Den Watts

Dennis Alan "Den" Watts, well known for his tabloid nickname "Dirty Den", was the landlord of The Queen Victoria and the ex-husband of Angie Watts and Chrissie Watts.

His relationship with Angie was often a rocky one. Den had a mistress, despite being married to Angie, and he would often favour her over Angie.

After nearly 19 years of marriage, he hands divorce papers to her on Christmas Day. By the end of 1987, he and Angie ended up becoming business partners once again.

Den was also involved with the criminal gang known as The Firm that eventually leads to an attempt to kill him in 1989. This is believed to be successful, but Den makes an unexpected return to Walford in September 2003.

Seventeen months later, he was killed off again - this time for good - at the hands of his manipulative second wife Chrissie.

Den was played by the late actor Leslie Grantham, and is hailed as one of the most iconic EastEnders characters of all time.

Backstory
Dennis Alan Watts was born on 11 July 1946 to Dennis Watts and Mrs Watts and grew up in Walford. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Den went to school with people who later became crooks and gangland members, such as members of The Firm (Walford Investments). Because of this, Den could easily become involved in crime. He was friends with Ted Hills, Gavin Sullivan and Henry Hubbard. Den later began associating himself with criminal East End organisations. Den developed a reputation as a womanizer, and among others in his youth he had sex with Pat Evans, the first wife of his best friend Pete Beale. He then settled down at a young age with his school friend Angie Shaw; they married in February 1968. Den backed away from the crime scene once he married, but did occasionally buy and sell stolen goods.

Together Den and Angie leased the tenancy for The Queen Victoria public house, but their marriage was tempestuous and Den had affairs. One affair with a woman named Paula Rickman in late 1973, resulted in a pregnancy, and she gave birth to Den's son, Dennis Rickman, in 1974; Den knew nothing of the child for decades. Unable to have children together, Den and Angie adopted a young girl named Sharon; both doted on her. Den and Angie's relationship was mainly sexless, and in 1980 Den began a long-running affair with the upper-class Jan Hammond; Angie knew about the affair and developed alcoholism.

1985–1986: Marriage with Angie Watts
In February 1985, Den found the dead body of Reg Cox. Den carried on seeing his mistress Jan, and kept trying to make secret phone calls to her but was always interrupted by family or guests coming into room, especially Angie and Sharon.

Despite being married and having a mistress, Den is unable to turn down the advances of his daughter's best friend, Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully), in 1985; they have sex one night after closing time in the Queen Vic. When 16-year-old Michelle falls pregnant, she refuses to name the father, fearing repercussions for Den and herself. When she gives birth to a daughter, named Vicki, in 1986, Den is prohibited from having anything to do with her; he is allowed to hold his daughter once, and provides money for Michelle in secret. For many years the secret is kept hidden, but Michelle's mother Pauline (Wendy Richard) witnesses Den handing Michelle money in secret, and is one of the first to realise the truth, igniting a feud between Den and Pauline. Den employs Ethel Skinner, Simon "Wicksy" Wicks and Lofty Holloway as bar staff at The Vic but is very demanding of them, if he sees them chatting to customers, or in Wicksy's case, chatting up the female customers, Den would say "Get on with some work" to them. However he did do them favours if needed and later was seen as a father figure to Lofty.

1986-1987: "Happy Christmas Ange"
Den and Angie's marriage continues to sour, despite their strong professional personas. However, Angie struggles to contain her jealousy regarding Den's mistress. She grows desperate, becomes severely depressed and attempts suicide in March 1986 but Den puts a stop to it. Still, Den makes plans to leave Angie permanently; in a bid to prevent this, Angie fabricates a story that she is dying and has only six months to live. Den is gullible enough to fall for the lie and opts to stay with her and he attempts to rebuild his relationship with Angie, promising to be there with her until her death. He takes Angie to Venice for a second honeymoon, but liases with Jan who, it turns out, is also there. Guilty about her lie, Angie gets drunk on the return journey via the Orient Express and confesses the truth to a barman: that she is not actually dying. Angie is unaware that Den has overheard her drunken confession; he bides his time, and gains revenge on Angie by serving her divorce papers on Christmas Day 1986. He then says "Happy Christmas Ange".The Watts's divorce and Angie damages Den by demanding a large divorce settlement. Den runs the Vic alone, initially assisted by Jan, but this relationship ends when Jan grows disillusioned with Den's treatment of her. Den has a fling with the Vic's caterer Magda Czajkowski, but is scorned when she eventually opts to date Simon Wicks instead. When single again, Den begins to realise that the Vic's trade is floundering without Angie. In January 1988, Den admits that he is Vicky's father to Pauline. She slaps him and says she will do what she cans to banish Den from Walford. In April 1988, Lofty leaves Walford after breaking up with Michelle and Den says he is always here if Lofty ever needs him. Only Den watches Lofty quietly leave Walford forever.

