council house with her inherited money. She later discovers that an attempt to take £5,000 out of her bank account has failed. It is revealed that Sonia tried to take the money. Sonia is later blackmailed after Martin Fowler (James Bye) is involved in a hit-and-run and she successfully steals £8,000 from Dot when Dot signs a blank cheque for Sonia to pay for some baby clothes she bought for the baby that Charlie and his wife are now expecting. Dot tells Sonia that this money was stolen and when Sonia tells Martin what she did, Martin tells Dot that he took the money. Sonia convinces Dot to visit Charlie again in Ireland and Dot leaves Sonia a message asking her to find out why Martin took the money and to let her know. In December 2022, Sonia receives news from Charlie that Dot has died peacefully in her sleep. The residents of Walford honour her in The Queen Vic where they toast her, and they dedicate the Christmas light switch on in her memory. Many Albert Square residents, past and present, gather at her funeral to pay their respects and share their memories of Dot whilst Sonia delivers a moving eulogy. She is buried next to Ethel, reuniting them both for the first time in over twenty years. Creation Although Dot had been referred to since the very early episodes of the programme as the mother of villain Nick Cotton (John Altman), she did not actually appear on-screen until episode 40 in July 1985. Dot was conceptualised by show creators, Tony Holland and Julia Smith, along with the other original characters. Introduced as the "bible thumping arch-gossip" of the launderette, Dot was a character who bridged the generations. The actress June Brown was given the role after being recommended by actor Leslie Grantham, who played original character, Den Watts. Brown was offered the part of Dot Cotton for a period of three months initially and in her own words, she was brought in "merely to be Nick Cotton's mother because Nick was coming back again". Brown has told Decca Aitkenhead of The Guardian in 2009 that she was wary of joining a soap opera as she had seen EastEnders once on television, "and there was an argument going on, and I thought, 'Oh, I don't want to watch all that,' so I switched it off. I didn't watch it