"I don't respond well to blackmail"
Sonia Stevens is a former inmate of Wentworth Correctional Centre.
Before Sonia's arrest she was the wealthy but self-made dynamo behind a million dollar cosmetics empire that was owned and run by her late husband, Geoffrey Stevens.
Geoffrey then disappeared without a trace. As far as the world knows, Geoffrey was suspected of committing suicide after a devastating cancer diagnosis.
When Sonia’s best friend Helen Masters also goes missing, the police are suspicious and have gathered enough circumstantial evidence to charge her with murder and she is sent to Wentworth Correctional Centre.
Sonia tries to fight her conviction with the help of Liz Birdsworth who reports to Don Kaplan and is eventually released until Don Kaplan double crosses her and leaves her without her money and stranded in the middle of nowhere. Sonia rushes home and realises that she has lost and is arrested by the police.
Sonia later ousts Liz as Witness X while talking to the press and eventually tries to kill Liz but is stopped by Kaz Proctor and thrown over the edge of the prison roof.
Time At Wentworth[]
Liz Birdsworth is put up to the task to retrieve evidence finding out clue's to try and make Liz look good with Vera and the police, but Sonia declines any information coming forth.
While cutting Maxine's hair, she delivers a cryptic message that she may have had something to do with the murder (referring to cutting hair as taking a crown away).
Initially friendly towards the crew, things get rocky between them after Sonia discovers that "Witness X" is an inmate which causes her to speculate Maxine (Though, she knew the entire time that it was Liz Birdsworth)
Don and Sonia celebrate with drinks when it is revealed what happened during her arrest. It is revealed that Helen's phone was found in Sassafrass that morning Liz testified in court. In a flashback Sonia is under arrest when Don comes in and tells Sonia the police intend to charge her with Helen's death and that she will be remanded to Wentworth, Sonia tells him that its not an option, Don then says he has a plan he will find a way to subvert the trial but he wont 'fuck up his career' for it, but he wants a deal, for Sonia to tell him what really happened to her husband. Don tells Sonia he knows that she killed him and he doesn't know why, Sonia tells him that Geoffrey was a 'womanising arsehole' who almost ruined the business. Don doesn't press for anymore details and the two go to bed together, but what Sonia doesn't know is that Don knew his drink was spiked when Sonia goes to drive him and dump his body in the same place.
Sonia is also a victim of Lucy Gambaro (Juice) as she is bashed in the showers after Lucy tried to convince her to donate money to her and the 'boys', which she ultimately fails and then demonstrates why she needs their protection. Sonia is temporarily confined to a wheelchair as a result of this with torn ankle ligaments and a torn ACL.
Sonia is returned to Wentworth, and Don flees the country. Sonia gets drugged by Liz and Sonia suffers a cardiac arrest in the dining room, Boomer is charged with attempted murder.
When Sonia returns from the hospital she is informed that Boomer has been charged with attempted murder but tells Governor Vera Bennett that it was a misguided suicide attempt.
Sonia also gets the greenwall project up and running again but in the process manages to kill Sharon Gilmour in a case of mistaken identity thinking it was Liz.
Season 6[]
6x6[]
In the hallway, Vera sees the story and Will looking at it and she says that it makes a change from seeing Ferguson's face up there, Vera asks Will if he's ok and he says that he is fine, as Sonia calls Vera's name she says that they take a good photo and she says that her and her publicist have come up with another idea and says that a radio interview with a shock jock is what they need, Vera says that she doesn't want to be ridiculed and Sonia says that they have complete control of the interview and Vera agrees and says she will run it by the media liaison.
In the dining room Sonia is talking to Liz about the interview wanting to talk about the workshop and Liz says that she doesn't want to do it as she will be nervous and might stuff up, Sonia says not to worry as she is there, Kaz tells her that no means no and Liz says that Boomer should be the one doing the interview and Boomer says that she should be the one and Sonia says that they needed a normal prisoner to the interview and Boomer says that she was the one who helped her not Liz and goes to say something else but is cut off by Sonia who calls her petulant and Boomer screams 'whatever that means' and tosses her food tray aside, Will then kicks her out of the dining room, as Ruby asks Allie what is the history between Drago and Marie, Allie says that she doesn't know as it was after her time..