Realising The Vic is floundering without Angie, and with some meddling from Sharon, Den and Angie decide to reunite as business partners, and she returns to live at the Vic. However, it is short-lived, because Angie falls in love with her friend Sonny. Realising that Angie is planning on leaving him, Den visits a solicitor and makes certain that Angie has no claim on the Vic. Angie leaves Walford for Spain in May 1988 with nothing. Frank Butcher lliases with Den to take over the tenancy. Den and Frank become good friends for a while.

1988-1989: The Firm
Having always been connected with the criminal organisation known as The Firm, Den's involvement escalates in 1988. He gives up tenancy at the Vic in May 1988 to Frank Butcher. He does this so he can run Strokes Winebar with Joanne Francis (Pamela Salem), which is really the Firm's illegal gambling den. When Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) is raped by James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde), Den manipulates a Firm member, Brad Williams (Jonathan Stratt), to burn down James's business in revenge. The attack, however, goes against the Firm's wishes, and when the police begin an investigation they start to suspect the Firm's involvement and the true nature of Strokes Winebar is close to being discovered.

The Firm's bosses, including Gregory Mantel (Pavel Douglas), force Den to take the blame for the arson in order to distance their organisation from the attack. They take Den to a safe house, promising to alter his identity. Den soon realises this is a cover and, in truth, the Firm are planning to kill him. Den manages to escape and hands himself in to the police to save his life, and in September 1988 he is remanded in custody at Dickens Hill prison.

In Dickens Hill, Den struggles initially, with many of the inmates refusing to trust him. Inmate Queenie Price (John Labanowski) takes an instant dislike to Den and suspects him of being a "grass", one night cornering him in his cell with some friends and beating him. Despite this, Den unveils Queenie as the true prison-snitch and gains respect, rising through the prison ranks to become "No.1" of his landing. On the outside, the Firm decide that Den is still a liability; they fear he will inform the police about their dealings and again decide that Den has to die. They break Den out of captivity and kidnap him while he is being accompanied to trial in February 1989. However, Den escapes again and makes plans to flee the country. He contacts Michelle, requesting that they meet by a canal where they have held secret meetings in the past, so he can say goodbye to her and Vicki. Unaware that the Firm is following her, Michelle unwittingly brings them straight to Den and he is shot by a man who is hiding a gun in a bunch of daffodils. A splash is heard, indicating that Den's body has fallen into the canal.

The police search for Den's body. Initially it is not found; however, after Sharon finds Den's signet ring being sold on a market stall in 1990, she requests that the canal be searched again, unaware that Den had not been wearing the ring at the time of the shooting. This time, a body is found, and Sharon identifies it as Den, even if there is a small bit of room for doubt. The body is buried that year. Den's old cellmate Barnsey even attends the funeral.

1989-2003: Presumed dead
Den is believed dead and that he fell into the canal after being shot in February 1989. After this, believing he is dead, The Firm have nothing more to do with Albert Square. Strokes is shut down and the square is a quieter place to live.

In the intervening years, Sharon and Vicki grow up. Sharon and Michelle's friendship is tested in 1989 when she says Den is Vicki’s father. In May 1990, Sharon sees a ring which she believes is Den's on a market stall in Bridge Street Market. The canal is dredged and a body is found. There are no teeth so the body cannot be traced by dental records. The body is believed to be Den's (when in fact it was Mr Vinnicombe, the Firm's boss) and Den is finally "buried" in May 1990. Sharon wears a red coat for the funeral. Somehow Den was aware of this funeral and secretly watched from nearby bushes. He then returned to exile in Spain.

