to keep her family from reporting him to the police. But there was another condition – they weren’t allowed to return Down Under.
Sharon agreed that the family could stay with her, and after much thought, also handed Ross the cash. She, of course, has no idea why he owes it.
She then headed to the other side of the world herself, going to visit Vicki’s mum Michelle (Susan Tully).
In her absence, Ross has found employment at a timber yard on Turpin Road, and Vicki has taken on some work for the Panesar clan by checking over their business accounts.
This week, we’ve seen her question trustee Bernie Taylor (Clair Norris) about some unusual invoices that have cropped up – something which she later decided to address with Suki Panesar-Unwin (Balvinder Sopal) and Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara).
In upcoming scenes, the matter of the missing money is finally revealed.
Vicki and Ross are on cloud nine, finally being able to support their new life, but the happiness is cut short when Sharon’s brother Zack Hudson (James Farrar) informs them that she intends to evict them from the family home after failing to repay their debt.
A mortified Vicki attempts to get an advance from Bernie, but is subsequently fired!
Desperate to make up her shortfall – and quick – she crafts a plan to steal Bernie’s laptop and use the damning information she finds to blackmail her.
You’ve guessed it – Bernie’s stealing from the accounts.
Vicki demands that she hands over half of the stolen profits in exchange for her silence, and returns home triumphant after convincing Zack to have a word with Sharon.
Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) supports her case, but is horrified when she discovers how she managed to resolve her financial woes.
Later in the week, Kathy tells Suki that Bernie has been stealing, and she and Ravi decide to stage an intervention. Twisting the knife, Bernie tells them both that Vicki is the one who has been stealing!
Yikes.
Ravi and his ex-partner Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) decide to teach her a lesson, but Suki demands that she be the one who sorts things.
Bernie is determined to see Vicki’s downfall, and questions the Panesars on their lack of action… leading Ravi to lure Vicki into a trap at the restaurant.
