Roly

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EastEnders character

Roly
Portrayed by	Roly
Duration	1985–1993
First appearance	19 February 1985
Last appearance	19 October 1993
Species	Dog
Date of birth	1984
Date of death	19 October 1993
Occupation	Pet
Owner(s)	Den Watts Sharon Watts Frank Butcher Pat Butcher Grant Mitchell

Roly was a fictional dog in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Roly was an apricot coloured Standard Poodle, who appeared in the first episode of the programme and remained in the show until 1993.

1 Casting
2 Storylines
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Casting

Roly was cast less than a week before the filming of EastEnders began. From the beginning it was decided that the occupants of The Queen Victoria pub, Den, Angie and Sharon Watts, were to have an Alsatian named Prince. However, finding an Alsatian that was light enough in colour not to merge into the background of the set proved to be difficult. Eventually, the co-creator/producer of the show, Julia Smith, was contacted by a company named Janimals, who specialised in providing and training animals for television and films. They had found a seven month-old Poodle, called Roly, who might still be young enough to be trained. Training was said to take three weeks, and as the Poodle was a similar size to an Alsatian, Roly got the part. Roly was made the property of the BBC, given an ID card, and taken to live with Julia Smith at her home in London. Roly and Willy the pug shared a dressing room at Elstree studios.^[1]

[edit] Storylines

Roly was given to Sharon Watts by her father, Den. Sharon's mother, Angie, did not like the dog much and once even accused him of deliberately causing her to trip and fall on the stairs. However, during Den and Angie's divorce in 1987, Angie was horrified to hear that Den was considering selling Roly. She stormed round to the Vic and demanded that Den give Roly to her.

Roly was involved in many storylines during his time in the show. He was often used by his owners as a silent sounding board, and was made privvy to all their secrets and woes. It was Roly who first alerted viewers to the fact that his owner, Den, had got the 16 year old schoolgirl, Michelle Fowler, pregnant in October 1985; one of the soaps most renowned 'whodunit' plots. After months of speculation, Michelle went to meet the father at a nearby canal, and Roly bounded out of the mystery man's car, showing the identity of the man, Den.^[2]

Roly was a bit of a rogue from time to time. He trampled over Tom Clements' prize leeks, which led to Tom stealing Arthur Fowler's leeks and winning first prize in the London in Bloom competition. He also bit Alan McIntyre on the bottom after he tried to evict Ali and Sue Osman.^[2] He also tore apart Ethel's Christening gown she'd been knitting for the Fowlers.

Roly gave everyone a fright when he ate some rat poison that Debbie Wilkins had laid down in the First til Last grocery store. However, after being sick on the floor of James Willmott-Brown's new carpet at The Dagmar, he made a full recovery.^[2]

Roly was the first to find Pat Wicks in Albert Square gardens when she'd been savaged by the Walford ripper. Pat later demanded that he be kicked out of The Vic when the Butchers moved in in 1988. Roly then ran away but was found by Junior Roberts and returned him to the Butchers. Fortunately for Roly, Diane and Ricky Butcher changed Pat's mind and Mo, who at first suggested they get a kennel for Roly, warmed to him so much that he went to live with her at her flat for a while.^[2]

When Eddie Royle became the new landlord of The Vic in 1990, Roly lived with him and Sharon Watts, who lodged there as barmaid. It was whilst out walking Roly one evening that Eddie was stabbed and left to die in the middle of the Square. His body was only found after Roly began barking. Roly then lived with his original owner Sharon and her husband Grant.^[2]

He had several brushes with death over the years. He was injured in a car accident caused by a drunk Pete Beale and was nearly burnt alive (along with Sharon) when Grant torched The Vic in an insurance scam. However, in October 1993, Roly's luck finally ran out when Sharon asked Grant to take Roly for a walk, but he paid Mandy Salter £10 to do it for him. A few hours later, Mandy returned to explain the circumstances of Roly's death to Grant and Sharon. According to Mandy, Roly slipped his lead to chase a cat and was run over by a lorry. Sharon was devastated. 14.8 million viewers tuned in to see Roly's last appearance on-screen.^[3]

Off-screen, the real Roly was getting too old to appear regularly on television so it was decided that he should retire to live with his owner, Julia Smith. On 2 August 1995, Roly died following an operation for breathing problems aggravated by the 1995 heatwave.^[4]