In 1993, 4 years after Den's "death", Mandy Salter overhears a discussion between Sharon and Michelle that Den was Vicki’s father. She soon maliciously spreads the gossip around, Mandy never knew Den but had heard a lot about him. Pauline was not pleased.

2003: Return from the dead and feud with Phill
Sharon and Vicki discover Den has a son that he did not know of, Dennis, who joins them in Walford. Like Den, Dennis has involvement with the Firm, and after some digging he discovers that Den is not actually dead; after surviving the shooting in 1989, he fled to Spain with help from Jan and went undercover. Hearing this, Vicki traces Den and brings him back to Walford in September 2003. Sharon has mixed emotions: upset and anger, having assumed him dead for so many years. Den explains that the body found in the canal was that of Mr Vinnicombe, a senior member of the Firm, who was murdered as punishment for Den's escape and dumped in the canal, his teeth having been bricked out to prevent dental identification. Vinnicombe's body had wrongly been identified as Den's and Jan had assisted in this cover-up by planting Den's signet ring by the canal. Den admits to Sharon that at his "funeral" in May 1990, he stood in some trees nearby watching the service. He mentions how Sharon was wearing a red coat that day. Den's grievances with the Firm are pardoned by its acting boss, Andy Hunter (Michael Higgs), and Den returns to live in Walford to assist Sharon in managing her nightclub. Den gets embroiled in a feud with Sharon's ex-boyfriend Phil Mitchell after hearing Phil has hit her, and also had Dennis beaten up during a feud between Dennis and Phil. Den sleeps with Phil's sister Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf), then dumps her promptly as part of his revenge tactic. He then promises another of Phil's abused former girlfriends, Lisa Fowler, that he will help her get back her daughter, who is in Phil's custody. Den talks Phil into accompanying him and Dennis on a warehouse robbery, but during the robbery, Den takes the money then obstructs Phil's getaway, he confiscates the ladder and throws all the money down, and Phil is caught by the police and remanded. Phil manages to escape several weeks later, confronting Den on Christmas Day; in order to stop Phil attacking him, Den pays Phil off and Phil flees into the night, going on the run.

2004: Family problems and a heart-to-heart with Dot
Family problems arise when Den discovers that Sharon and Dennis are in a romantic relationship; Den accuses it of being incest, despite Sharon and Dennis not being blood-related. He attempts to split them up, goading Dennis about his neglected childhood and the sexual abuse he experienced in a children's home. In fury, Dennis assaults Den and accidentally hits Sharon in a rage. Den tells Dennis that, in order to remain part of the Watts family, he must split from Sharon; Dennis obliges and begins a relationship with Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan).

In 2004, it is revealed that Den had remarried whilst in Spain in 1999, and his estranged wife Chrissie (Tracy-Ann Oberman) moves to be with him in Walford. Den still cannot remain monogamous, and when Chrissie discovers that he has been sleeping with Kate Mitchell (Jill Halfpenny), she threatens tok ill him if he ever cheats again. To rebuild his family, Den attempts to regain the Vic from the Mitchells; he blackmails their lawyer Marcus Christie into convincing Sam that Phil, who is still on-the-run, needs immediate money. Sam sells the Vic to Den at a vastly reduced price and he reinstates his family at the pub in time for Christmas. Things go wrong when Den discovers that Sharon and Dennis have resumed their affair, and in order to split them up, Den persuades Zoe to lie that she is pregnant with Dennis's baby. Unwilling to allow Dennis to leave his unborn child, Sharon leaves Walford with Vicki, leaving Dennis and Zoe unhappily together. In apparent retribution towards Dennis for inadvertently being the cause of Sharon's departure, Den manipulates Zoe into having sex with him so she can get pregnant and pretend the baby is Dennis's; when Dennis catches them having sex, Den appears pleased.

