Dot Cotton
| Dot Cotton | |||||||||||||||||||
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| File:Dot cotton branning.jpg | |||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1985–1993, 1997— | ||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 4 July 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Julia Smith and Tony Holland | ||||||||||||||||||
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Dorothy "Dot" Branning (née Colwell; previously Cotton) is a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera, EastEnders. She is played by June Brown, but was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in flashbacks in a special episode entitled EastEnders: Dot's Story.
Dot first appeared in EastEnders in July 1985 and has worked as a launderette assistant for most of that time along with her best friend Pauline Fowler. She took a four year absence from the show in 1993 when she moved away with her son Nick Cotton and his family and returned in 1997. She is known for her devout Christian faith, addiction to cigarettes, and motherly attitude to those in need. Since Pauline Fowler's death in December 2006, Dot remains as the main assistant of the launderette. Dot is married to Jim Branning, and she was previously wed to conman Charlie Cotton with whom she had her only son Nick.
On 31 January 2008, Dot became the first character ever to appear in a "single-hander" episode of a British soap. The acclaimed episode saw Dot reminiscing about her years of loss and grief into a tape recorder as a message to her ailing husband Jim.
Storylines
Early life
Dot was born in Walford, but during the Second World War she was evacuated to Wales, while her uncaring mother remained in London. She stayed on a farm with a couple she called Auntie Gwen and Uncle Will. She became close to them and they wanted to adopt her as they were unable to have children of their own. However, Dot's stay was marred with tragedy when Will was killed in an accident. Dot felt responsible for his death due to an altercation she had with Will regarding the death of his dog, Blue, who had been maimed in an animal trap whilst in Dot's care. Devastated, a young Dot prayed for Will's death as vengeance for his harsh treatment, and when Will was killed she believed it was her doing. Unable to cope with the thought that she was responsible for Gwen's devastation, she ran away from the farm and returned to London, living with her mother, Martha in a crowded house in Carver Road, Walford, where she was forced to miss school to care for her younger siblings, Gerry, Tim and Rose.
Dot lived with the guilt of Will's death all her life, and she had been too afraid to return to the farm to visit Gwen until 2003, when Gwen's son Iwan persuaded her to visit his dying mother. Dot received a frosty reception from Gwen initially. Gwen had always felt that she was in some way responsible for Dot's departure, and found it hard to forgive Dot for abandoning her. Dot struggled to face up to the past, but she was finally able to relay that she had left because she blamed herself for Will's accident and feared Gwen's rejection. Gwen was relieved to finally learn the truth and she explained that she and Will had always loved Dot, and she had never blamed her for what happened. Gwen died in her sleep later that night.
Early years in Walford
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Dot was introduced as the gossiping Christian friend of Ethel Skinner and Lou Beale who worked alongside Pauline Fowler at the Walford launderette. She had a difficult life with a criminal husband, Charlie and their son, Nick. Charlie came and went from Albert Square, and always treated Dot badly and stole from her until he died off-screen in a lorry accident in 1991. Nick was also a criminal; he had been involved in drugs, robberies, and murder and tried to cheat Dot out of her money just like his late father. He even tried to poison her once for her bingo money but backed out at the last minute.
Dot was a good friend of Nigel Bates, who lived in her house as lodger for a few years. Dot always thought of him as the son she never had because he was the complete opposite of Nick.
In July 1993, Nick arrived in Walford with his estranged wife Zoe who he had never told Dot about, and introduced Dot to their son Ashley. Dot became close to Ashley and eventually Zoe asked her to move away from Walford with her, Nick and Ashley to Gravesend. Dot was reluctant to move away at first but agreed. She left the Square in July 1993 and wasn't seen again for nearly four years.
Return
Dot returned to Walford on 14 April 1997, revealing that Nick had gone back to his old ways and had been arrested for drugs possession and Zoe and Ashley had moved away. Dot had been left alone in her house since Nick was arrested and decided to move back to Walford, realising that leaving there in the first place was a mistake.
She was shocked by Nick's surprise return in April 1998. He tried to cheat her out of money once again by telling another lie; that he had AIDS. He claimed he needed money to go to France where Ashley and Zoe lived. Dot believed him but later discovered that Nick had been lying and was on the run from police. She informed the police of his whereabouts a week after his return and he was arrested.
She later moved in with fellow senior citizen Lilly Mattock, and was arrested for the illegal use of cannabis, which she had mistakenly confused for herbal tea after new age wannabe Irene Raymond convinced her of its "healing properties". After Lilly was mugged, she moved out of the square, and Dot went to live with Pauline.
Dot was later involved in the death her best friend Ethel Skinner, who was terminally ill with cancer. As a very weak Ethel lay in bed, she begged Dot to help her end her life. Torn between her Christian beliefs on euthanasia and her best friend's final wishes, she opted for to help Ethel to die, although later she thought that she should be punished and wanted to serve time in prison for murder. Dot battled with her conscience after Ethel's death, and for a long time she struggled to believe that she could be forgiven in the eyes of God.
