SQUARE ROOTS
Marion McMullen looks back on the EastEnders cast originals as two old faces, Mary and Lofty return, to Walford
1 BARMAN Lofty and Mary the punk, left, were two of the original 26-strong cast of EastEnders when the BBC1 soap launched in 1985. Lovable loser Lofty fell in love with single mum Michelle Fowler – but she dumped him at the altar – and former punk groupie, drug-user and single mum Mary was one of Albert Square’s most controversial characters. 2 ACTORS Tom Watt, 63, and Linda Davidson, 54, who played the pair, last appeared in the soap in 1988. Tom left to become a social worker, but returned to TV as a sports reporter. He also co-authored David Beckham’s autobiography. Linda has appeared in Casualty and First Of The Summer Wine and runs a social media agency. 3 LEONARD Fenton is another of the soap’s originals. The 92-year -old actor appeared in the very first episode as Dr Harold Legg who was called in to aid the dying Reg Cooke in his flat. The Doc announced he was retiring in 1999, but the Walford GP continued to make cameo appearances and Leonard returned last year to film his final scenes with June Brown’s Dot
Cotton. 4 ADAM Woodyatt, below, has continuously appeared on the soap since the opening episode. He was 16 when he was cast as Adam Beale and is now 50. He was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the British Soap Awards in 2015 and filmed his 3,000th episode in 2016. 5 THE stormy marriage of Queen Vic owners “Dirty” Den and Angie Watts gripped viewers. Even his “murder” in 1989 didn’t stop Den returning in 2003... only to meet his end by being hit over the head with the pub’s Queen Victoria bust.
Actor Leslie Grantham died last year, aged 71. 6 LETITIA Dean played Den’s “little princess” Sharon Watts for 10 years before leaving to pursue other acting work. She was back in 2001 for a five-year stint and returned for a third time in 2010. Sharon has had to deal with the return of her dead dad and marriage to
Phil Mitchell. 7 GILLIAN Taylforth first appeared playing Ian’s mum Kathy Beale. Gillian left the soap in 1998. However, she has returned to her old Walford haunts several times and, despite rumours that Kathy had perished in an off-screen car crash in South Africa in 2005, was back in Albert Square again in 2015. 8 DOT Cotton and wayward son “Nasty” Nick are also EastEnders originals. Chain-smoking Dot has had a hard life – not helped by Nick turning up like a bad penny. John Altman filmed his final scenes as Nick in 2015 which saw his longsuffering Ma allowing him to die from an overdose. 9 MANY people were surprised when Wendy Richard was cast as Pauline Fowler in EastEnders. She was better known for sitcoms like Are You Being Served? and Dad’s Army, but ended up appearing on the soap for 21 years. She said goodbye to Pauline in 2006 and sadly died of cancer three years later at the age of 65. 10 SUSAN
Tully played Michelle Fowler after finding TV fame in Grange Hill. Michelle’s teen pregnancy kept viewers gripped and Lofty later offered to marry her. Susan left the BBC soap in 1995. Now a director, her credits include The Musketeers, Tin Star and Silent Witness.