In the wake of this, Dennis leaves in search of Sharon but not before telling Chrissie about Zoe and Den's affair. Den's wife had left him following his affair, and his relationship with his son was in tatters after he propositioned his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Dot was arguing with her husband, Jim Branning (John Bardon) and was very reluctant to tell him about her secret cancer illness. Den and Dot forced each other to examine their relationships with others.

Late one evening Den spotted some youths vandalising the launderette. After seeing off the thugs, Dot emerged from the back room and Den could see that she had been crying. Dot began to engage Den in conversation about his wife Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman) and how he felt now that she had left him. Den's response was blasé, which angered Dot and she accused him of putting up a front. Dot chastised Den for his demeanour and pointed out that he couldn't face up to his own guilt. She told him that he treated his friends and family appallingly and when he had heard enough and turned to leave, he found that Dot had locked him in and refused to give him the keys. As Den was forced to continue the conversation Dot pestered him more about Chrissie and threatened to haunt him if he didn't plead Chrissie for forgiveness.

Eventually, Dot informed Den that she was dying and he was shocked to hear that she had kidney cancer. However Dot became cagey when Den quizzed her about her illness. He wanted her to have the best care possible and even offered to pay for it, but Dot rejected his help - she had chosen not to have her cancer treated. She wanted to face death with dignity and begged Den to keep her secret quiet as even her husband, Jim, didn't know she was suffering. Den wasn't convinced by Dot's motives for keeping her illness from Jim, but she believed that she was acting in his best interests. Den insisted that Dot's deceit would destroy her marriage and told her to open up to Jim. Den then slyly told her that if she didn't come clean with Jim, she couldn't take the moral high ground next time he messed up. They both decided that they needed to sort their marriages out.

When Jim arrived to collect Dot, Den explained that she was sorting him out and squeezed Dot's hand tenderly before leaving. At home Den apologised to his son and heeding Dot's advice, he bit the bullet and called Chrissie. Meanwhile, Dot took Den's advice and decided that it was time to come clean to Jim.

2005: "You'll never get me out of the Vic!"
When Zoe discovers she is pregnant with Den's child, Chrissie persuades her to abort and concocts a plan of revenge on Den to ruin him in the eyes of Sharon and gain ownership of the Vic. She recruits Zoe and Sam (both scorned by Den) and they confront him, setting it up for Sharon to discover Den's deeds. Sharon subsequently disowns Den in February 2005 and in a rage, Den assaults Chrissie and is only stopped by Zoe, who hits him over the head with an iron doorstop in the Vic. Den is assumed dead, but when Chrissie is alone with him, he stirs and grabs her ankle exclaiming "You'll never get me out of the Vic!"; Chrissie responds by hitting him on the head with the doorstop. He dies moments later. This time, he is dead.

Sam secretly witnesses the fatal blow, but Chrissie continues to allow Zoe to think it is she who has killed Den. The three women bury Den in the Vic cellar and concrete it over. Arguments between the women occur, and Sam and Chrissie becomes broiled in a feud to regain ownership of the Vic, with Sam blackmailing Chrissie and digging up Den's body in the hope that Chrissie will be imprisoned, and Chrissie subsequently framing Sam for Den's murder, which leads to Sam's imprisonment. Eventually the truth is revealed, and Chrissie is imprisoned after pleading guilty.

In 2015, it is revealed Den was once in a gang which included Phil's father Eric Mitchell - along with his partner-in-crime Gavin Sullivan and their associates: Henry Hubbard and Ted Hills. It soon transpires that Gavin is actually Sharon's biological father, and that Den had apparently done a deal with Gavin: he would adopt Sharon in exchange for Gavin partaking one of Den's criminal jobs.

Background
Den Watts was one of the original twenty-three characters invented by the creators of EastEnders, Tony Holland and Julia Smith. The character of Den was originally going to be named Jack and he, his wife and adopted daughter were to be the occupants of the soap's local pub, now famously known as The Queen Vic. Holland, who had worked as a barman in his youth, called upon his own personal experiences to invent the Watts family and the pub they lived in. Holland and Smith had always been critical of the way pubs had been portrayed on television feeling they lacked vitality and life, so they were determined that their pub and occupants were going to be more realistic. The Watts were seen by Holland as integral to the show's success, partly because he had already guessed that the pub was going to be a monstrous battleground where emotions would run high on a regular basis, and also because the occupants would be providing the majority of the drama.

