RIP June Brown + Why Dot Is My Favourite EastEnders Character

 In one of the blog posts I wrote last month, Happy International Women's Day (2022), I gave a brief tribute to Lynda Baron. This time, I'm writing this post as a tribute to another celebrity who has died earlier this month. As you probably can tell from the title, I'm referring to June Brown.

June Brown is probably best known as the actor of Dot Cotton/Branning in EastEnders. Now for those of you who don't know, EastEnders is a UK TV soap opera that is set in the fictional London-based town of Walford and has aired since 1985. On estimation, it has been one of my most frequently watched shows in history along with other shows such as the Simpsons. As far back as I can remember, my earliest memory of watching EastEnders was when I was six; I had come home from Beaver Scouts and it was broadcast on BBC1. Out of every soap, EastEnders is sort of the only one I've watched properly. It has rivaled Coronation Street, a longer running soap and I did watch that show occasionally, but EastEnders is the one that stands out for me.

EastEnders has had some great characters and awesome moments over the years. This includes when Den Watts "came back from the dead", when Phil Mitchell got shot, followed by the mystery of who shot him, and speaking of Phil, let's not forget his ongoing rivalry with Ian Beale. I wouldn't be too surprised if fans of EastEnders labelled Phil as their favourite character. After all, he is kind of an anti-hero. He's certainly one of my favourites. However, if I had to pick someone who I could call my all-time favourite character in EastEnders, past or present, I'd say Dot.

And this is the reason why I'm dedicating this post to June Brown. Dot was often the first Walford resident that came to my mind when I thought about EastEnders. For starters, she was very easy to identify with her large red hairstyle, her green-ish brown coat and the fact that she would sometimes carry around an umbrella that had a bird's head for a handle - never had I seen one like that, except on Mary Poppins of course. 

In terms of characterisation and story-lines, Dot has an interesting backstory; she comes from an extremely evil family, with her first husband Charlie being unfaithful to her and her son Nick who one could easily compare to Jack The Ripper. Despite the evil surrounding her, Dot had always done and/or attempted to do good. She was in fact the occasional voice of reason. Now and then, some of her fellow residents conversed with her during some troubling times. Usually, she would reference a subject from the Bible. There's one really cool scene where Dot's comforting Phil, who is struggling with alcoholism, in the launderette;

This is one of the rare moments where we got to see Dot and Phil in a scene together. On the subject about her associates, Dot has certainly been a very lucky woman to have survived throughout her duration. You may think Pauline Fowler was the most cursed. Dot has outlived not only many of her relatives, even including her grandson Ashley, but also people close to her such as Lou Beale, Ethel Skinner (Ethel's funeral scene which I particularly found quite powerful at around 30:20), Pauline, Pat, Peggy Mitchell and even Arthur Chubb a.k.a. Fatboy. Not to mention losing her last husband Jim Branning. In my opinion, and despite their differences, the latter made a wonderful husband to Dot. This is one of the reasons why I rank his funeral as one of the greatest funeral-related moments on the show, helped by the rendition of My Way which I'm thankful was started by Sonia;

Being a personal fan of EastEnders and considering the show's fan base, I had always wondered what would happen if the show was made into a movie. Had that been a case, I'd've gone to watch it. However, I do understand that because EastEnders is a soap opera, the chances are unlikely. Whether that's the case or not, now that June has passed on, it's unlikely that Dot would appear in the movie. Considering the impact the character has had, I find it a little bit difficult to imagine EastEnders The Movie (or whatever the producers would call it) without Dot as part of the cast of characters. 

Speaking of movies, apart from EastEnders, we should also remember June for her appearances in some movies. This includes some deleted scenes from Straw Dogs and that one scene in the 1997 Mr. Bean movie - she plays a lady named Delilah who is seated at her desk opposite the rather clownish titular character who is blowing his nose noisily. Throughout that scene, June has possessed the ability to keep a straight face. In fact, one thing I found out recently was that she also did the voice of Ernest's step-mother in Raymond Brigg's Ethel & Ernest.

I end this post with this statement; June Brown (1927-2022), thank you for bringing us one of the most awesome characters on EastEnders and for keeping us entertained with your other contributions and may god be with you. And may David McKee (1935-2022), Oskar Schindler's secretary Mimi Reinhardt (1915-2022) and of course Gilbert Gottfried (1955-2022) rest in peace too.