Dennis Hills (also known as Herbert Hills) is the husband of Brenda Hills and father of Kathy Cotton, Ted, Colin, Johnathan and Stephanie Hills as well as two other sons who have never been named. Dennis is also the grandfather of Donna Ludlow, Ian Beale, Ben Mitchell, Tony and Sarah Hills and at least three unnamed others.
Backstory[]
Dennis was extremely poor and an alcoholic who was frequently abusive to both his wife and his children. He is mentioned in the novel Swings and Roundabouts which said he used to take three quarters of any money Kathy worked for to pay for food and rent and that he had hit his daughter when he discovered her relationship with Pete Beale. In 1964, when Kathy fell pregnant at fourteen, Dennis and Dr Legg had a conversation which resulted in him stopping the physical abuse towards her despite the verbal abuse continuing, Kathy never knew what was said but often wondered. Before leaving the show in 1998, Kathy has a dream where she sees a selection of men from throughout her life in a book and one of the men is Dennis but the photograph of him is not properly shown.
Background information[]
- Dennis was also called 'Herbert Hills', stated on an official website.