25 years after being killed off, Ian Watts made a dramatic comeback to EastEnders.
In 1985, Anita Dobson, 75, portrayed Dirty Den Watts, her on-screen husband as they became the first landlord and landlord of the Queen Vic, in the role of Angie. Anita, who had previously started filming Jean Fennell, took over the role of Angie, but she later realized she had a different perspective.
Anita stayed on the show for three years while continuing to do so with Angie, which included some of the most dramatic storylines in soap history. Angie alcoholic in a role that had never before been seen before, breaking a significant trend in TV dramas that had primarily focused on men.
However, there was more drama surrounding Angie than just this: on Boxing Day 1986, a staggering 30.15 million people tuned in to see Den slap Angie with divorce papers on the Queen Vic’s stairs. No other TV soap opera has yet managed to surpass this record. However, Angie cemented her decision to leave the show after only three years and promised to stay.
Refusing to return, Anita previously said: “Why tarnish the gorgeous creation that was Angie Watts”? This cemented the decision from bosses to kill Angie off, off-screen. In 2002, she died from alcohol poisoning and returned to Walford to be buried by her daughter, Sharon Watts.
Anita is married to Sir Brian May, a world-renowned rock star, and they are living apart from the show. The couple, who were married in a low-key yet romantic ceremony at a registry office in Richmond upon Thames, London, wed in 2000. They were married in the style of Sir and Lady May.
Speaking about their first interaction, Anita told the Daily Mail: “He invited me to see Queen play at Wembley, with some friends. I had previously only dreamed of seeing my husband, so I was able to enter a world. Here was a man who was a god globally”. The couple met shortly after their wedding, and they soon flew to Venice on honeymoon.
However, their wedding was marred by a tragic accident, with Anita saving Brian’s life and Sir and Lady May experiencing a heart attack the same year. Anita, initially brushed off Brian’s symptoms, with her explaining to the Mail: “He said, ‘ Babe, I think I’m having a heart attack’, I said ‘ No, you’ve been exercising and you’ve overdone it'”. Brian was recovering from a torn muscle and trapped nerve he had sustained while gardening.
Speaking on BBC’s Morning Live, Brian commented: “She did save my life. I experienced a number of issues. Although it was lockdown, I was incapacitated due to a heart attack and drug problems, and then I developed sciatica. I couldn’t even crawl”.
Reflecting further on his health, Brian couldn’t help but sing Anita’s praises, saying: “So when you get that bad, you’re just grateful to be alive at the end of it and its thanks to Anita that I am, she’s been there the whole way through it. She’s taken care of me and nursed me and whatever”.
Beyond EastEnders, Anita has a long acting career. She’s appeared in a variety of TV shows including Dangerfield, Ghosts, Sunburn, Hotel Babylon, Holby City, The Bill, and the comedy series The Rebel. It’s not just TV roles that Anita is known for as she has also appeared in a string of stage productions, including Chorus Girls, Chicago, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Wicked. After signing up for Strictly Come Dancing with professional star Robin Windsor, she practiced her theatre and stage school experiences in 2011. But things didn’t go to plan, with Anita being eliminated during week nine.
More recently, Anita portrayed Eunice Lytton in the 2025 edition of Father Brown, and had a busy year last year with roles as Janine in Generation Z (2024), Janet in Curfew (2024), Mrs Flood in Doctor Who, and Mrs. Mentis in the film This Time Next Year. While Anita’s portrayal of Angie may have been axed more than 20 years ago, she made a dramatic appearance in the episode’s 40th anniversary episode from the perspective of the dead.
Angie appeared alongside Sharon, who was sat in a lucid state of unconsciousness as her daughter Sharon was laying in the rubble after the Vic vanished. She was told by Angela that she should start screaming for assistance and that their reunification was not yet her plan. “You’re not giving up on us, are you Sharon”? Angie asked her. “Hello, darling! I’ve missed you so much”. Angie responded, “I know, baby, and I wish I could just put my arms around you and give you a great big hug, but it’s not time for us to be together yet darling.” When Sharon admitted that she’s scared, Angie replied: “We’re all scared aren’t we? Look at me, I’ve always had fear in my life. But you’ve got to keep fighting, Sharon”.
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Source: Mirror
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