In the workshop, Sonia tells Liz that they need to work out what they are going to say tomorrow, Sonia tells her to stay on message and keep to the story, Liz confused asks what the story is and Sonia says that how good the workshop is and how it is helping people like Boomer and inspiring others, Sonia notices Vera is watching and walks over to her and Vera says that she has seen Sonia's media sheet for the interview and asks why Liz is involved with it and she says that Liz is the model for recidivism as she is a peer worker. Vera walks over to Liz and asks if she is ok with doing the interview and says that it is ok to back out, Liz says to Vera that she wants to do it as it will be good for the women.
Sonia outs Liz as Witness X in a media interview
As Boomer goes in for her exam, the interview between Liz, Sonia and the radio is beginning as Vera and Will walk in to the visitors centre as the women in the laundry listen in on the radio, as the interviewer asks Sonia how they are tackling the reoffending of criminals, Sonia says that they are training the women and some are even sitting their exams to gain their tickets, the interviewer then asks about Sonia's trial as she says she is changing her plea and it is due to police corrupt. Sonia then says Liz would know all about that because she spoke at her trial and perjured herself to get her convicted, Sonia then reveals that Liz was Witness X and Liz reveals that she would've done anything for Don as he had a 'perfect cock', Vera rushes in and stops the interview as Sonia looks at Liz in disbelief as Vera asks her what the hell that was and Sonia tries to respond but is stopped and told to shut up, Vera tells her that it is the end of her media career and says that the next time she is making the papers is at her trial.
Sonia threatens Liz after ruining her interview
Liz is in her cell as a furious Sonia comes in and repeats what Liz said in the interview about Don's 'perfect cock' and says that if it messes her up she will kill her, Liz tells Sonia that she was the one who sabotaged her as they were supposed to be talking about the garden project and Sonia was the one who sabotaged herself. Sonia threatens Liz again and Liz says to just do it as it would be better then living in her head as it is driving her insane and that she thinks she had dementia. Sonia feigns being nice and says that she should take a little walk in the yard, as the PA announces that work unit has finished.
Sonia takes Liz into the yard and says for her to 'stretch' her legs but when she sees the woman there they begin hurling abuse at her as Sonia tells them to be quiet she tells the women she is giving them Witness X and throws Liz into the crowd, Liz falls to the ground as the women begin throwing piles of dirt and grass at her as Liz cries out that it wasn't all her fault and that she couldn't help it. Linda and several guards rush out to try and stop what is happening, as Allie and Kaz run out to tell the women to stop, several women ask why she is being protected as Allie tells one of them to shut up as Liz is being taken away Kaz gives Sonia a dirty look as Kaz asks Liz if she will see the doctor now, Liz cries out that it wasn't her fault before she is taken back inside.
Sonia is talking with Michael Armstrong in the interview room and says that she knows the interview the week prior was a debacle and says that he can save his breathe, Michael says that it wasn't good and says that he has even better news, he reveals that the police have arrested Don Kaplan and says that the police are extraditing him from Amsterdam, Sonia says that Don has no imagination, and Michael says that the DPP only have two witnesses and they know it, Sonia says that the witnesses would be Don and Liz and Michael says that all of Don's cases are now tainted and he is going to see the DPP in the morning and says that with a bit of luck Sonia could be out in 48 hours, Sonia is very pleased with this.
Sonia is sitting in her unit and she pours herself a drink as Boomer comes in and says that she thought she wasn't talking to her and Boomer says that she isn't and Sonia says that she misses her chats with her, Boomer hands her the results of the test and says to suck that up and says that she isn't a dumb arse and Sonia while looking at the paper is more then surprised, Sonia stands up and says that she will get her a drink, when she does Boomer asks her what she is so happy about and Sonia says that her release is coming and she will be out in two days and Sonia says to Boomer now that she has her certificate from the TAFE she will always have the workshop, Kaz is watching on and Boomer says that she is celebrating and Kaz tells her to go celebrate somewhere else.
Boomer leaves, Sonia tells Kaz that she must know how to kill a good time, as Kaz tells Sonia that she knows that she is the one who killed Gilmour and covered it up, Sonia says that if she believes Liz as she is "demented" then she is the one with the problem, Kaz points out that she knows at lot more then she realises, Sonia says how could she possibly know that and refutes the claim by asking if she is a cop. Kaz then lets Sonia know that her days are possibly now numbered once Spike is set to be released from the slot and she will put it up to the women to make their decision, and that she could be out in two days or dead in one, as Kaz leaves, Sonia is left to ponder the future.
