Ashley Cotton is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, the son of Zoe Cotton (Elizabeth Chadwick/Tara Ellis) and Nick Cotton (John Altman) and the grandson of Dot Cotton (June Brown). He was played by Rossi Higgins in 1993, and then by Frankie Fitzgerald from 2000 to 2001. Storylines 1993 Ashley first appears after his mother Zoe (Elizabeth Chadwick) arrives in Walford to inform his grandmother, Dot (June Brown) of his existence. Dot goes to meet 9-year-old Ashley where he becomes close to his grandmother. Dot is eventually persuaded to leave Walford to live with Zoe, Ashley and her son Nick (John Altman) in Gravesend. Dot leaves Gravesend and returns to Walford in 1997 without Ashley or his parents and reveals that Ashley and Zoe have moved to London to get away from Nick, after he was sent to prison for drug offences. 2000–2001 Ashley (now played by Frankie Fitzgerald) returns to the square briefly in July 2000 to visit Dot for a few days. It is obvious he has taken after his father when he gets up to mischief and constantly butts heads with Martin Fowler (James Alexandrou when they share a room. Nick is later released from prison and reunites with Ashley and Zoe (now played by Tara Ellis) in the special spin-off episode titled "Return of Nick Cotton". Ashley leaves to go with Nick despite Zoe's reluctance so he and Nick get into a stolen car and decide to travel before returning to Walford. When they return to Walford and settle in with Dot, Ashley is under the influence of his villainous father Nick by taking drugs and gets involved in robberies with Nick. After Nick falls off some scaffolding, due to Mark Fowler (Todd Carty) spiking his drink, he orders Ashley to set fire to Mark's house, but Ashley cannot go through with it and leaves after Nick disowns him. Nick contacts Ashley a few months later and they reconcile. Their bond resumes until a fateful summer evening in June 2001 when Ashley steals Mark's motorbike after an argument with him in The Queen Vic, unaware that Nick had cut the bike's brakes the previous night in hope of killing Mark. Nick, Dot and Mark's mother Pauline (Wendy Richard) shout at Ashley to stop but he is unable to do so until he comes face-to-face with a pedestrian. Ashley swerves to avoid the pedestrian