Episode 4826 (27 March 2014 - Part 1)

A lone crow sits on the railings outside Dot’s house. Inside, Dot’s sat beside the coffin, having been there all night. Ian struggles to write a eulogy for Nick. Dot tells Charlie Dotty has a cold so can’t attend the funeral. Fatboy worries that Andrew and Rose aren’t coming either. Sharon insists they’ll make the day special for Dot. Ian brings food for the wake to the Vic, along with a photograph of Nick, and thanks Mick for hosting while the restaurant’s closed. Shirley doesn’t have high hopes for Ian’s speech.

As Linda helps Ian on with his coat, the speech falls from his pocket, unbeknownst to him. The hearse and funeral cars arrive on the Square with a ‘son’ wreath of flowers. At the crematorium, the funeral turnout is sparse. Les Coker leads in the funeral procession. The service begins and Ian’s horrified to realise he’s lost his speech. There’s an awkward silence when Tim Stevens invites the mourners to share their memories of Nick. Jane steps in and reads a quote from the bible. Sharon rushes in late with Ian’s speech, having retrieved it from Linda. Ian makes a touching eulogy, celebrating Nick’s uniqueness. Charlie squeezes Dot’s hand as they watch the curtains draw around the coffin.

At the wake in the Vic, Jane and Sharon commend Ian for his eulogy. Ian’s chuffed, oblivious to Phil pulling the speech from his pocket. Charlie introduces himself to Ronnie. Jane complains her new boots are hurting. Dot listens to the inane chatter around her. A jeering Phil reveals Ian’s speech was taken from an internet website. As the other mourners round on Ian, Dot berates them - everyone’s forgotten about Nick already. Charlie supports her from the Vic, Dot stops to snatch the photograph of Nick from Cora. Outside, Charlie hugs Dot as she cries for her son.

Phil helps Sharon with an early delivery at the new bar. Sharon convinces Phil to attend Nick’s funeral by teasing she’ll be wearing black stockings but is later detained by another delivery. Phil offers Shirley a lift to the funeral when he spots her standing alone. At the church, Phil sits next to Shirley. He admits he still thinks of Heather too, and squeezes her hand as she cries. Phil quickly drops Shirley’s hand when Sharon enters. Shirley thanks Phil for being a gent.

Max tries to talk to Ronnie about her visit to Stacey. Ronnie snaps Stacey didn’t mention him. Sonia wants Max to attend Nick’s funeral as Carol’s too ill. Max refuses – he doesn’t like funerals. As a frustrated Sonia exits, Max looks sadly at a photograph of Bradley.

Lucy’s annoyed Ian’s commandeered her laptop and won’t take the time to look at her webpage for LB Lettings. She shows the webpage to Lauren. Billy eavesdrops and asks to go into business with her. Lucy realises she can’t go it alone but would rather work with a girl. Peter grins – he knows just the person.

Patrick talks to Dexter about Paul. Patrick’s reluctant to let Cora accompany him to see Dot after her behaviour yesterday. Charlie accepts their flowers for Dot. Cora hijacks Dot’s grief and claims to know what it’s like to lose a child as she’ll never see Rainie again. Patrick’s unimpressed. They bicker and Charlie tells them to go. Cora snaps they’d better make sure to put all of Nick in the ground. Patrick realises Dot’s witnessed everything from her window. As the funeral cars pull away, Dot refuses to look at Patrick, who feels terrible. Cora convinces Mick to serve her wine put aside for the wake and complains about the food. Patrick doesn’t attend the funeral and ignores Cora.

Johnny’s pleased when Linda tells him she’s cooking a family meal. Linda clocks Johnny chatting and laughing with a builder as he serves him at the bar, hauls him to one side and berates him for trying to pick up men at the wake. Later, Linda’s mortified to spot the builder kissing a girl. Johnny hands Linda a blank Mother’s Day card – he was saving it for Sunday but doesn’t know what to write anymore.

Jane’s avoiding Masood. She’s relieved when Masood swears being friends is enough for him and she doesn’t have to move out. But as Jane moves off, Masood’s face falls.

Cast

 * Dot Branning.....................................................................June Brown
 * Ian Beale.....................................................................Adam Woodyatt
 * Denise Fox.......................................................................Diane Parish
 * Jane Beale........................................................................Laurie Brett
 * Lucy Beale.....................................................................Hetti Bywater
 * Peter Beale.........................................................................Ben Hardy
 * Charlie Cotton...........................................................Declan Bennett
 * Les Coker....................................................................Roger Sloman
 * Linda Carter..................................................................Kellie Bright
 * Mick Carter.....................................................................Danny Dyer
 * Johnny Carter................................................................Sam Strike
 * Arthur 'Fatboy' Chubb...........................................Ricky Norwood
 * Lauren Branning................................................Jacqueline Jossa
 * Dexter Hartman..............................................................Khali Best
 * Cora Cross..................................................................Ann Mitchell
 * Patrick Trueman....................................................Rudolph Walker
 * Billy Mitchell............................................................Perry Fenwick
 * Phil Mitchell.........................................................Steve McFadden
 * Sharon Rickman.........................................................Letitia Dean
 * Ronnie Mitchell..............................................Samantha Womack
 * Shirley Carter.............................................................Linda Henry
 * Sonia Fowler........................................................Natalie Cassidy
 * Masood Ahmed.......................................................Nitin Ganatra
 * Bobby Beale.............................................................Rory Stroud
 * Builder.........................................................................Oliver Mott
 * Tim Stevens.................................................................Joe Claflin