Ruby Allen is about to get some news from the police that leaves her shocked – both Ross and Matt have been charged with rape in EastEnders. And the development leads to more uncertainty for Ruby as her case is publicised by the local press and she is subjected to discussions and speculation about what happened to her.
Explaining Rubys reaction to the charges, Louisa Lytton told Metro.co.uk: At first, shes quite shocked that Ross is charged – in her head, Matt raped her but she openly went to bed with Ross. Shes a bit worried about how Martin will react – she is still unsure herself how she feels about it for quite a long time, if that makes sense. Part of her still blames herself, part of her believes they know what they did was wrong and another part of her just doesnt want to talk about it. And another part still knows that Stacey is right and she should go through the police process and that they should be charged. There is just so much going on in her mind.
Ruby then panics when she thinks her name will be revealed in the papers and, later in the Vic, she overhears people talking about the case in question and wondering if the accuser is telling the truth. Also beset by online comments questioning her reliability, Ruby is left in turmoil.
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Louisa told us: It comes up quite a lot moving forward in the storyline which is important because trolling has a massive effect. It can lead to suicide – thats not where this is going but we now live in a world where people can have an opinion straight away and its there for everyone to see. Its really damaging – and that leads to Ruby wondering if she should go through with this. She is just scared and wants it all to go away.
Its such a great episode because thats exactly what is happening at the moment, even with people around me. Ive had so many different people giving different views and asking different questions. All we wanted to portray is that in the real world at the moment, this is what is happening. People have different views – different generations, men and women.
Each different character has a different opinion on rape and on consent and Ruby is having to be in the situation where she can hear people talking about her situation without knowing its about her. The paranoia sets in – its a different episode but I think its needed as there have been so many questions around this storyline. Its needed to highlight all the different views.
The standalone episode sees Ruby eventually blurt out that she is the person they are all talking about – and thankfully, Louisa has revealed that she will find support from many of her neighbours – particularly those who really understand.
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She said: Obviously she has Stacey who has been through the same thing. But there are nice scenes with Kellie Bright and with Shona McGarty as Linda and Whitney are women who have had similar experiences. Its nice to show women supporting women.
One to watch: Monday 26th November at 8pm on BBC One.
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