| Natalie Evans | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Lucy Speed | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1994–1995, 1999–2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 936 18 January 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 2726 10 May 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Leonard Lewis (1994) Matthew Robinson (1999) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Natalie Evans (also Price) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lucy Speed. Natalie first appeared on 18 January 1994, depicted initially as an unhappy, insecure teenager; she was among various regular characters brought in to increase the cast following the BBC's decision to increase episode output to three per week. She featured most often with the characters Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) and Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer); Natalie's affair with Ricky ending his relationship with Bianca was one of the prominent storylines aired in the Winter of 1995. Despite producers offering to extend Speed's contract, she opted to leave the serial in 1995, and Natalie departed on 23 February of that year.
Executive producer Matthew Robinson reintroduced the character in 1999 as a businesswoman and a love interest for Barry Evans (Shaun Williamson). Storylines included a rocky marriage to Barry, contemplating abortion, almost sleeping with her brother-in-law, rekindling her affair with Ricky, a relationship with Paul Trueman (Gary Beadle) and desperately trying to get Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) arrested for murdering Barry. Her departure was announced in early 2004, and Natalie left on 10 May 2004.