Den's original character outline as written by Smith and Holland appeared in an abridged form in their book, EastEnders: The Inside Story. In this passage, Den will be referred to as Jack, his wife as Pearl, his daughter as Tracey and his dog as Prince (known now as Angie, Sharon and Roly respectively).
 * "Jack and Pearl are not criminals. They're not angels either. Villains perhaps? Well, he certainly is. They've been married for fifteen years, and haven't had sex with each other for thirteen of them. The marriage is a front for the sake of the pub's image. The daughter, Tracey is adopted—maybe for the same reason. They have a dog too—Prince—an Alsatian...Even with a marriage on the rocks, Jack still likes the area. His mates are here, it's friendly and it's his territory. "Local lad makes good"...People look up to him. If you've dragged yourself up by the scruff of the neck and moved up a notch, you need a few people around you who didn't quite make it, or you might as well be invisible. He's had a mistress for five years...Unlike Pearl, she's a very up-market woman, a lady, real class. Jack's her bit of rough, and they're happy. They actually talk. With Pearl, you shout - or shut up...He's a smart dresser. Changes his shirt twice a day and his shoes sparkle. He runs a good pub. He's firm and fair with the staff (if you've got any problems—go to him, not her.) The cellars are well organised and spotless. His masculinity is the key to his character. It was called into question at an early stage in his marriage and he's defended it ever since. Some call him a ladies' man (because of his good looks) others - a man's man...He's a con man and has the gift of the gab. He can defend himself smartly in a brawl. (He's only ever thumped Pearly once.) You can accept Jack being a snob—because it's not malicious: it's done with a grin. Like Pearl, he's also trapped by is background...Jack and Pearl's relationship is pretty heated...The smooth public face (workers in pubs are always on stage); the trial reconciliations; the rows; the fights and the tears...Will Jack ever bring his mistress into the pub, which is Pearl's territory? Will Pearl accept too many free drinks from punters and lose control in public?...They were lovers. They are husband and wife. There was affection...love...if it came to it, could they give each other up? The private grins and winks to each other when they're working as a team—which usually means taking money. The love turning to hatred...Jack the lad and the artificial Pearl...They're an electric couple." (page 74)

Casting controversy
EastEnders ' lead director Matthew Robinson recommended the actor Leslie Grantham for the part. Grantham had previously appeared on the London Fringe in a stage play Robinson had written. His only TV appearance at that point had been as Kiston, a small part in a 1984 Doctor Who serial Resurrection of the Daleks directed by Robinson. Julia Smith remembered that she had taught Grantham at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and regarded him as a "mature student", although she had never seen him "in action". They needed the character of Den to have "panache, charisma and electricity". They were initially uncertain about casting Grantham, but they both felt that the actor had "something", which they went on to describe as a "tensed up internal emotion of some sort, that was being held in. There was something behind the eyes, too. Barely contained violence almost..."

After a successful reading with the actress Jean Fennell (who was originally cast as Angie), he was offered the part. However, shortly afterwards Grantham contacted Smith and asked to speak to her urgently. He revealed that he had been found guilty of killing a German taxi driver while on army service in 1967, and spent 10 years in prison. Although there were fears that if this story got out, the resultant publicity would do enormous damage to the programme and the BBC, Smith decided not to withdraw Grantham from the role. In her opinion, he had paid the full penalty that society requires for a mistake committed in his past and it was a "Christian duty to forgive".