6x7[]
Sonia is sitting the yard at a table by herself as the women play basketball she has visions of the women hanging Ferguson during her kangaroo court, Sonia realises her time is running out as she looks up into the sky and hears crows, she looks down to see a feather of the crow on the table and picks it up as she looks over to Kaz and sees her smirking.
Sonia tells the governor that she wants protection, she says that she wants to be moved to a secure unit, Vera asks if she has been threatened, Sonia says that her charges are about to be dropped and that she doesn't want to be attacked for no reason. Vera says that Spike is due to be released from the slot today and asks if that would have anything to do with it, Sonia says why would she. Vera says that she is aware of the certain rumours surrounding Sonia and Sharon Gilmour and Sonia then says that Liz is delusional and denies the claims of killing Sharon and says that they wont find her prints on the weapon or the motive, Vera then says until the DPP says otherwise Sonia is staying where she is, Sonia is escorted out by Jake as Vera asks about the heating and Jake says that it is being checked out by a tradie, Jake asks what happened to Vera's jacket pips as she says that the dry cleaners must of forgotten them. Vera looks up the forensic report and asks her PA to get an officer to pull up more CCTV footage of the day of Gilmour's murder.
Sonia sits down with Marie who asks if she can help her, Sonia says that they can help each other, Sonia says that there was a reason that Liz wasn't punished by Kaz and that is because she was a lagger herself. Sonia then says if Marie remembers Kaz's fight with Kosta and how it was broken up by Will Jackson, Sonia says that Kaz is Will's informant and then asks if she has ever seen them talking, and says that Kaz is the only person standing in-between her and Allie and says that they should test a theory by making Allie the pawn in Sonia's game. Sonia says that if something was to happen with Allie and that she will need to be punished it will be stopped by Will who would walk in, Marie says that she won't get Allie involved and Sonia says that it was her point, that if Kaz is stopped mid punishment she will lose all credibility with the women and may even be deposed at top dog and Marie asks what if she is wrong, and Sonia says that Allie will be hurt but will need a shoulder to cry on.
As the women are playing basketball, Allie says that she is now warmer outside then in the prison, and Ruby tells her that she is hot enough already, Kosta tells the two to get a room as Ruby tells her to shut up. Allie goes to pass Ruby her jumper but Kosta's phone falls out of it, as Kosta sees it she rushes to pick it up. Kosta asks her how it got there and accuses her of always having it, Allie denies knowing any knowledge of it. Kaz walks over and tells everyone to stop as Kosta tells her that she wants justice, Sonia butts in and says that justice should be Kaz's call and Ruby tells her to shut up, as the PA announces work unit starting in ten minutes, the women agree to something after work unit, as they walk off, Kaz stares as Sonia.
In the workshop, Sonia and Boomer are overseeing inmates and Boomer tells one of them to pick up the pace but they roll their eyes and Sonia tells them that was very rude and says that in a few days Boomer will be the one in charge of the workshop and wants everyone to listen to her and wants some respect for her, Boomer smiles as Sonia notices and says that she is finally cracking a smile. Sonia asks Boomer to stay close to her as she is being released in a few days and that someone may attack her, Boomer says that she should be fine, as she walks off to speak with the inmates, Liz walks over to Sonia and asks why is Don in the prison, Sonia confused asks what, Liz tells her that Don is in the prison working on the roof, Sonia tells Liz that Don was arrested and that she will be free while Liz will stay behind bars and get lost to her dementia.
