The Life and Times of Dennis Watts

First Appearance 19.02.1985

The original and - well let's just say he set the standard for every other sexy villain Walford's produced since EastEnders began.

Den, of course was the first landlord of the Vic, with his wife Angie as First Lady and adopted daughter Sharon as the Princess (Den's affectionate name for her). Den and Angies volatile and destructive marriage was played out in full view of the Vic's regulars: it was clear from the off he had a mistress (Jan) and, however often he promised the affair was over, it never was. Only when Angie told him she had 6 months to live did Den really commit to her (taking her on a second honeymoon to Venice), but when he found out what a whopper she'd told him he served up divorce papers with a snarl on Christmas Day.

Jan's attempt to take Angie's place at the Vic didn't last long. She could'nt stand Den's flirting with other women. Then he took up with caterer Mags Czaikowski, but she didn't like being bossed around and left him too. Womaniser Den's most famous infidelity was with schoolgirl Michelle, Sharon's best mate, a one-off that produced baby Vicki. He didn't love Michelle but he loved Vicki and made sure she was well provided for - which was just as well.

Den's exorbitant divorce from Angie in 1987 put him in hock to The Firm, a local protection racket. He was decided a liability when he got the Dagmar torched to avenge Kathy. He was told to take the rap and go down for it, but the firm thought he was grassing them up from the inside (he wasn't) and had him shot and disposed of.........in the dank depths of Walford Canal.

Episode 174, 16 October 1986 , 6 months to live

The Den and Angie solo episode! It was an outrageous notion to devote an entire half-hour of drama to just two characters - unheard of in a bi-weekly serial. Once it was done, however, it set a precedent and the programme has featured two-handers and three-handers since, but they will never have the impact of that first one.

Quite simply, it was a tour-de-force. Leslie Grantham and Anita Dobson, as Den and Angie, were always at their best working together rather than as seperate characters, and never more so than here.

The episode was structured like a tennis match, with the poor non-speaking window cleaner forever strolling innocently into the action. It begins with Den trying to talk to Angie to tell her that he wants to leave her and get a dicorce. Angie stalls, but Den persists and states his case. Angie is shocked and for a moment defeated, but then she drops her bombshell and tells Den that she has only six months to live. At first Den doesn't believe her, but Angie keeps to her storyand, finally, her hysterical performance convinces him. He crumbles and promises to stay with her. After he leaves the room, Angie smiles in triumph. Pick of the year and , for me, one of the greatest episodes of EastEnders ever.

 

Watch Den serve up divorce papers on Christmas Day. Classic!!!

 

Second Honeymoon to Venice

All was going well........er......... apart from the fact that Den's mistress, Jan was also in Venice at the same time.........oh....... and it was on the Orient Express Den found out that Angie had told a great, big lie about dying!! She didn't really have just six months to live!! Apart from that I guess it was a nice break for them both!!!!

Den Watts and Michelle Fowler, August 1985

The fact that Michelle was his daughter's best mate didnt seem to bother Dennis Watts.She came to him in a time of need for advice, and he ended up claiming her virginity as payment for services rendered. And dirty rat that he was, Den tipically avoided accusations that he had slept with a minor as the deed happened just after Michelle's sixteenth birthday.

No-one knew about their night of passion; the only clue was when they avoided each other in the market, breathing a sigh of relief when the other had passed. After Michelle had come clean to her folks about being pregnant she arranged to meet Den by the canal, away from the intrusive gossips of Albert Square. She told the reluctant father that she wasn't going to have an abortion and that she didn't blame him. 'It could have been anyone,' she informed him. 'If it wasn't you it would've been somebody else. But it wasn't sordid. After sixteen years it was an important event, but I never thought it would happen in a saloon bar under a picture of Queen Victoria.'

Den remained silent, and vowed to stay that way forever. But these ill-fated lovers couldn't dent their confused feelings for each other. Odd glances would be exchanged, tenners cautiously handed over and irrational things said withinearshot of prying ears, and eventually Pauline guessed. Apart from telling Sharon and Arthur, Michelle managed to keep her secret for 8 years - a record for Albert Square!

Did you know?

That the characters of Den, Angie and Sharon were originally to be called Jack, Pearl and Tracey ? And that Leslie actually auditioned for the part of Pete Beale ? Strange to imagine, and Dirty Jack just doesn't have the same ring to it!!

 

25 February 2009

HANDS UP if you remember the moment Grant rumbled Phil and Sharon's steamy affair? Terrific TV often involves secret sexploits coming to the surface with the guilty party being caught with their pants down.

From the deafening drums of Eastenders to the lush lyrics of Neighbours, there's nothing quite like a good soap opera to keep you on the edge of your seat

. When it comes to seducing a friend's girlfriend, having an unplanned pregnancy, or battling the booze, nobody does it better than soap stars at the top of their game.

MY Sun users have been casting their votes on the nation's top TV talent and here is their Number One..................

1 - Dirty Den

A whopping 30.1 million viewers watched Dirty Den hand Angie her divorce papers after he found out his missus had been telling porkies about having terminal cancer.

 

Dirty Den's 'last' episode: shot at the canal