The story found its way into the British press much faster than expected. Three days after the transmission of episode one, EastEnders made the front page of a national newspaper for the first time with the headline "EASTENDERS STAR IS A KILLER." The security gates at Elstree Studios (where EastEnders is filmed) were swamped with journalists and photographers, and so began a "double-edged" relationship between EastEnders and the popular press. The devisers of the programme were quick to realise that whilst a newspaper's publicity may sometimes boost a soap's position in the ratings, it could equally help to tarnish it. In conjunction, soaps could help to sell newspapers, and from then on stories about EastEnders and the cast began to fill their pages. Grantham was hounded by the press and the BBC was forced to put out a statement supporting him and their decision to employ a convicted murderer. In order to keep the press at bay, Grantham was smuggled out of the studios by the back route and decoy cars were used to lure the press away from his home, all of which put an increasing strain on the actor. Eventually the furore quietened down, but it never went away entirely and nearly every article written about the actor during his first stint in the show referenced his past. The press began to blur the characters in the show with the actors and it was at this point that Julia Smith — in an attempt to dispel confusion about reality and fiction — introduced the rule that no actor was ever to appear in public "in character".

Character development and impact
The Watts, with Anita Dobson as the newly appointed Angie, were the surprise hit characters of the show. Angie and Den were a live-wire couple whose on/off relationship made the Queen Vic pub exciting and unpredictable and the viewers tuned in their millions to watch the destruction of their relationship on-screen. Den's clashes with Angie brought EastEnders to a peak of popularity and toppled rival soap Coronation Street from the top of the ratings chart.

"Dirty Den"
In 1985, Den was the first person to speak on the first episode of EastEnders: "Stinks in here dunnit?" just before he found out that Reg Cox had been murdered by Nick Cotton. Early on in the series, the character of Den became central to the programme and was the focus of a controversial storyline involving the teenage pregnancy of Michelle Fowler. Press interest in the show escalated as journalists continuously tried to predict who had fathered Michelle's baby. In true whodunnit fashion, the audience had been kept in the dark as to the real identity of the father and were given teasers implicating several residents on the Square. The audience finally discovered the culprit in episode 66 of the programme, October 1985. The episode was written by series co-creator/script editor Tony Holland and directed by co-creator/producer Julia Smith, and was considered to be a landmark episode in the show's history. Four possible suspects were seen leaving the Square in the early half of the episode: Tony Carpenter, Ali Osman, Andy O'Brien and Den Watts. As Michelle waited by their rendezvous point a car pulled up and finally the fluffy white legs of Roly the poodle bounded out of the car, and gave it all away: Den Watts was the man meeting Michelle and it was he who had fathered her baby. It was when Den was revealed as the father that his famous nickname "Dirty Den" was created by the British press. The rest of the episode consisted of just one long scene, where Den and Michelle discussed whether or not to keep the baby. Up to that time it was the longest scene ever done in a soap-opera, lasting fifteen minutes. For a series that in its first eight months of existence had established a reputation for being fast-moving and rapidly cut, this was a bold experiment. It relied on just the one story and two actors to hold the audience for over half an episode. Tony Holland's handling of the awkward scene between a teenage girl and the father of her best friend is deemed as one of the highlights of EastEnders first year. The finishing touch was the use of an alternative end title music, a variation of the normal one which replaced the dramatic drum beats with a longer, gentler piano solo introduction.

After this storyline the programme started to appear in newspaper cartoons as it moved more and more into the public mainstream. One such cartoon showed the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, telling her cabinet that the best way to alert the country to the dangers of AIDS was to give the disease to Den.

Den and Angie mania
During 1986 the series became dominated by Den and Angie's storylines and the focus of the programme was very much concentrated on their combustible relationship. The emphasis began early in 1986 with the arrival of Den's mistress Jan Hammond. Jan had been a powerful off-screen presence for the first year, a menacing voice at the end of the telephone, which severely affected the mood of both Den and Angie and kept the audience on edge every time the phone rang. Jan's physical arrival at the Vic in January 1986 was one of the show's dramatic highlights. Her invasion of Angie's territory was a springboard to future emotional fireworks and a precursor to Angie's further dependence on alcohol and her attempted suicide.

