in the street saying: 'It's lovely to have you back.' Anyway, I find playing the old dear quite fun." After a 5-month break, following Dot being held hostage in her flat by the escaped convict friend of her son, Brown returned to filming in October 1997 on a permanent contract. Issues Euthanasia In 2000, Dot was featured in a storyline about euthanasia, when her oldest friend Ethel, who had terminal cancer, asked her to help her die. The storyline allowed the production team to present all sides of the debate about euthanasia, from the perspective of the sufferer and from the person who is asked to assist in the mercy killing, religious and moral opposition. According to author Dorothy Hobson, "Dot suffered torment as she struggled with her conscience and she tried to resist the request [...] to assist [Ethel] in the ultimate sin". In the storyline, Ethel enjoyed the last days of her life and chose her final evening. Assisted by Dot, she took an overdose of her medication and died. Written by Simon Ashton and directed by Francesca Joseph the episode ended with a scene in which Ethel tells a weeping Dot "you're the best friend I ever had". Alternative credit music replaced the typical drum beats and theme tune at the end of the episode. The 1931 song used instead of the usual theme was "Guilty" by Al Bowlly. Ben Summerskill from The Observer has suggested that Dot's part in the euthanasia storyline was "one of the most moving dramatic sequences shown in recent years on British TV". The episode was voted the most emotional soap death in a Radio Times poll of 4,000 readers in 2006. The repercussions of the euthanasia for Dot's character have been described as "extremely serious" as she suffered from "untold guilt and felt that she needed to be punished for the action." The Executive Producer overseeing this storyline, John Yorke, has discussed the storyline in a speech given at the Bishops' Conference for clergy and other ministers in the Diocese of St Albans: "Dot, as a good Christian, refused to help, until her love for her friend overcame her own fear of damnation. Riddled with an intolerable burden of guilt, she felt there was only one person she could talk to [Jesus] The Dot and Ethel storyline played out in over four months with many similar scenes, to an average audience