One of giants in telly history
Better to have fun with the real thing while everyone else is looking at Penthouse
LESLIE GRANTHAM CLAIMING HE HAD SEX WITH TEACHERS WHILE IN PRISON Love child with Michelle Fowler Den got 16-year-old Michelle pregnant in the first “who’s the daddy?” plot. Mum Pauline took months to find out it was Den. The shooting – his first death Den was shot in 1989 by a man holding some daffodils. He fell back into the canal in one of soap’s most memorable deaths. Zoe Slater romance Den had a fling with Zoe Slater to get her pregnant and pretend son Dennis was the dad so he’d stay in Albert Square. The divorce papers EastEnders’ most iconic moment – as Den served wife Angie her divorce papers on Christmas Day, 1986. Returning from the dead Walford couldn’t Adam and Eve it when Den returned 14 years later, greeting daughter Sharon with: “Hello, Princess.” Death... for good this time In 2005, Den was bumped off for good by estranged wife Chrissie Watts who hit him on the head with an iron doorstop. DIRTY Den Watts wasn’t just one of the biggest characters in EastEnders’ history, he was one of the biggest in soap history.
If the British Soap Awards had been around when Den was in his prime between 1985 and 1989, Leslie Grantham would have probably been walking away with Best Actor, Best Villain, Sexiest Male and best Pub Bar Vaulter year after year.
That was the odd thing about Den. No matter how badly he behaved soap fans still loved him.
Everyone remembers the record-breaking 1986 Christmas Day episode in which Den served divorce papers to his equally scheming, alcoholic wife Angie (played by Anita Dobson) in the Queen Vic. It was a real “where were you when?” moment.
Leslie was probably more proud of an episode in October that year which featured just Den and Angie. It was the first time a soap had attempted a two-hander and it set the scene for Christmas Day. In some ways Den’s return in 2003 was an even greater triumph. Soap comebacks can be notoriously difficult to pull off but Leslie and the EastEnders team handled his perfectly.
What an opening line he had, stepping out of the shadows and stunning his daughter Sharon with a trademark, “Hello, Princess.” The comeback may have been overshadowed by off screen events, but no one can deny Dirty Den his place in soap’s Hall of Fame.