Den and Angie's traumatic two-handler episode in October 1986 was another risky experiment for EastEnders — A thirty-minute episode with only two people in it had never been attempted in a soap before. Holland and Smith feared that the episode would not hold up, however press and audience alike were in agreement that it did. Once it was done, it set a precedent and the programme has featured two-handers ever since. The episode was structured like a "tennis match" between Angie and Den, with a non-speaking window-cleaner forever strolling innocently into the action. It began with Den trying to tell Angie that he wanted a divorce. Angie was shocked and for a moment defeated, but she then dropped her bombshell and told Den that she only had six months to live. At first Den didn't believe her, but eventually Angie's hysterical performance convinced him. He crumbled and promised to stay with her and only after he left did Angie smile in triumph, letting the audience in on her secret that it was all a big lie. Written by Jane Hollowood and directed by Antonia Bird, this episode is considered to be one of the finest episodes in EastEnders' catalogue.

The Den/Angie/Jan triangle was to continue for many months. The climax was a trip to Venice when Angie — convinced that Den had finished with his mistress — was taken there for a second honeymoon, returning to London on the Orient Express. This gave the writers and producers an opportunity to open the show up from the confines of Albert Square. However the trip to Venice was fraught with problems and Dobson, Grantham and Jane How were hounded by the press at all times. Their photographs appeared in British newspapers, thus ruining the shock surprise that Tony Holland had created, by including Den's mistress in the episode. Despite huge efforts from all involved the Venice episodes were only moderately successful, although the revelations discovered by Den in the episode set the scene for one of EastEnders' most renowned episodes, which aired on Christmas Day that year. After over-hearing his wife confess that her illness was fabricated, Den filed for divorce. 30.1 million viewers tuned in on Christmas Day in 1986, to witness Den handing Angie her divorce papers, giving the soap its highest ever episode rating, which has yet to be beaten by any other plotline from any other soap in the UK.

This storyline saw the separation of Den and Angie. Holland and Smith had anticipated that Den and Angie would be popular, but they had not guessed how hysterical the reaction to them would be. It was decided that Den and Angie would have to be played down for a while so that other characters would have the opportunity to shine through. The next few years saw Den and Angie struggle to get by without each other and eventually they reunited as business partners.

Arrest and demise
However, at the beginning of 1988 Antia Dobson decided that she wanted to move on after three years playing Angie. She made her final appearance in May that year. Leslie Grantham had also decided that he wanted to move on, but Julia Smith didn't want the programme to suffer the double blow of losing both Den and Angie so close together. The solution to the problem was one of the soap's most complex and creative exercises, that required intricate planning. The idea was to enable Den to stay as an on-screen presence until 1989, while keeping Grantham working for EastEnders only until the autumn of 1988. Tony Holland and writer/editor Bill Lyons came up with a story to put Den in prison for a year, intending that material recorded in a block of intensive filming would then be included in the programme for the rest of the year. The programme didn't want to make Den into a criminal, however, so he had to be put in prison for doing something that could be justified to the viewing public — otherwise there would be no sympathy for him. The answer lay in a storyline that was running with another character — the rape of Kathy Beale. After simultaneously getting in way over his head with a criminal organisation (The Firm), Den torched Kathy's rapist's winebar in retaliation, and was then made to take the blame for the deed by the firm. After he refused, went on the run, and was nearly killed by the firm's heavies, Den turned himself into the police and was put on remand at Dickens Hill prison in September 1988. For the next five months he was seen, in the company of a small group of new characters also confined in the prison, on a regular basis in EastEnders. This material was shot in less than a month at Dartmoor Prison, Devon. When these segments were written and recorded, they were done so entirely in isolation and in advance - the production team had no real idea of other material that would have to fit around it.

The character was eventually to bow out on 23 February 1989 in one of the programme's most famous episodes which attracted more than 20 million viewers. After escaping from custody, Den returned to the famous canal (in Alperton) for one last rendezvous with Michelle. The episode ended with Den being shot by a member of the firm (who was carrying a gun concealed in a bunch of daffodils) and then falling into the canal. The scene where Den actually hit the water had to be taped at the BBC's Ealing Film Studios using a water tank, because the waters of the Grand Union Canal were deemed unsafe. When the episode was finished, however, Jonathan Powell, controller of BBC1, requested that the final shot be removed to allow for the possibility of Den returning at a later date. In protest, Tony Holland and Julia Smith had their names taken off the episode's credits. Den's exit ended up being the creators' final contribution to the show.

