EastEnders star reveals Chrissie Watts's Jasmine Fisher fears ahead of explosive week
Tracy-Ann Oberman speaks to Radio Times about her latest stint in the East End.
Chrissie Watts is a real force to be reckoned with. In just 226 episodes of EastEnders, actress Tracy-Ann Oberman has been afforded some of the finest dialogue in soap history, and the character is responsible for killing off one of the drama's biggest antagonists - 'Dirty' Den (Leslie Grantham).
Being the successor to Anita Dobson's Angie as the second Mrs Watts is quite the task, though Oberman went into the audition relatively nerve-free, as she wasn't aware which role she was aiming for.
"There was only five names down for this recall [audition], and apart from me, every single one of them was a household name," she recalled to Radio Times this week, just one day after her latest return.
"I didn't know what it was for, other than being a regular character's new wife. I think at that time, Ian Beale had just got rid of another wife, and my flatmate at the time was a huge EastEnders fan, so she was really excited.
"We just worked out that [Chrissie] must be Ian Beale's wife."
She continued: "I was taken into the set and the casting director said, 'Just to let you know, you're going to be doing a screen test with Leslie Grantham'. I was a bit late because I had to come from a voiceover job down to Elstree. As I walked on set, Leslie said, 'Oh, you're the girl that does the voiceovers?', and I batted back, 'Are you the bloke whose character has been dead for 15 years?'
"We had a really good banter between us. Within nine days, I found out that I got the part of his new wife. It was a real whirlwind. The producer at the time said that they felt me and Leslie had real chemistry, and that if Angie and Den were like Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, he was like Spencer Tracy, and I was Catherine Hepburn.
"I thought, 'I'll take that.'"
After almost two decades away, Oberman was back on set in 2024 for a week-long run with Sharon Watts actress Letitia Dean.
The two were banged up together, conveniently on the same cell wing, and managed to settle old scores prior to Chrissie's release. She then reunited with lost love Jake Moon (Joel Beckett) before riding off into the sunset in his vintage red Jaguar.
But with more story to be told, executive producer Ben Wadey invited Oberman back last Christmas, where Chrissie was revealed to be the orchestrator behind Zoe Slater's (Michelle Ryan) torment. We also discovered that things weren't exactly greener on the other side with Jake, and the two had separated.
"I had such a good time going back to the prison stuff, and I knew that I was going to be working with Michelle and Kim [Medcalf], who I'd spent an enormous amount of time with in the original days, and Jessie [Wallace], so it fitted in perfectly to my theatre jobs," Oberman added.
Chrissie's comeback wasn't the only talking point from the festive period. Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey) was found dead on the Queen Vic landing following a confrontation with Zoe, with it later transpiring that their estranged daughter Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness) was the murderer.
Zoe has since spent time behind bars, hoping that Chrissie - who she believed to be the culprit - would be arrested. The storyline seemingly comes to somewhat of a conclusion next week, with Chrissie agreeing to lure Jasmine back to Albert Square after reuniting with Jake.
"Chrissie is his fatal flaw, he can't let it go," she laughed.
"They love each other dearly - they really do. They're trauma bonded, because they're each other's family. I think that she did see something in Jasmine, because she's a feisty little number. She felt very protective, in a weird way."
Upcoming scenes will see Jasmine arrested following Chrissie's tip-off. The floor fell from beneath Kat Moon's (Wallace) feet when she realised her granddaughter could have manipulated everyone into believing she was the innocent party.
But could Jasmine's time in the police interview room cause more upheaval for Chrissie?
"I think she's worried. She's just been let out of prison and doesn't want to get into trouble with the police. She served 20 years for good reason.
"I think she's really nervous that this Jasmine, in her own idiot savant way, could get her banged up again. I don't think she feels any particular loyalty to anyone in The Square, but I think seeing Sam and Zoe, has brought up a lot of stuff for her.
"I don't think she owes Kat anything. She just thinks: 'What this child's gonna do or say, could absolutely ruin my life.'"
Whether or not there's a future for Chrissie and Jake in Walford remains to be seen. Oberman is currently preparing for her next role as Geri Essendine in a reimagined version of Noël Coward's Present Laughter.
"It's one of the funniest plays I've ever read," she beamed, "I really can't wait for audiences to see it, because if you love Chrissie, you'll love this character."
She will meet also The King on Tuesday - to be presented with an MBE, an accolade she was bestowed during his Birthday Honours.
Oberman laughed: "I was really surprised. I thought I had a parking fine because it comes in a really official-looking brown envelope. I was really delighted to find out that I've got an MBE.
"But Chrissie cannot get away from The Square. She keeps coming back. There's something about that place."
Read more:
- 5 EastEnders spoilers next week: Shock arrest made after Anthony Trueman's funeral, as Max Branning professes his feelings
- EastEnders' Kat Moon and Vicki Fowler make risky move to secure Zoe's freedom in BBC iPlayer release
- EastEnders reveals Mark Fowler Jr's secret and surprise connection to Walford local in BBC iPlayer release
- EastEnders airs dark Ravi Gulati scenes amid revenge story in early BBC iPlayer release
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Authors
Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
