EastEnders' Sonia Fowler endures terrifying showdown with game-changing twist in early iPlayer release

In a chilling moment at the start of the week, Sonia spotted the dolls' house Reiss had given her in the background of her sister Bianca Jackson's (Patsy Palmer) confession video.

She confronted him over the dolls' house, and when Reiss changed his story, claiming it was from his late wife Debbie's (Jenny Meier) things that were in storage, Sonia realised that she had underestimated Reiss.

She demanded to hear what he knew about Bianca's 'guilt', until Reiss admitted that B had not killed Debbie, having instead concocted a half-baked plan to get Sonia out of prison.

Insisting that Reiss contacted Bianca, Sonia finally put the last puzzle pieces together when she questioned how Bianca knew specific details of Debbie's death.

All became clear to her: Reiss was the real murderer.

As Sonia reeled, she rushed to escape, but Reiss blocked her exit and grabbed her. Forced to stay put, Sonia asked how Reiss could allow her to take the blame for Debbie's murder.

A spiralling Reiss dared to suggest he only wanted to make her happy, and had simply eased Debbie's suffering.

Pressed to reveal Bianca's whereabouts, Reiss falsely declared that Bianca was dead, leaving Sonia even more distraught. As Sonia screamed for help, Reiss turned menacing again.

But Sonia was saved at the last minute by Bianca, who had broken free from the lock up where Reiss had her chained up, just in time to smash Reiss over the head with one of Dot Branning's (June Brown) teapots, knocking him out!

As the sisters embraced, Sonia said of her beloved late step-grandmother: "Dot always said a pot of tea makes everything better!"

Ah, a brief comforting thought amid the most tense of dramas!

Bianca and Sonia sought help from their detective uncle Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), who headed to the house to keep watch over Reiss while they waited for the police.

Sonia insisted on returning to the house, but as Bianca followed her, they were horrified to find Reiss missing! Has the murderer escaped justice?

Well, EastEnders has confirmed that Reiss will terrorise Bianca once more on its 40th anniversary week – but how will his story end?

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• EastEnders 40th anniversary air dates confirmed for documentary specials

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

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