Controversial return
However, after 14 years presumed dead, executive-producer Louise Berridge made the highly controversial decision to reintroduce the character to the series and reunite him with his daughter Sharon. Grantham has alleged that the producers of EastEnders asked him to reprise the role many times since 1991, but he turned each offer down as he was unhappy with the returning storylines. Subsequent offers between 1995 and 2001 were also rejected because Den's screen family were no longer in the show and Grantham felt that a return at this time would have been little more than a publicity stunt. However, he accepted Berridge's offer to return in 2002 as he approved of the storyline and because Den had family ties within the cast - his adoptive daughter Sharon had returned after six years away, his other daughter Vicki was due to return, and Dennis Rickman  - the son Den hadn't known existed - was also due to join.

The reintroduction of Den was part of a plan by scriptwriters to fight back against the continued success of ITV's long-running soap, Coronation Street. The character made his "dramatic return" in an episode that aired on 29 September 2003. On-screen, Den walked into Sharon's nightclub, Angie's Den, and greeted his stunned daughter with the words "Hello, princess." More than 16 million viewers watched his long-awaited homecoming, attracting 62% of the viewing public; it has been voted as the favourite TV soap comeback in an AOL online poll of over 23,000 viewers, taking over a third of the vote (37%).

Despite claims from the British press that the plot was unrealistic and that it questioned the show's credibility, Den's return sparked a huge increase in ratings for the last few months of 2003. After a successful Christmas storyline, Grantham took a short break from the show after securing a lengthy contract. Newly appointed executive-producer Kathleen Hutchison made the decision to axe the character in 2005 and he was killed off in a high-profile storyline, which saw his body buried in the cellar of The Queen Vic.

In 2006, EastEnders' scriptwriter Tony Jordan revealed how it was his idea to bring Den back in 2003. Jordan had started working at EastEnders in 1989, after Den had already left the series. Jordan had always wanted to write material for Den and Angie and so he campaigned for the return of Den for many years. He told the Daily Mirror, "At story conferences I'd say, 'How do we know he's dead? They never found a body'. Eventually, just to shut me up, they made me write an episode where Den's body was found and identified by his ring.

Impact on popular culture
In the short story Brief Encounter: Mistaken Identity by Gary Russell, published in Doctor Who Magazine Edition 174, the mercenary Lytton meets Den Watts in the Queen Victoria and mistakes him for Davros's adjutant Kiston. Leslie Grantham had played Kiston in an early television role in the Doctor Who serial Resurrection of the Daleks.

The 2006 episode of Doctor Who entitled "Army of Ghosts" features a scene where Peggy Mitchell tells the "ghost" of Den to "get outta my pub!" as the only spirits that will be served are vodka, whiskey and gin. Given that the episode later reveals the "ghosts" to be fully converted Cybermen, Leslie Grantham is not seen in this episode.

In 1986, the duo Whisky and Sofa released a single called "Dirty Den", with lyrics making direct references to the character.

In an episode of the fifth season of Old Harry's Game, Satan (the main character), takes control of the BBC and, in an effort to improve human morality, decides to insert moral messages into EastEnders, including reintroducing Den as a "force for good", when executives challenge Den's reintroduction, stating that he can no longer feature in the show as he was murdered, Satan replies dismissively "Oh, he's always being murdered", a reference to Den's 2003 resurrection.

Behind the Scenes

 * In late 1984, Leslie Grantham won the role of Den Watts, the womanising small-time dodgy landlord of The Queen Vic. In February 1985, Leslie's conviction for murder almost 20 years before was splattered all over the front pages. He was reprieved from the sack this time. Due to his major role in the show, and that characters rollercoaster relationship with Angie, Leslie Grantham and Anita Dobson (who played Angie) were under media scrutiny all the time.
 * In 2003, after 15 years away, Leslie agreed to return to EE, as Den's death was never 100% proven. Den had been living in exile in Spain.
 * On 15th June 2018, the news came out that Leslie Grantham had died aged 71 after suffering an illness.

First and last lines
"Stinks in here, dunnit?" (First line)

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"You'll never get me out of the Vic!" (Final line before he was bludgeoned with a doorstop by Chrissie)