How long has dot been in eastenders

In the last episode she featured in, aired last month, Dot Cotton - or Dot Branning - left a voicemail message for character Sonia Fowler saying she had moved to Ireland. Asked by interviewer and former co-star Rani Singh whether EastEnders had put her on a retainer, Brown replied: "I don't want a retainer.

I've left. I've left for good. I've left EastEnders. An EastEnders spokesman said: "We never discuss artists' contracts, however as far as EastEnders are concerned the door remains open for June, as it always has if the story arises and if June wishes to take part.

She's an incredibly hard worker. Asked about the rather low-key send-off her character had on screen, he said: "I think it could've been a better exit, that's for sure, but she must have discussed this with the powers that be. It's the way it is, it's a shame. Actor Leslie Grantham, who played Dirty Den, suggested her for the role. Until then, Brown's career had incorporated stage, film and television, with appearances in Coronation Street and Doctor Who.

In fact I became so punctual I used to be in an hour before I should be. Dot turns Edward down, remaining loyal to her husband. She takes in various lodgers, including Arthur "Fatboy" Chubb Ricky Norwood , her sister Rose and Cora Cross Ann Mitchell , who causes Dot problems with the council for failing to pay the rent, leaving her in arrears. Dot is taken to court but manages to persuade the judge to allow her to keep her home and avoids a prison sentence.

Dot receives a police visit, informing her that Nick has died. One of the police officers returns later to tell her that he is actually her grandson Charlie Cotton Declan Bennett , a child of Nick's Dot had not known existed.

A devastated Dot holds a funeral for Nick and grows close to Charlie in the aftermath as he moves in with Dot, causing Fatboy to move out. However, it is later revealed that Charlie is being dishonest and although he is Nick's son, he is not a policeman but a caretaker and that he has helped Nick stage his own death to avoid being arrested following a robbery.

Nick reappears in Walford to Dot's shock and persuades his mother to hide him at her house. Although horrified that Charlie and Nick lied to her, she forgives Charlie and agrees to aid Nick's escape from the UK, this time for good.

This leads to Nick tampering with the brakes of Charlie's car and the resulting crash leaves a pregnant Ronnie comatose in hospital. When Charlie discovers this, he demands that Nick leave, and as Charlie moves out to live at Ronnie's flat, Fatboy moves back in with Dot. However, Dot, unwilling to give up on her son, hides Nick in a derelict neighbouring house.

Unable to leave the premises, Nick starts using heroin again but cannot feed his drug addiction and asks Dot to obtain drugs for him. Dot purchases the heroin but Fatboy catches her and urges her to cut ties with Nick. Dot urges Nick to confess to the police, but when he tells her he does not feel remorse for Ronnie's injuries, she gives him the drugs and storms out. Dot later finds Nick unconscious, having had a bad reaction to the drugs. When it is clear Nick is dying, Nick confesses various past misdemeanours, including the murder of Reg Cox Johnnie Clayton.

Nick seeks his mother's forgiveness and she cradles him as he dies, ultimately deciding not to call an ambulance to attempt to save his life.

Dot, seeking punishment for this, decides to confess to the police and is arrested and imprisoned. Dot initially decides to plead guilty, believing she should atone for her sins in prison, but when Jim dies, she attends his funeral and realises how much her family needs her.

She changes her plea and is cleared of murder at the court hearing; however, she is found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to prison for 14 months. Four months later, Dot is released and shares her regret with Ian that she did not report Nick's crimes earlier in life. Fatboy tells Dot he is spending Christmas with his father, but later Vincent Hubbard Richard Blackwood discovers Fatboy's belongings amongst some blood in the boot of a crushed car and tells Dot that Fatboy is not coming back because of a job abroad.

Dot takes salsa classes and works with Patrick Trueman Rudolph Walker to prepare for a salsa show, who mistakenly thinks she wants a relationship, but she actually sets him and Claudette Hubbard Ellen Thomas up on a date. Dot receives a wedding invitation from her old friend, Colin, but she does not want to attend because she does not believe in homosexual marriage. Colin visits her on his wedding day to persuade her to come, which she does. Dot discovers the launderette will become a dry cleaner and is interviewed for her own job; she struggles with the technical terminology but defends herself as a people person.

However, she is told that she will not be kept on after the launderette is refurbished. She tries to contact her boss by telephone but when she finally gets through, he hangs up. Ricky Mitchell Henri Charles learns about the harvest festival and leaves a box of food on Dot's doorstep, which offends her as she does not believe she is poor or lonely, however, she realises just how lonely she is when Abi is unable to have dinner with her. Dot and Kim Fox-Hubbard Tameka Empson are involved in a car collision, but both blame the other as Kim has no licence but Kim accuses Dot of being too old to drive.

Dot then locks her car key away. After Patrick and Dot go to the cinema together, he convinces her to see an optician because she was squinting throughout. Dot is seen hiding away in her house on Halloween and Patrick comes to talk to her. She then tries to read the Bible to Patrick but cannot see the words. Patrick tells her she isn't scared of Halloween but of the world.

Dot reveals that she thinks she is going blind but then kicks Patrick out of the house. When he leaves, it is revealed that Dot cannot see anything clearly. Patrick books Dot a doctor's appointment; the doctor suspects age-related macular degeneration, which is later confirmed. Dot starts treatment but she is annoyed that her eyesight does not improve much. She turns down Ronnie's offer of paying for surgery to permanently fix her sight. Abi invites Dot to Christmas in Exeter but Dot insists she has plans of her own.

The launderette closes on Christmas Eve, but everyone is too busy to visit her. She finds a Christmas mixtape recorded by her deceased friend Heather Trott Cheryl Fergison , and takes in a stray cat, which she eventually names Dave.

She spends Christmas Day alone, but when Patrick realises she has not gone to Exeter, he invites her to The Queen Victoria public house where everyone is celebrating Christmas, and her neighbours present her with the gift of a washing machine.

When Ronnie, the wife of Dot's former stepson, Jack Branning Scott Maslen , and her sister Roxy Mitchell Rita Simons , mother of one of Jack's children, both die, Dot tells the children that they are in heaven, helping them to understand after Jack struggles to find an appropriate way to tell them.

When Jack is unable to take Dot to the garden centre, she decides to drive herself with her great-grandson, Matthew Mitchell Cotton, but drives through a no entry sign into oncoming traffic and ends up in the verge. Dot is surprised when Charlie returns but he is only back for his son and she is upset when he leaves again with Matthew. Dot's step-granddaughter Abi Branning Lorna Fitzgerald lives with her for a while but moves out with Dot's blessing.

Dot trips over Dave and falls awkwardly onto a chair. Why do I feel so sad? Dot was last seen leaving Albert Square in January this year to go and visit her grandson Charlie and his family in Ireland. With no prior announcement about her exit, it was expected that Dot would return in the future.

However, in the last episode she appeared in, she called granddaughter Sonia Jackson and left her a voicemail to inform her that she was staying in Ireland for good. Prior to her exit, Dot discovered that Sonia had stolen some of the money left to her by old friend Dr Legg. She began working in the laundrette where she struck up a close friendship with Pauline Fowler. A devout Christian, Dot became well known for reciting passages from the bible to others and was a upstanding member of the community who helped other residents with their troubles.

But Dot had troubles of her own in the form of Nick who she believed could be redeemed from his criminal ways. However, that was never to be and in , she cradled her son in her arms as he died from a heroin overdose when she decided not to call an ambulance. During her time on the soap, Brown has taken a number of long term breaks.