are some people who the same things happen to them again and again. They never learn [...] When I left, there was all that rubbish about it getting too much for me [but] I stopped because I wasn't being used very much. I thought, 'It's a part-time job'. It wasn't being written properly. Instead of finding the gossip and passing it on, [Dot was hearing the gossip from others]. [Dot] was living on a reputation. [viewers] said to me, 'I loved it when [Dot] had [...] varicose veins.' I thought: 'What?! That was in 1985, it's 1993!'. I was getting so tetchy, so I thought I'd go. I'd had enough. They were a bit shocked, because apparently there were some good stories coming up." Expanding on this in 2008, Brown stated that she "didn't like what they were doing with Dot – she was meant to spread the gossip. Originally she was a fountain of knowledge then next thing I know, people are telling Dot what had been happening and I thought, 'No, this just won't do'. I was very annoyed, I felt like they had completely changed my character." In October 1996, newspapers reported that BBC bosses had approached Brown about reprising her role as Dot Cotton and, according to the Daily Mirror, Brown had been in negotiations with EastEnders for several months prior. Brown is quoted by the paper as saying, "I have always been reluctant to go back because I thought Dot's character was not being portrayed properly. I thought it had faded. I always said if Dot comes back it must be as Dot." Brown secured a deal to return and began filming on-location in Gravesend in February 1997. The episode saw Dot's former lodger, Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley), visiting Dot to discover that Nick was once again in prison, leaving Dot alone. Her return episode aired in April 1997. Brown has since revealed that she opted to return to EastEnders to raise her profile again. She had originally only intended to return for a 3-month stint, but was persuaded to stay when a project she had been working on was cancelled. In July 1997, she commented, "I've decided to stay in EastEnders. They asked me, and in the end I thought: 'Oh well, I might as well.' Everyone, including Barbara Windsor, Wendy Richard and Adam Woodyatt, was saying: 'Don't leave'. And people were coming up