Nick reappeared in Walford in November 2000 with Ashley. Nick's feud with Mark Fowler caused the death of Ashley in June 2001 after Nick cut the brakes on Mark's motorcycle. Ashley, not knowing this, stole the bike and died after crashing the bike in Bridge Street. At Ashley's funeral, Nick said Mark should have been in the grave instead of Ashley, and Dot overheard this; Dot finally disowned Nick for good and threw him out soon after the funeral.
Marriage to Jim
Although Dot was initially against the idea, after much persuasion from her neighbour, Jim Branning, the pair embarked on a slow-burning romance. Dot was set in her ways, and getting used to another man in her life was hard for her. However, Jim provided her with companionship and care.
Jim proposed to Dot in 2001, but this proved too much for Dot, who disappeared from Walford for a while. However, Jim persevered, and when the pair took a trip on the London Eye on Christmas Eve 2001 he proposed again, and this time she accepted. Dot spent much of her time before the wedding despairing over whether she would be able to consummate her vows after the wedding. The pair eventually decided that sex wasn't needed and that their love would remain platonic. Dot became a surrogate grandmother to Jim's grandchildren, particularly Sonia, and Bradley, Lauren and Abi, who call her Grandma.
Dot had a strong friendship with Dennis Rickman, taking him under her wing in his times of need, and giving him advice. In 2004, Dot was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney and decided to hide it from everyone apart from Dennis. She refused treatment from the doctor and planned to die without telling anyone. However, after an argument with Den Watts, Dot confided in Jim, and decided to undergo chemotherapy after being persuaded by Dennis. This was a success and she made a full recovery from her illness.
Dot's loyalty to Jim was tested in 2005 when her driving instructor, Michael Rawlins made unwanted advances towards her, causing her to crash the car that she was attempting to drive. In May 2006, Jim received a call from Nick, who was in a prison hospital suffering from throat cancer. Jim tried to keep this a secret from Dot but she eventually found out. She then decided to visit Nick to care for him while he was ill, but when she returned she revealed that Nick had refused to see her.
In 2006, Dot's oldest remaining friend, Pauline Fowler died. She eventually discovered that it had been Pauline's husband, Joe Macer that murdered her, and tried to call the police. A scuffle insued, and ended with Joe losing his footing and falling from a first floor window to his death.
Dot kept Pauline's ashes for several months, until Jim refused to "share" Dot with Pauline any more and ordered her to dispose of them. Dot eventually buried the ashes at the grave of Pauline's first husband, Arthur, bidding her friend an emotional farewell.
In April 2007, Dot found an abandoned baby in a church. She took the baby, Tomas, home with her, leaving her contact details at the church. Tomas's mother Anya then arrived in Walford, revealing she was an illegal immigrant. Jim anonymously reported her, and when she was deported Dot hid Tomas from the authorities, vowing to take care of him.
Dot and Jim struggled to look after the baby, and after talking to the local vicar, and her old friend Dr. Legg, Dot decided to hand him over to Social Services in June 2007.
In August 2007, Jim went to stay with his ill daughter, Carol (this was a plot device to cover John Bardon's real life illness). In October 2007, Dot was informed that Jim had had a stroke, and was seriously ill in hospital. In January 2008, Dot was harassed by the E20 gang; Tegs, Ziggy and Jay Brown. They trashed her house and set her budgie free, until Dot persuaded Jay to inform the police of the other boys' names.
Dot later asked Jim's friends to record messages for him, and when she recorded her own, in soap's first ever single-hander episode, Dot spoke about her hard life, and decided that she could not cope with looking after Jim at home and that he would have to go into a nursing home.
In popular culture
The character of Dot Branning has been spoofed in the cartoon sketch show 2DTV.
She was also impersonated by Alistair McGowan in Big Impression.
As a style icon she has been said to have inspired catwalk collections, hairstyles and more. The monthly Dot Cotton Club, a gay club night in Cambridge, is named in her honour. She is among only a few characters from EastEnders to become a British cultural emblem. Dot's long-suffering luckless life has also led to her being labelled as a gay icon by Tim Lusher of the Evening Standard.[1]
Dot is a notable smoker on British television as she regularly appears on-screen smoking. The character is so synonymous with smoking that the term "Dot Cotton syndrome" is used within the health industry to: "describe the elderly population who continue to smoke heavily without registering the health problems they are or will soon suffer from, seeing it as their only pleasure left in life".[2]
She was also voted the 46th best television character in a television poll entitled The 100 Greatest Television Characters.[3]
References
- ^ "The new pink pin-ups", Evening Standard. URL last accessed 2006-10-23.
- ^ "Medical education via the mass media", Student BMJ. URL last accessed 2006-10-23.
- ^ "The 100 Greatest Television Characters", thecustard.tv. URL last accessed 2006-11-02
External links
