Victoria "Nana" Moon

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EastEnders character

Nana Moon
Portrayed by	Hilda Braid
Duration	2002–2005
Date of birth	25 December 1920
Date of death	16 December 2005
Marital status	Deceased
Occupation	Retired
Family	Alfie, Spencer

Victoria Moon was a fictional character in the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was affectionately known to her family (along with most other characters in the soap and its fans) as Nana Moon. She was played by Hilda Braid (and Kate Colgrave Pope in her flashback episode aged 24).

She was the grandmother of Alfie and Spencer, and great aunt of Jake and Danny Moon.

1 Life
2 Wish list
3 Victoria's Normandy trip
4 Death
5 Family
6 External links

[edit] Life

Nana was married to William Moon, a soldier, during World War II. She was two months preganant when he left to fight in the invasion of Europe. She gave birth to Alfred Moon (father of Alfie and Spencer) in April 1944. William died on 12 June 1944, killed in action. Nana remained faithful to him and never had sexual relations with any other man.

Nana was suspected to have Alzheimer's disease, but it turned out to be water on the brain, which was operated on and her dementia was cured.

Nana met fellow pensioner, Wilfred Atkins, while on holiday at the seaside. They planned to marry, but on their wedding day Alfie exposed him as a fraud as he planned to flee with some of Victoria's possessions. She was devastated, and Wilfred left Walford having conned Pat Evans out of £300,000.

In 2005, Nana was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm, and took the decision to die, as her chances of surviving an operation were low due to her age (84). She worked on a wish list with Alfie, and set challenges for herself before her death.

[edit] Wish list

Nana made wishes as follows:

To be arrested.
- She assaulted the police officer who arrested Stacey Slater, by knocking his hat off and stamping on his foot.
To visit her dead husband William's grave.
- Alfie and Nana visited William's grave in Normandy on 11 November 2005.
To see a film she starred in as a youngster.
- Alfie tracked down the rationing film, and played it in the community centre for everyone.
To have a curry night.
- Alfie and Jake threw a curry night and invited Big Mo, Kat, Rosie, Keith, Naomi, Patrick, Yolande, Dot and Jim. Alfie accidentally emptied the whole tub of salt into the curry he was making, so Jake gave him some money and Alfie got a takeaway from the Argee Bhajee Indian restaurant.
To have tea with HM The Queen.
- Alfie and Kat took Nana to Madame Tussauds to meet the waxwork of the Queen.
To play poker.
- Naomi, Garry and Minty played poker with Nana and Alfie, and Nana won a lot of money!
To go to the races and place a bet on the horses.
- Unfortunately, Nana died before Alfie and Kat could take her to the races, however, she left Alfie money to place a bet so they could go to the races anyway.

Nana also wished to be cremated wearing:
- Her pink dress for special occasions
- Her pearls and matching earrings
- Her smart shoes with heels
- Her little brooch
- Her wedding ring
- Her perfume that smells like bluebells
- Her everyday make-up
In her coffin with her:
- The telegram about William's death
- Her and William's marriage certificate
- (And most importantly) William's letters to her

[edit] Victoria's Normandy trip

Nana got one of her wishes when Alfie took her to France to see her late husband's grave, in an episode screened on Armistice Day 2005. The story included flash backs to 1944 when the then-young Victoria met and fell in love with Alfie's grandfather William Moon, who proposed to her at her workplace in front of her colleagues, they subsequently got married and she fell pregnant with the baby that was to be Alfie's father. Back in present day France, Alfie's emotional state was badly affected by the fact that Nana was not eating and he knew that she was dying. Nana wanted to talk to Alfie about what he should do after her death, but he couldn't bring himself to discuss it, so she wrote him a note about the arrangements for her funeral. Meanwhile back in 1944, the D-Day landings were in full swing and William was in a landing craft heading for Normandy. Unfortunately he was killed on the beach (where Alfie was standing, talking to a war veteran who unknowingly was helped by his late grandfather as they battled together) and Victoria got the terrible news in a telegram from the War Office. Finally back in the present, Nana laid flowers on William's grave and told him she would see him very soon. This episode later won the British Soap Award for 'Best Single Episode' in May 2006.

[edit] Death

As Christmas was coming nearer, the strain and stress on Alfie became increasingly high. Still determined to do whatever his grandmother wished, he put on a brave face and tried to enjoy what he knew would be his final days with her. On December 16, 2005, Nana wished for her, Jake, and Alfie to decorate the house together in the traditional Moon way. Alfie commanded her wishes by buying an ornamental snowman that danced and swung something around in its hand. He and Jake also purchased a real Christmas tree and decorated the house from the outside, as well as surprising Nana with the Christmas tree inside, whereas Nana gave a card to Kat in The Vic pub, saying that it was her final wish and that Alfie would be unable to make it come true. She instructed Kat to only open it after she had died.

After decorating the tree together, it was the traditional time when Nana would put the angel on top of the tree. This time, she told Alfie to do it, a symbol of saying that she was too old and weak, and he had to 'take over the reins' now. As she and Alfie sat, watching the dancing snowman, he went to put it on again after it stopped. Realising the batteries had run out, he turned back to his grandmother, who had peacefully died on the sofa.