Bills, Baby, Broken Boiler: Cheryl chats Heather’s latest storyline

EastEnders’ Heather Trott hasn’t been having an easy time of late but next week she finds herself facing one of her biggest challenges yet when she collapses due to a faulty boiler in her flat. Cheryl Fergison, who plays Heather, chats about her alter-ego’s latest storyline...

Were you pleased when you found out about the episode?

Yeah it was an honour when I found out I was doing it. I thought it was nice to let me have a little bit. I mean, it’s not just me in the episode, it’s a kind of ’Day in the life of Heather’. It’s nice to look at characters every now and again a bit more in depth and it’s been quite emotional to film. The actual subject [of carbon monoxide poisoning] is quite unknown. EastEnders [is] bringing up another subject that people should be aware of.

Heather is in a real pickle isn’t she?

Obviously, the situation with the boiler has just left her with no choice; no washing up can be done, there’s no hot water, no heating and nothing can get dry. Also, she’s just trying to prove that she can carry on even when she can’t. She’s too proud to ask for help or when she does, she doesn’t get it from the people close to her. For her it’s a bit of a challenge. She wants to stand on her own two feet. She’s that kind of character.

Is she desperate for help?

Yeah I think [so], even [down] to the fact that she has to go to her mum’s, or tries to go. Her mum is somebody that is the “evil mum” but she feels she’s that destitute and that bad that she has to go and see her and borrow money off her and things.

I think people would look at it and go; ’Well yeah she’s a single mum, she doesn’t get that much money off Darren as maintenance and she has two part time jobs and in the modern day we live in London it’s not cheap to rent a flat’ and that’s how she feels she should do it but it just escalates really. People think that you’d get quite a bit of money from two jobs but you’re not going to get a great amount of money from one part time job and another part time job. She’s got into a bit of a desperate situation and it’s been going on for a while.

She’s been asking to borrow money and things and certain people, like Dot for instance, who gives her quite a bit of advice, [well] it’s advice and it’s not the material help she needs. She even asks if it’s possible to stay at Phil and Shirley’s for a while and even Shirley snubs her at that.

I think she just feels a little bit alone and unable to cope. She decided that she would have the baby so that’s how she’s got to do it.

Billy tries to give her some fruit and veg at some point, but it’s a little bit of that sort of thing where she’s like ’I don’t like charity.’ Heather doesn’t want to feel like she’s not coping. She wants to look like she can stand on her own two feet because she always seems to be asking other people for help, and this time it’s a case of showing everyone from Shirley to Dot to Billy, even her own mum.

Do others expect Shirley to help her out?

Yeah, people might think that’s a bit odd [that she doesn’t], but in a way Shirley used to be dependent upon Heather as well, and all of a sudden when one of them gets a man they, kind of, go off, you know. It happened with me [Heather] and Minty and now with Shirley and Phil.

She gets upset with Shirley putting Phil before Heather, as Shirley has said always she will be there for her and George. I know a lot of people are going to turn round and be like ’oh Heather’s a grown woman she should look after herself’ but if anything Shirley has been the one to kind of take Heather under her wing, so she’s kind of made a promise and it hasn’t materialised, and as we know Phil’s been through quite a bit in the last few months.

With Heather it’s just about the baby really more than anything it’s about the fact that she said that she’d be another mummy to him [George] and even down to when she asks if she can come and stay at [Phil and Shirley’s] it doesn’t work [because] she sides with Phil and doesn’t let her stay and that’s what leads to all the horrible things [happening].

Is there a particular moment that sends Heather over the edge?

Oh yeah [when Morgan breaks] the pushchair, well it’s just breaking point literally, she loses it. There’s not the sort of harmful hair in her body to even grab a child, but to take it out on little Morgan was a horrible scene to do. I kept saying to Devon who plays Morgan ’You know it’s not real’ [because] I felt terrible. But in the end it’s quite funny when Carol has a go, bit like pot calling the kettle black.

Is she upset to leave George with Darren?

No it’s the realisation of ‘this is what’s best for our child at this moment’. "It’s not forever Darren, remember this" sort of thing, but it’s what’s best for George now. No, I think it’s a very sad moment for her, a bit of a realisation that she can’t cope and that what is best as a mum for your child, [is] a warm house and clean clothes and Heather hasn’t got that. Yeah Darren finds her in the end, yeah I think he becomes super hero and knocks down doors and everything.

She gets upset when she sees Darren and Jodie looking after George, [and] I think she gets quite upset that he sort of starts to play happy families really. It’s not about being resentful or even jealous, it’s just a no win situation for Heather at that point. She’s thinking only of George and what’s best for him like any good mum would really.

She even goes to see her [own] mum--well she’s at her wit’s end, and to be quite honest it’s half sort of going back to her mum and going ’Look, we can make amends here I’m now a mother myself. I understand what it must be like to bring up a child.’ So there’s all of that going on in her head.

Obviously, she wants to introduce her son to her mum, even if it is via pictures and things. I think she must have been very desperate to go back there because obviously her mum (or “mummy” as she calls her) has been has been a bit of a nightmare, and she’s prepared to go back and hear ’I told you so etc etc’ and then lo and behold, oh dear, she’s confronted by a neighbour. And the fact she has to climb a few stairs to get to the top of the flat kills her even more, so it doesn’t help.

Is she aware she is suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning?

No I think she’s not aware. She’s just getting on and all the, sort of, symptoms she’s having are very similar to a common cold, which actually does have similar symptoms [to carbon monoxide poisoning]. There’s nausea, sickness, breathlessness… she’s asthmatic anyway so she wouldn’t associate the two, but she eventually collapses. I think it’s just a mounting thing, I mean, I think she realises the boiler doesn’t work but she doesn’t understand that there are fumes coming through.

It’s all a bit traumatic. It’s good to bring awareness to carbon monoxide poisoning. It’s something that people don’t really know much about, I think. People don’t install those alarms in their houses, and a lot of people die from it and you can’t make light of it. But it’s that added thing that everyone should have their boiler sorted regularly.

Does Shirley feel bad when she finds out what’s happened to Heather?

Yeah I think she does, but obviously her life with Phil goes on. You know, it’s all sort of happening. People will see Shirley try to integrate her into things that she’s doing, and Heather will integrate her [Shirley] into things she’s doing, so it’s the way of their relationship but there is a slight wake up call. I mean, Shirley does help her out and start to realise ’maybe I should have been there.’

A lot of it is Darren standing up to Shirley at that point, which is quite good because he goes ’Didn’t you realise she was like this?’ So she’s [Shirley’s] being confronted by all sorts of people that she wouldn’t normally be confronted by. It’s not just about helping others but it’s about been aware of people’s situations; not being so selfish. If you look at Heather’s character she’s not selfish [and] she will kind of do her best to try and help people out, or if she’s knocked down she’ll kind of get back up again.

Heather Hopeful, that’s what I call her. She’s always hopeful about things. So, yeah, they will have to see sense in the end and I think Shirley definitely comes round, because she’s her mate. Darren’s also put in a bit of a situation at some point with all of this so he’s going to have to make some decisions in the end, and he doesn’t come out as the bad guy but there’s a lot of growing up to be done all round to be honest.

Will things improve for Heather?

No matter how many times she’ll get knocked down, she gets back up again and I think that’s the thing with Heather and the thing that people like with Heather--being hopeful about the situation, her glass is always half full even when she’s down to the lowest point. You know you’ve got to give her ten out of ten for trying every time. If Heather had lots of luck and lots of love and lots of everything she wouldn’t be Heather. You’d have to lose the head bands and everything wouldn’t you? A whole new character.