for her flat comes through, leaving Dot to move in with Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard). Character creation and development The character Lilly Mattock, played by Barbara Keogh, was introduced in November 1998 by the executive producer of EastEnders, Matthew Robinson. Lilly was one of several characters introduced in the latter part of 1998, redressing the cast balance following Robinson's decision to axe a large proportion of characters, earlier in the year. Lilly was brought in as an elderly companion for the long-running character Dot Cotton, played by June Brown; the characters move in together following the destruction of their block of flats. Described as "the silver-haired gossip", Lilly was intended to be a "comedy double act" with Dot, taking over the place of Dot's former sparring partner, Ethel Skinner (Gretchen Franklin). Storylines concentrate on the obvious personality differences between Dot and Lilly, and the problems this causes. The majority of Lilly's storylines are comic, for which she has been praised by Merle Brown, critic for the Daily Record. She is also used to highlight a more serious issue, when in 1999 she is mugged by a criminal called Gareth, and subsequently becomes agoraphobic, refusing to go out. Though she eventually gets over this with Dot's assistance. Lilly's backstory was revealed in her official biography on the BBC website, told from the character's perspective: Departure In September 1999, Lilly Mattock became the 26th character to be axed from EastEnders by Matthew Robinson, less than a year after her arrival. The character was never given an official exit, and was just quietly dropped from the serial, making her last appearance on 2 September 1999. In the storyline she has an argument with flatmate Dot Cotton after blurting out in The Queen Victoria public house that Mark Fowler (Todd Carty) is HIV positive. A few weeks later, Dot is seen moving into the house of Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard), citing irreconcilable differences with Lilly. The decision to axe Lilly was reportedly prompted by actress June Brown, who plays Dot Cotton. Brown had allegedly complained that the comedy double act between Dot and Lilly was not right. A BBC insider told The People newspaper "[Dot and Lilly were] supposed to be two pensioners providing comedy scenes but June thought it was rubbish. She even threatened to walk out but now she's staying on with the promise of better storylines". Actress Barbara Keogh was said