Eve (Heather Peace)

Have you ever wanted to see a crossover between Waterloo Road and EastEnders? Well, now you can ? sort of.

The long-running BBC soap has cast former Waterloo Road star Heather Peace as a brand-new character to the show following Stacey Slater's (Lacey Turner) return from a stint in prison.

Stacey was sent to prison following a false accusation from Ruby Allen, and her return will shake up Albert Square for the foreseeable future.

Peace will be playing a new character named Eve, who Stacey met in prison and brings into the fold in Walford.

The new storyline will see Stacey trying to clear her name, with the support of her mother Jean Slater and Eve. This results in a sticky situation for Ruby as they attempt to reveal the truth.

Executive producers Kate Oates and Jon Sen spoke to Digital Spy and other media about the casting of Peace and the forthcoming drama hitting the soap.

Oates said, "We've got Ruby, who Jean is intent on bringing down and clearing Stacey's name. Ruby is going to come to a slightly sticky end so it's fun to see how that plays out, and that means we've also got Stacey's return.

"I'm delighted to see Lacey Turner return to the Square as Stacey. Stacey has made a new friend in prison, and will shortly be joined by Eve ? her cell mate inside, and her new best friend on the outside.

"But where Eve goes, chaos follows. There's a reason Eve's sentence kept getting extended when she'd initially been imprisoned for a short stint: she simply can?t keep out of trouble. But with Stacey out on probation, Jean is determined that Eve will not lead her daughter into bad ways. But just how extreme is Jean prepared to go to keep Stacey on the straight and narrow?"

Speaking about Peace, Sen said, "We're really excited about her. You know how that kind of friendship is going to be because they come back having shared a prison experience that has united them in a kind of very unique friendship, so that's really exciting."

Sen also emphasised that "Stacey's return is going to be huge," so fans will surely be excited to see how it all plays out.

Peace has appeared as Nikki Boston on the BBC One drama Waterloo Road, as well as Sally Fields in ITV?s London?s Burning. She has also appeared in the Kay Mellor drama The Chase and in the BBC Scotland series Lip Service.


Digital Spy

stacey's prison girlfriend

staceys wife

what a great character

Heather Peace has addressed Eve's role in the Christmas flashforward story.

Eve isn't one of the six characters shown in the recent flashforward sequence that reveals someone will turn up dead in The Queen Vic this festive season ? but she does have ties to both Stacey Slater and Suki Panesar, who were both present in the footage.

Speaking to Digital Spy and other media, Heather expressed hopes that Eve's relationships with both Stacey and Suki may point to her being involved in the storyline as well.

"I don't think it'll be me [who dies], obviously. I've never thought that for one second," Heather told us.

"But I am involved in both Stacey's storyline and Suki's storylines. I would like to be involved in some way, but I've got absolutely no idea at the moment."

Eve come face to face with 'Amanda', who will eventually go on to reveal herself as Caz ? the woman who killed Eve's sister in a car accident

After meeting Caz outside The Albert, Eve leads her into an alley and violently attacks her.