Kosta walks into the laundry and says that they should hurry up and do what they came to see, Ruby attempts to stand up for Allie and Allie tells her that it is okay, the power suddenly goes as Will is in the elevator and the power cuts off there. A PA call goes out telling people to stay where they are as Kosta says to hurry up and get on with it, Kaz looks at Allie who walked over to the press as Will attempts to call for help in the elevator but can't get through on the radio as Sonia tells Allie not to worry as she tells the women in the laundry that Kaz is a lagger and has an arrangement with Will who came in and broke up their last fight and Kaz tells everyone that Sonia is trying to discredit her because she knows that Sonia killed Sharon. Allie puts her hand into the press as everyone watches. Will begins to have a hallucination and he uses the call button to figure out why there is no power, the person responds by saying it should be a few minutes. Sonia tells the women that she is delaying as Kaz moves her hand toward the bar as Will begins to hallucinate Ferguson in the elevator telling him "officer needs assistance". Allie tells Kaz to do it as Kaz steam presses Allie's hand Will screams at Ferguson in the lift as Allie's hand is burned the power comes back on, with Kaz calling Sonia a liar, everyone leaves as Kaz tells Sonia that Spike gets out of the slot in the afternoon and she will see her then. Boomer walks over and says if everything is alright and Sonia says that it is fine and Boomer says that she heard Kaz says that she was the one who killed Sharon and Sonia says that she hopes that Boomer doesn't believe it. Sonia then tells Boomer that she needs to protect her.
Sonia is walking with Boomer down the hallway as she tells her that she doesn't know what she would've done without her, Jake spots Sonia and tells her that the governor wants to see her, Sonia looks at Boomer and says that Vera may of heard from the DPP and walks off with Jake as Boomer waves bye to her.
Sonia is sitting in Vera's office as she asks if the DPP have called and wants to be moved into protection immediately. Vera says that they haven't called but she wants her to explain the CCTV footage of her hiding the murder weapon in the garden before the cell toss. Vera then tells Sonia that she was the one who murdered Sharon and framed Spike for it as she was the one who tipped the guards of the weapon and planted the evidence. Sonia then says that she wants her lawyer and Vera tells her that there will be plenty of time for lawyers as the police will investigate and charge her with murder then and only then will she go into protection permanently, Sonia looks on realizing her plan has come undone.
Sonia walks through the corridors as she looks around, Vera radios Linda who is on shift in the slot, Vera tells her that she wants Spike Baxter released from the slot and returned to her unit, Linda goes quiet as Vera wants her to confirm it, as Linda responds that Spike has already been released from the slot 10 minutes prior, Vera looks on stunned as Sonia runs into Spike who is holding the knuckle dusters and tells her to look at what she found in her cell, Spike punches Sonia in the face.
Sonia wakes in medical with Sonia asking what happened and Vera tells her that she is in medical after being attacked and hitting her head and she asks who did it. Vera nods to the detectives standing outside and they both come in and Detective Sutton says that they want to question her over the murder of Sharon Gilmour, Sonia fakes amnesia and says who is it. Vera tells the detectives that she is obviously faking it and Michael Armstrong asks if she is a doctor now, Vera says that Sonia is just buying time for the DPP to withdraw their charges against her and Sutton says that they still need a statement. Armstrong tells Vera that Sonia's progress from her concussion should be monitored and she should fix the heating.
Sonia is finally caught out by the Governor and CCTV capturing her moment she hid the murder weapon
Liz is taken into medical where Linda says that she has five minutes with Sonia. Sonia tells Liz at least she didn't bring tea, Liz says that she is there as peer worker to make sure that she is ok, Sonia asks her if she even looks ok and Liz just says nope. Sonia tells her that it is all Liz's fault and that she thanks her for the inspiration, Liz tells her that she had everything including money and power and she risked it all to hurt people and kill people over and over again. Sonia tells Liz that she settled in her life and says that Liz is a stepping stone on the ladder of success, Liz says that she doesn't think it is fun up there. Sonia then says that greatest control was deciding on when it ends and says it is an urge. Sonia tells Liz that she should've killed Liz when she had the chance instead of Sharon, Liz says that Sharon deserves justice and Sonia laughs at that before saying that she had forgotten everything she had just said. Liz stares at her as she walks out of medical. As Liz is escorted out of medical by Linda, Linda opens the door to another room as Liz unzips her jacket and takes out and gives it to the officer and says that she knew that Sonia couldn't resist bragging about what she had done. Vera tells her that she just did a good job. Moments later the police go into medical where Sonia is and announce that Sonia is finally formally being charged for Sharon Gilmour's murder as her conversation was recorded, Sonia looks at Liz through the window and she taps her temples, Sonia realises that she has just been played, Sonia finally realises what this means to her stares at the ceiling.
