Suki and Eve Panesar-Unwin face fresh turmoil in EastEnders next week when their foster daughter Ria Virdi is injured during a community party, prompting Suki to threaten legal action against Kat and Alfie Moon.
Family Journey So Far
Suki (Balvinder Sopal) and Eve (Heather Peace) have worked hard to build a family. When Suki discovered her step-granddaughter Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) was pregnant, she acted heinously to convince Avani to continue with a pregnancy she clearly didn't want, so Suki and Eve could raise the baby. Eve was initially reticent but acquiesced, believing Avani was happy with the arrangement. When Eve stepped in and Avani confessed she wanted a termination, Eve promised to and did support her throughout.
When Avani's parents, Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) and Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara), found out, the family imploded, and Suki and Eve lived separately. After Eve was subject to a grotesque homophobic attack, they reaffirmed their love, and Eve declared she was fully onboard with the baby idea and wanted to consider adopting.
Adoption and New Challenges
The road to adoption was rocky. Eve's mother Norma (Jessica Turner) tried to put a spanner in the works, Ravi and Priya's family collapsed amid the revelation he'd been running a drug ring – all in front of their social worker – while Suki clashed with her son Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota) when she learned he was expecting a baby with Penny Branning (Kitty Castledine). The biggest hurdle was the final meeting with the adoption panel, which fell on the same day as the anniversary of Jags Panesar's (Amar Adatia) death, with another clash between Suki and Vinny exploding.
Suki fled the panel meeting, emotionally overwhelmed, and Eve ended up drunkenly and violently confronting Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington), something she later used to blackmail them. Despite the odds, Suki and Eve were accepted by the panel and welcomed Ria Virdi (Aaria Sharma) into their home, also squashing their beef with Nicola after discovering damning evidence of their own.
Ria's Injury and Legal Threat
Their problems soon became domestic, with difficulties bonding with Ria, particularly for Eve. With Nicola's help, Eve formed a strong connection to her foster daughter after Ria's biological mum failed to turn up for her birthday party.
Next week, Suki learns Ria's birth mum could still seek custody, leading Suki to turn her wrath onto Vinny, clashing again over Penny and the baby. Later in the week, the community enjoys Kat and Alfie Moon's (Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie) party, which descends into chaos, causing a community officer to shut it down, but not before Ria is injured. With a potential custody battle and an injury threatening their chances, Suki goes nuclear and threatens legal action against the Moons, causing Kat to storm away.
