EastEnders residents remember ‘kind, caring’ Dot Branning in tribute episode

The residents of Walford remembered Dot Branning as “kind, caring and dignified” in a special tribute episode of the BBC One soap EastEnders.

Monday’s programme also featured a number of familiar faces returning to say goodbye to the popular character, known for her devout Christian faith and hypochondria, as well as her cigarette addiction.

Dot first set foot in Albert Square as Dot Cotton in 1985 before departing in 2020 to live with her grandson Charlie in Ireland.

June Brown, the veteran actress who played the beloved laundrette worker, died in April at the age of 95.

The special episode opened with Sonia Fowler, played by Natalie Cassidy, struggling to pen a eulogy to her grandmother Dot.

She asks her ex-husband Martin Fowler (James Bye) to meet her in the laundrette where Dot spent many of her days and becomes emotional, saying: “I can’t imagine a world without Dot in it somewhere”.

Sonia admits she “can’t find the words” to sum up how much Dot meant to everyone but Martin encourages her to just “speak from the heart”.

Throughout the programme, the residents of Albert Square recall fond memories of Dot, with a number of her friends returning to pay their respects, including Colin Russell (Lord Michael Cashman), Mary ‘The Punk’ Smith (Linda Davidson) and Lofty Holloway (Tom Watt).

Disa O’Brien (Jan Graveson) and Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) also share a moment at the funeral as they come back to remember their former neighbour, along with Dot’s step-granddaughter Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) coming back from New Zealand.

Fans were also treated to a surprise cameo from the soap’s longest-serving cast member as Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) returned for his own private send-off.

Standing at the pulpit in front of photographs of Dot, Sonia admits she has been up all night trying to find the words to describe her grandmother.

She says: “A good friend said to me I should speak from my heart and he was right, it needs to be from my heart because that’s where Dot lived, and that’s where she still lived.”

Sonia added that she had played a tape Dot had made for her husband Jim Branning after he had had a stroke, which had made her sad because in it Dot had said she felt “no-one would remember her fondly when she was gone”.

“It kills me to think that she believed no-one would miss her, because it ain’t true,” she says.

This prompts a string of others to promise they too would miss the beloved Albert Square resident, with Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) standing up to say: “I’ll miss her.

“For as long as I can remember she was just there, a constant presence. Aside from the past few years, I talked to her nearly every day of my life, sometimes just to say hello and sometimes more.

“She was always there. You think people like her always will be and it’s only when they’re gone you realise how much you care.”

Martin also recalled a time when Dot spotted he was hurting and let him talk when “no-one else would” while Disa remembered how she had looked after her and helped her turn her life around.

Jack Branning, the son of Dot’s late husband Jim, said: “She was one of the best and she taught and brought out the best in everybody else. My dad being one.

“And I know he would want me to say how much he misses and loves his Dorothy.”

Whitney Dean, Lauren Branning and Patrick Trueman were among some of the others who paid tribute before Sonia thanked them for their contributions.

She added: “She was all them things. She was kind, caring, dignified, loyal, warm, funny. You’ve just given her a better eulogy than I ever could.”

Sonia ended the service by quoting a bible verse Dot was fond of which talked of faith, hope and love.

As a special theme tune played to close out the episode, Dot’s coffin was lowered to the ground, buried alongside her lifelong friend Ethel Skinner (who was formerly played by Gretchen Franklin).

EastEnders continues on BBC One.