The BBC soap aired a double bill on Thursday as Sonia Fowler (played by Natalie Cassidy) learnt of the passing of Dot Cotton (June Brown ... from Dot but she was cut off when her phone died.

Dot Cotton made a return of sorts to EastEnders ... With icon Sonia bowing out in the episode, after actress Natalie Cassidy quit the role, the show featured a number of nods to Sonia's past.

And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis ... storylines she’d been offered. Dot’s final appearance on the show took place ...

Actress June Brown was the backbone of one of Britain’s best loved soaps. Brown became a cultural fixture for her long-running turn as the inimitable Dot Branning – best known as Dot Cotton ...