the last time. It is at that point that Sharon realizes she needs to leave Dennis in her past, as Phil is now her future. Months later, Sharon marries Phil and he later adopts Denny in the subsequent years. But over five years later, on Christmas Day 2019, they end up splitting after Phil discovers that Sharon had an affair with his daughter's fiancé, Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters). Soon afterwards, Phil seeks revenge on Keanu and they end up fighting each other in a boat on the River Thames - which ends up crashing as a result of this; Denny is among the passengers on the boat and, although everyone else survives the crash, he consequently loses his life after suffering a cardiac arrest from drowning in the ensuing carnage. Creation and development Introduction Dennis Rickman was created by the show's producers as the hardman successor to the character of Steve Owen, who had bowed out during the previous year. It was also part of a move to bring the Watts family back to the forefront of EastEnders, with the re-introduction of Vicki Fowler occurring at the beginning of 2003, and the highly anticipated return of Den Watts in September. Executive producer Louise Berridge was also keen to rectify what she felt was a gender imbalance in the cast, commenting after his arrival that Dennis had "provided a surge of testosterone in a show that was rather female-heavy since the arrival of the Slaters." Casting Harman was working as a lorry driver for supermarket chain Sainsbury when he was cast in the role of Dennis Rickman: "They said: 'You've got the job.' I was sitting there in my Sainsbury's fleece, with Mrs Bloggs's groceries in the back, and I just laughed my arse off." However, Harman revealed in a 2003 interview that he actually auditioned for a character called "Tim", and had no idea that he was set to join the Watts family as the unknown son of the soap's most "iconic" figure, Den Watts. Part of Harman's appeal lay in his dark good looks and appealing physicality. EastEnders executive producer Louise Berridge noted: "We cast Nigel for his tremendous acting ability and his screen presence, but there's no question he's also a very sexy young man." In an interview with The Independent in 2003 he commented on his character's status as a sex symbol: "It's Dennis, not me... I