Suki Panesar-Unwin (also Kaur and Panesar) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Balvinder Sopal.

She was portrayed as the protective mother of Kheerat (Jaz Deol), Jags (Amar Adatia), Vinny (Shiv Jalota) and Ash (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha) who believe that she always has the right answer.

Her various feuds have also been a focal point for the character, with Suki's rivalries including the entire Mitchell and Slater family units.

Suki and Eve's relationship, dubbed "SukEve", has also been well received by the LGBTQ+ community, with Diva magazine praising the representation it depicted.

Prior to Suki being announced, she was referenced onscreen by her children, Kheerat (Jaz Deol), Jags (Amar Adatia), Vinny (Shiv Jalota) and Ash (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha).

She explained: "I've always played downtrodden, you know, submissive women, so to be out there and sort of the female version of Phil Mitchell, I think is great.

[3] Sopal explained that their strained relationship comes as a result of the pair being similar in that they are both strong-minded women who want different things.

[6] When she arrives in Walford, Ash describes Suki as "a nasty, evil, lying narcissist who wraps everyone around her little finger" to girlfriend Iqra Ahmed (Priya Davdra).

She gets Jags to be ruthless with tenants who are late with their payments, which his secret girlfriend, Habiba Ahmed (Rukku Nahar), disapproves of.

[15] She sees the prison set-up as a way of teaching Jags a lesson, as well as ruining his relationship with Habiba, since it feels like he is focusing on her rather than their family.

When asked if Suki regrets her actions, Sopal said: "I don't think she likes what she has to do but she wants everyone to understand the roles they play in the family.

The storyline begins with her blackmailing Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) over CCTV footage from her shop that incriminates him for an attack on Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt).

[16] Once Ben's father Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) learns of her blackmailing, he arrives at her pest control business office with a bat, destroying property and threatening to hit Suki.

Digital Spy noted that due to her "interfering ways", she would be likely to not listen,[17] while the Metro wrote that a war between the Panesars and the Mitchells would ensue.

[18] After a bad day, Suki finds Peter Beale's (Dayle Hudson) wallet in her house, left over from a party.

Her shop, the Minute Mart, is graffitied with racial abuse, which sees Suki suffer from painful memories from her past.

Suki had built her family and professional life up and trampled over anybody to get to her point of success because she felt she had to, so the abuse takes her back to the start.

The abuse "opens up a whole lot of wounds for her" and makes Suki more of a well-rounded character, with vulnerable scenes that Sopal had not played prior.

EastEnders featured the Sikh mourning style for the storyline, which involved stripping the furniture back, having white sheets laid out and bringing a Gyani in.

It hit the whole team emotionally, including Sopal, who said it felt like real grief that exhausted her after filming the scenes.

[24] As she continues to grieve for weeks, Minute Mart co-worker Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton) becomes "an unlikely source of support for Suki".

Sopal enjoyed that the writers were taking a "slow burn" approach towards their relationship as she felt it gave the soap a plot to gradually work towards.

She found it exciting to keep the audience hanging on for more, but also acknowledged that they wanted to depict a sensitive and accurate story for both the LGBTQ+ and Southeast Asian communities.

Metro writer Duncan Lindsay noted that upon his arrival, viewers would see how his sinister treatment of Suki would explain her aggressive behaviours seen on-screen.

[46] In October 2022, in scenes gearing up towards his arrival, Kheerat discovers her affair with Eve and is shocked due to her judgement of Ash's sexuality.

Sopal said that she would want Ash to return, even for a brief stint, if Suki's sexuality was to become public knowledge since it would develop their relationship.

[49] However, at an award show where Sopal and Peace spoke together about their storyline, they confirmed that more romance was to come for Suki and Eve.

Nish plots to oust Suki from sole ownership of the Panesar businesses and draws up a contract for her to sign assets over to Vinny.

The scene details Suki, Stacey, Sharon, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) and Denise Fox (Diane Parish) coming together for a lock-in at the Queen Victoria which takes a turn when a mystery man is seen dead on the floor.

[57] Following the scenes of Suki's mental health struggle in the wake of Ranveer's attack, Rory Bennett from MyLondon billed Sopal as one of EastEnders's best-loved actresses.