Dot Branning made her final return to EastEnders tonight, leaving fans in tears.
June Brown - who played Dot - passed away aged 95 earlier this year, and EastEnders have made the decision to air an emotional funeral for her character in order to give everyone time to remember the legendary actress and her equally legendary character.
At the end of tonight's episode, Dot returned home to Walford and the emotional scenes had fans in tears.
Sonia was clearly struggling as she said she "wasn't ready to say goodbye", whilst the family including Dotty, Whitney and Jack all joined her to say goodbye to Dot. A coffin was laid out with candles surrounding it.
"That last scene was devastatingly good, not ready for next week #EastEnders," one wrote.
A second added: "Going to be an emotional wreck watching the funeral next week #EastEnders," as a third shared: "Dot’s funeral episode is gonna be one of saddest episodes this year. #EastEnders."
"I have to say, big applause for @bbceastenders making the ending of each episode about Dot have either no sound or respectful music and not the duff duffs, tonight's episode was a great example. #EastEnders," a fourth penned.
As part of the huge funeral scenes, a number of EastEnders stars will return as their characters including Colin Russell (Lord Michael Cashman CBE), Barry Clark (Gary Hailes) George ‘Lofty’ Holloway (Tom Watt), Mary ‘the punk’ Smith (Linda Davidson), Disa O’Brien (Jan Graveson) and Dot’s step-granddaughter Lauren Branning ( Jacqueline Jossa ).
The actress’s 35-year run as the Albert Square mainstay began in 1985, before she left the show in 2020.
June was perhaps EastEnders' best-known star and larger-than-life Dot was known for her devout Christian faith and hypochondria, as well as her endless cigarette addiction.
The veteran actress, who had a long career in television and theatre, arrived on Albert Square shortly after the soap began in 1985, and aside from a break between 1993 and 1997, was a regular for more than three decades.
June passed away at her home in Surrey in April with her family by her side. Following her death, EastEnders announced their special tribute plans with stars of past and present returning to Albert Square.
Jacqueline said of returning to the soap: "I’d hoped it would happen. June deserves the send-off she’s going to get at EastEnders, and I wanted to be a part of that and be involved. It was nice to be there to represent that side of the Branning family because there are family members always off gallivanting and doing different things."
Chris Clenshaw, Executive Producer of the BBC soap, said of the emotional scenes: "Everyone at EastEnders was truly heartbroken when June passed away earlier this year and, for quite a while, no-one could even think about saying goodbye to Dot; an iconic character who will go down in television history and be cherished forever.
"June was always adamant that she never wanted Dot’s time to end while she was still with us, but she also knew that EastEnders would rightly say their farewells to Dot when the time was right.
"Sadly that time has come and we are determined to give the audience, who treasured Dot for so many years, the fitting tribute that she so deeply deserves. So whilst it will be a very, very sad day in Walford, we will be giving Dot the send-off that she and June would want and rightly deserve."
