The palliative treatment Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) was getting ceased to function, allowing her brain tumour to progress, and she is very cruelly facing her final few days on EastEnders.
Future episodes will give Lola’s loved ones an opportunity to bid her a final farewell before her tragic passing.
According to the actress Danielle Harold, “Lola definitely starts to feel her decline quite quickly during her palliative care.”
She is aware that her time is running out since her symptoms are growing worse, she is forgetful more often, and she is experiencing more seizures.
Lola receives visits from friends and family as her condition deteriorates, including Kim and Denise Fox (Diane Parish and Tameka Empson), who treat Lola to a much-needed spa day.
Denise and Kim visit Lola because she is obviously very ill right now. They are there to try and cheer her up, chat to her, and pamper her. According to Danielle, they just gather at her bedside to say their goodbyes and be with her.
She is also visited by Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and Callum Highway (Tony Clay), who promise to take care of Lexi (Isabella Brown) while she is away.
As the end nears, it is understandable that spouse Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) and “Pops” Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) find it difficult to deal with their sadness.
Family and friends of Lola gather to say their final goodbyes (Photo: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
Danielle stated that filming these sensitive sequences was challenging, but collaborating with charity brought up some much-needed assistance and support.
“It does get really tough, especially towards the end,” she said, “so it’s been really difficult filming these last few scenes over.”
Working with the charities has been crucial for us because we want to reflect Lola’s condition both properly and sympathetically while also raising awareness to hopefully bring about change. “It’s such a heartbreaking diagnosis and it’s not nice to watch or play,” the production team says.
Danielle described what it was like to record such very emotional sequences with Perry Fenwick, Jamie Borthwick, and Isabella Brown as she thought on her departure.
Both on and off the screen, “We’re all just so close, we’re like a real family unit!”
“I really couldn’t have done this with anyone else because we just all work in such a great way together and taking on this story was such a team effort from all of us,” I said. “It’s been so special doing this with them.”
This plot has drawn a lot of attention, and Danielle has been nominated for multiple British Soap Awards, including the coveted Leading Performer award chosen by the audience.
The outpouring of support for Lola from everyone has been “really overwhelming but really lovely,” Danielle said.
“It was lovely to see that,” someone said.
