Reg Cox

Reg Cox
© BBC
Aliases
Birth	Reginald Cox
About
Portrayed by	Johnnie Clayton (1985) Marc Tufano (CivvyStreet)
Introduced by	Julia Smith (1985)
Gender	Male
Last Mentioned	5 February 2025
Appears on	19 February 1985
Flashback Appearance	CivvyStreet
Cause/Reason	Beaten to death by Nick Cotton
Status	Deceased
Age	58/59
Date of Birth	1926
Date of Death	19 February 1985 (off-screen)
Occupation	Retired
Classification	Former; guest
Relationships/Known relatives
Sisters	A sister
Research
Page Links:	Which Pages Link Here

Reginald "Reg" Cox made his only appearance in 19 February 1985, with a flashback appearance in CivvyStreet.

Backstory

Reg Cox was born in 1926 in Walford. He had an older sister. Reg grew up in Albert Square, Walford. Aged 16 in 1942, Reg joined the army. After the war, Reg returned to Albert Square. As an adult he had a flat at No 23 Albert Square. As he got older he became more grumpy and turned into a cantankerous old man. In February 1985, local villain Nick Cotton wanted his war medals so beat him up in his flat, and left him almost dead, and it was a couple of days before Reg was discovered.

Storylines

On 19 February 1985, one sunny afternoon, 3 of Reg's neighbours, Den Watts, Ali Osman, and Arthur Fowler, broke into Reg's flat, concerned for him. They saw him lying almost dead in his chair. Den ran across the Square to Dr Legg's surgery, sent the doctor over, and phoned for an ambulance. Reg was taken to the hospital but later died. He was 58 years of age. Dr Legg was phoned and was told the news that Reg's death is now a murder inquiry. Police suspected Mark Fowler, but he had an alibi. Within a few weeks, they were certain that Nick Cotton was responsible. The DI reported to Dr Legg that stolen property, including the medals taken from Reg, had been found in Nick's flat. In the same episode, Nick attacked Ethel and confirmed he had attacked Reg.

In 1988, Nick confessed to Den Watts in prison that he was responsible for murdering Reg. In February 2000, Dot Cotton mentioned it was 15 years since Reg died. In November 2014, Reg's killer Nick Cotton had been using Reg's name as an alias, over 29 years after Reg had died. Almost 30 years later, just days short of the 30th anniversary of his death, in February 2015, Nick, who had taken a heroin overdose, was being comforted by his mum Dot. Nick told her he had killed Reg, and then Nick himself passed away. Nick died in almost the same spot that Reg died at as he was in hiding at Number 23 (Reg's flat had been upstairs and Nick died in a room downstairs).

Gallery

Marc Tufano as Reg Cox
(Civvy Street)

Marc Tufano as Reg Cox
(Civvy Street)

Johnnie Clayton as Reg being put into the Ambulance
(19 February 1985)

Reg Cox (19 February 1985)

Reg Cox's Stolen Nazi Badge
(5 March 1985)

Behind the Scenes

• Originally it was intended for Reg's murderer not to be disclosed, as his murder was to highlight how dangerous and rough Walford could be. However, bosses higher up considered it as a waste of a good potential storyline and asked Julia Smith and Tony Holland to reveal Reg's murderer. However, both of them believed neither of their original characters created could be capable of committing Reg's murder, so they created the character of Nick Cotton for that reason.