EastEnders: Charlie Brooks kept in dark about star's return
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EastEnders has created many soap legends over the years from fiery Peggy Mitchell (played by Barbara Windsor) and slimy businessman Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) to laid-back Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) and “Dirty” Den Watts (Leslie Grantham). Among these in the Walford hall of fame is none other than Christian busybody Dot Cotton (June Brown) who had been in the BBC series for more than 30 years. She left Albert Square in 2020 to start a new life in Ireland with her grandson Charlie Cotton (Declan Bennett).
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from EastEnders.
In April 2022, veteran actress June Brown died peacefully at her home in Surrey, surrounded by her loved ones.
EastEnders had avoided killing off her character for months but earlier this month, the time had come for the residents of Walford to pay their respects to Dot.
Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) received the devastating news and broke it to her heartbroken neighbours in the Queen Vic.
Dot’s funeral saw past and present characters come together to show their love for both the character and June in real life.
Opening up to Express.co.uk and other press, actress Natalie Cassidy spoke of her own personal relationship with her onscreen step-grandmother over the years.
There may have been almost a 60-year age difference between the stars, but this didn’t stop them from developing a close bond.
“We had such fun, we went on holidays together, she used to stay at my flat, we had a two-hander episode when I gave Bex [Fowler] away with the adoption stuff”, Cassidy said.
“We had a couple of nights at my flat where we got a curry and drank a bottle of wine and read our lines.
“I’m absolutely such a lucky, lucky woman to have had the training, if you like, from the best.”
Cassidy continued to describe Brown as a “modest lady” who she spent a lot of her time with on the set of EastEnders, even when she was a child.
The 39-year-old described herself as an “old soul”, enjoying her canteen lunch breaks with Brown, along with actresses Barbara Windsor and Pam St Clement.
She added: “But June, I spent hours and hours in her dressing room, chatting about her life and she taught me so much.
“Mostly to listen to other people which is the biggest secret of acting.
“And she used to say that every sentence she says is a song, never let it be flat, it’s like a tune and try and slow it down, pace it, up and I always keep it with me.”
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When the funeral episode did air, fans were introduced to another member of Dot’s family.
Her great-nephew Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman) was welcomed to Albert Square and quickly hit it off with Sonia.
So much so, that the pair ended up sleeping together with Reiss staying at the house for a couple of nights before heading back home.
But their sweet goodbye was quickly forgotten when Sonia went back inside and saw Dotty Cotton (Milly Zero) threatening to burn down the house.
In a complete shock to Dot’s blood relative, Dotty didn’t inherit the house and was instead given to Sonia who had taken care of her for many years.
Furious at the betrayal, Dotty splattered the floors with vodka and lit a match before Rocky Cotton (Brian Connelly) stopped her.
Dotty left the square in tears at the back of a taxi, stating that she wanted nothing more to do with Walford.
EastEnders is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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