Jan Hammond

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EastEnders character
Jan Hammond
Portrayed by Jane How
Duration 1986–1987, 2002, 2003
Profile
Status Married
Occupation Art gallery worker

Janet "Jan" Hammond was a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was played by Jane How.

[edit] History

She appeared in 1986 as the long-term mistress of "Dirty" Den Watts. Jan was a posh upper-class sort of woman and worked at an art gallery. Den had been having an affair with her while he was still married to Angie Watts. She was always hated by Angie and Den's adopted daughter Sharon Watts but she tried her best to get along with her. She moved into the Queen Vic at one point with Den's insistence but wasn't much of a landlady so moved out soon after.

Jan as she appeared in 1986.
Jan as she appeared in 1986.

Den tried to leave Angie for Jan so he told Angie he was leaving her. Angie grew desperate and in order to stop him from leaving her she lied to him by saying she had six months to live. Den believed her but discovered many months later that she had been lying while they were on holiday in Venice. In one of EastEnders most famous storylines he divorced her on Christmas Day 1986.

Eventually Jan grew tired of Den not having a proper relationship with her so she ended their affair after he refused to leave Walford with her. She left Walford in 1987 and then went on to marry a man called Dario Chimisso on a gondola in Venice.

She made a brief return in 2002 for Angie's funeral. She had returned to give Sharon a portrait that Den had left with her many years earlier.

She briefly returned again in 2003 in a lead-up to Den's return 14 years since he had been shot and presumed dead by an employee of the gangland organisation The Firm. Den's long lost son Dennis Rickman had tracked Jan down and she revealed that Den had survived the shooting and came to her for help. With her help, Den was able to flee to Spain to protect himself and his family.