Sonia walks to the phones and sees Boomer who says that she should of been there for her and Sonia says if she has seen Liz and Boomer says that she went the other way and said that Liz was trying to psych her out by saying that she thought Don was on the roof, Sonia walks away with Boomer asking if she needs her and Sonia says Boomer needs to stay there, as Sonia realises she needs to go to the roof and she walks away.
Vera is in her office as her radio goes off with Jake saying that Sonia is at large and she has a swipe card, and Vera asks how the hell did that happen and Jake says that she stole it, Vera tells them to order a lockdown and try to find Liz. The prison goes into lockdown for a Code Aqua, as Sonia is on the maintenance floor she goes through the door and up to the roof as Will and Marie finish up and Will returns to duty he walks over to Kaz and asks if she has seen Liz, Kaz says no and they realise she is in trouble, Will tells Kaz to go back to her unit and wait, Will walks away as Kaz goes and runs off to find Liz.
Sonia goes to the roof to finish what she started
Liz is standing on the roof as the prison is going into lockdown, she overlooks the city and is off in her own world when Sonia comes through the fire escape and sees Liz standing there, she spots a wrench and she picks it up and slowly walking over to Liz, Liz manages to turn around and Sonia quickly puts the wrench behind her back and Liz asks her if she has seen Don, Sonia lies and says that he has a 'nice big surprise' for her and she swings the wrench at her and Liz tries to protect herself as the swings keep on coming. Kaz comes to the rescue and she pushes Sonia away from Liz and tells her to drop the wrench. Liz looks on as Sonia tells Kaz that no one can look after Liz the way she can and that Kaz cannot protect Liz forever. Kaz tells her to drop the wrench again before Sonia tells Liz that she is hers, Sonia attempts to rush over to Liz but is pushed by Kaz over the ledge and onto the ground below killing her instantly.
As Liz and Kaz look over the edge of the building, Will comes out from the stairwell and tells them to move away from the edge. he walks over to them and asks where Sonia is and he takes a look over the edge to see an officer walking over to her dead body as Will asked what happened, Liz tries to put the blame on herself but Kaz says that she was the one who did it and she was the one who killed Sonia Stevens.
Sonia's last lines are "You...You're mine! Mine!"
Mentions in Season 7[]
- Sonia is mentioned 3 times in season 7, once when drug trafficker Vicky Kosta is threatened by Kaz to stop bringing drugs in or she will make Kosta "Fly like I made Sonia fly." In passing by Will and Miller when Kaz undergoes therapy, and when Kaz and Rita plan how they are going to kill Marie in episode 2 with Kaz saying "I've done it before so" and Rita replying with "Sonia? Nah you we're protecting Liz it wasn't planned, this is cold blooded".
Trivia[]
- Sigrid Thornton appeared in Prisoner as Ros Coulson
- Sigrid is one of thirteen actors who appeared in both Prisoner and Wentworth. The other twelve are Alex Menglet, Andrea Swifte, Anne Charleston, Debra Lawrence, Gloria Ajenstat, Maria Mercedes, Neil Melville, Peter O'Brien, Shane Connors, Stefan Dennis, Steve Bastoni and Tina Bursill.
- Sonia is similar in some ways to Ros, both were convicted of murder (Albeit under different circumstances) and both are shown to be highly intelligent.
- Sonia is very different to her original series counterpart, the original Sonia Stevens was a drug dealer who specialized in fleecing and supplying prostitutes.
Appearances[]
| Sonia Stevens in Wentworth (season 4) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Blood | Poking Spiders | Prisoner | Screw Lover | Love and Hate | Divide and Conquer | Panic Button | Plan Bea | After Life | Smitten | The Eleventh Hour | Seeing Red |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears |
| Sonia Stevens in Wentworth (season 5) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scars | The Bitch is Back | Nothing but the Truth | Loose Ends | Belly of the Beast | Happy Birthday, Vera | The Pact | Think Inside the Box | Snakehead | Mere Anarchy | Coup de Grace | Hell Bent |
| Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears |
| Sonia Stevens in Wentworth (season 6) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean Slate | The Boxer | Bleed Out | Winter Is Here | Bitter Pill | The Angel of Wentworth | The Edge | Lovers and Fighters | Shallow Grave | Fractured | Indelible Ink | Showdown |
| Mentioned | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Mentioned | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent |