THREE of EastEnders star June Brown’s children appear at the TV funeral of her iconic character, Dot Cotton.
Show boss Chris Kershaw revealed that Sophie, Nim and Billy asked to be in the touching scenes.
AlamyThree of EastEnders star June Brown’s children appear at the TV funeral of her iconic character[/caption]
SUPPLIEDSophie, Nim and Billy featured in the touching scenes[/caption]
The episode, extended to 37 minutes and with re-worked theme tune, airs on Monday.
June — chain-smoking laundry worker Dot from 1985 to 2020 — died at home surrounded by her family in April aged 95.
In her final episode on the BBC soap, she left a voicemail to say she was off to Ireland to visit grandson Charlie.
Executive producer Chris said that, while alive, June did not want Dot killed off.
He said: “She did of course know that when she did leave us, it was the right thing to do.
“After some time, we couldn’t put it off much longer. We spoke to June’s family who knew it was what she would have wanted.”
In the show, Dot died last week.
Chris added: “June’s children Nim, Sophie and Billy knew what EastEnders meant to their mother, so much so they requested to attend Dot’s funeral to say their goodbyes.”
They are among five children from her marriage to Robert Arnold.
Chris added: “It was lovely for all involved.”