EastEnders icon Anita Dobson has revealed her emotion after returning to the BBC soap’s set after almost four decades.
The star played the incomparable Angie Watts for just three years from the show’s inception in 1985, but quickly cemented herself as a fan-favourite.
As the original Queen Vic landlady, Ang is best remembered for her turbulent relationship with husband Den (Leslie Grantham), with the pair scooping an impressive 30.1 million viewers when their divorce papers were dealt at Christmas 1986.
Just months earlier, they were also the centre of the first ever game-changing two-hander episode.
After struggling with alcoholism and kidney failure, she fled for a new life in Spain.
Fourteen years after Anita’s exit, the character was killed off, off-screen, after suffering from cirrhosis of the liver and alcohol-related dementia.
To celebrate the drama’s 40th anniversary, which takes place next week, she’s made a poignant trip back to the Hertfordshire production base where she became a household name in 1985.
Whilst we won’t see Angie back in regular episodes of EastEnders, Anita will share memories from her time on the show in new documentary 40 Years on The Square.
Fronted by Grant Mitchell actor Ross Kemp, the special edition explores groundbreaking, memorable moments from the last four decades.
Fans will undoubtedly be thrilled to see her catch-up with on-screen daughter Letitia Dean, who plays Sharon Watts.
Captivated by their reunion, Ross asks Anita how it feels to be together again after so long.
‘Absolutely wonderful!’ she explains.
‘I feel very emotional, very happy. She looks beautiful, I love her to bits.’
Letitia chirps: ‘Anita was like a second mum to me.’
Clear that their bond stretches far beyond our TV screens, Anita goes on to reveal: ‘She was the baby girl I never had.’
The trio then look over a series of production stills and publicity photos, including one with their much-loved pooch Roly the poodle.
Remembering the canine companion, Anita adds: ‘That dog, you would say “action”, he’d sit up, you’d say “cut” and he’d relax!’
EastEnders 40th anniversary – Everything we know so far
Here’s what EastEnders fans can expect as the soap celebrates its 40th anniversary on 19 February 2025:
A live episode
Having previously gone live for the 25th and 30th anniversaries in 2010 and 2015, the soap will be beaming live to the nation once again during the 40th week.
This instalment will air one day after the big 4-0, on Thursday February 20.
The episode will also mark a huge EastEnders first as bosses are giving the audience the power to vote on the outcome of one storyline, with the actors having to react to the result live on air – speaking of which…
Denise Fox decides… sort of.
With Denise Fox (Diane Parish) having found herself in a love triangle with Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) and Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara), fans will decide whether she reunites with her estranged husband Jack or picks her secret lover.
We also know that another ‘history making’ decision will be left to audiences to decide, with details yet to be announced.
Grant Mitchell returns
Ross Kemp will be reprising his role as the legendary Grant Mitchell to play a significant part in the 40th celebrations.
‘Grant has never been far from the action and let’s just say, this time is no different as he certainly comes back with a bang,’ Ross teased.
Cindy Beale’s attacker revealed
Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) was left for dead when she was whacked over the head with a shovel by a mystery assailant on Christmas Day after the truth about her affair with former stepson Junior Knight (Micah Balfour) exploded.
With the finger of suspicion currently pointing at numerous characters, Cindy’s attacker will be unmasked at last during the anniversary week.
Special programming
Ahead of the big week, BBC Four will broadcast EastEnders Sings at the BBC, a look back at archive performances from cast members from Top of the Pops.
Ross Kemp will take a trip down Walford memory lane with a special hour-long documentary called EastEnders: 40 Years on The Square, taking fans behind the scenes as he delves into the show’s history and relieves some of the most memorable moments.
BBC Three will also offer viewers a look at the explosive anniversary storylines with a 45-minute interview special – EastEnders Revealed: The Lock In – hosted by Joe Swash as he chats to some of the actors who find themselves at the heart of the anniversary drama.
The Queen Vic explodes
As Billy and Honey Mitchell (Perry Fenwick and Emma Barton) prepare to walk down the aisle, their favourite boozer The Queen Victoria will burn to the ground.
Aerial pictures from filming show the pub blown to smithereens, with a car crashed into the side. There’s also a marquee in the middle of the Square Gardens – is this from the wedding?
Another familiar face staging a comeback is Pam St Clement, whose character Pat Butcher died in 2012. She returned four years later as a hallucination for Barbara Windsor’s final Peggy Mitchell scenes.
‘When I got the part of Pat like any actor I decided to do a bit of homework, I saw this bus conductress on a number 38 bus and she was wearing these most dangly earrings… Pat always wears the earring that fit her mood’ she tells Ross.
‘You know those tool boxes you can get that fold up?
‘I had one of those and a wall bracket with dangling earrings, but the interesting thing is most of them came from viewers.’
With Ross surprised that viewers donated the jewellery themselves, Pam responds: ‘They’d say – “I saw these in the market and I thought they were absolutely right for Pat!”‘
EastEnders: 40 Years on The Square, airs Monday, February 17th at 8pm on BBC One.
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