Tommy. After being confronted by both women and humiliated in the pub, Charlie flees. He returns the next year to con Dot out of her bingo money and he finds that Nick is already plotting to steal her winnings by poisoning her, but Nick soon backs out with the persuasion of Charlie. Unfortunately just when Charlie is trying to tell Dot that Nick is going to poison her and he stops him, Dot tells him to leave once again, not believing that Nick would do such a thing. Nick then leaves the Square after saying goodbye to Dot and her and Charlie have one final drink in the Vic before he gets his things at the B&B and leaves the Square for good. In July 1991, Dot receives news that Charlie has died in a lorry accident but his death is not shown on-screen. However, in October 2000 he returns briefly as a ghost in Nick's dream in a special spin-off episode The Return of Nick Cotton. He warns Nick that something terrible is about to happen. This proves somewhat prophetic as Nick's teenage son, Ashley (Frankie Fitzgerald) is killed in a motorcycle accident some months later. More than a decade later, Rose reveals to Dot she married Charlie and confirms he was the father of her son, Andrew, meaning Charlie was a polygamist. Dot blames Rose for Charlie's disloyalty and initially refuses to speak to or acknowledge her, but Rose convinces Dot that Charlie was lying to both of them and he is not worth wasting her energy on.In 2001,it is revealed that Charlie has yet another son, Tom (Brian Conley)/ Creation and development Charlie Cotton, the husband of Dot Cotton (June Brown), is a semi-regular character who comes and goes throughout his duration in the show; he joined in 1986, 13 months after the soap's launch. Depicted as bigamous and a conman, Charlie typically reappears in the show whenever he needs money or temporary accommodation and, because of Dot's Christian ideals regarding forgiveness, Charlie is always be permitted to return. According to Christopher Hancock, Charlie is "a truly revolting character, a loser" and the character has been described as a "despicable small-time villain [...] lazy and pathetic". Author Kate Lock has described Charlie as a "sly, shifty, weaselly man". In order to become the character of Charlie, Hancock wore stick-on sideburns. Producers decided to kill Charlie off in