going to have to tread so carefully with her—he's got some real making up to do in order to enable Sharon to trust him again." Despite initial animosity and hurt, Sharon eventually welcomes Den back into her life and allows him to return to live with her, resuming head of the Watts dynasty. Relationship with Dennis Rickman ("Shannis") As a precursor to Den's return and as part of producer Louise Berridge's plan to rebuild the Watts family, Den's estranged son Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman) was introduced to EastEnders earlier in 2003. A "forbidden love" storyline was built into Sharon's narrative, when she embarked on a relationship with Dennis despite him being the son of her adoptive father. Scenes in which Sharon and Dennis succumb to their lust for each other had to be re-edited as the programme's producers deemed them too raunchy to be shown before the 9 pm watershed on BBC1. Discussing the scenes, Harman said, "My character Dennis has been through most of the ladies on the square. But his latest encounter with Sharon is something else. There's lots of banging around as we are ripping each other's clothes off while staggering round the flat. There's also quite a lot of flesh in the post-coital scene! It might shock a few people as she's [Dennis's] sister—not blood sister, though. Bosses had to tone it down and cut a couple of passionate embraces out." According to Harman, Dennis's feelings for Sharon transcended anything Dennis had felt for women before her. Den's opposition to his children's on/off romance was a reoccurring theme in the serial throughout 2004. The plot was the focus of the Christmas Day 2004 episodes when Dennis and Sharon announce they have reunited despite Dennis being in a simultaneous relationship with Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan). The fall-out, which sees Den persuading Zoe to tell Dennis she is expecting his baby, results in Sharon leaving Dennis. Discussing the storyline, Michelle Ryan said, "Den forces her to say that she's pregnant because he knows Dennis won't run away with Sharon if he thinks there's a baby on the way. Den completely manipulates the whole thing and Zoe finds herself trapped in the lie because she can't seek advice from anyone. She didn't dream up this silly situation—it was Den who told her to fabricate the story to save their relationship. It was his idea all along. Zoe still wants