Charlie Cotton (2014 character)

Charlie Cotton
EastEnders character
Portrayed by	Declan Bennett
Duration	2014–
First appearance	10 March 2014
Created by	Dominic Treadwell-Collins
Introduced by	Dominic Treadwell-Collins
Classification	Present; regular
Profile
Occupation	Caretaker Trainee car salesman
Family Father Nick Cotton Mother Yvonne Cotton Half brothers Ashley Cotton Half sisters Dotty Cotton Wife Ronnie Mitchell (2015–) Sons Matthew Mitchell-Cotton Grandfathers Charlie Cotton Grandmothers Dot Cotton

Charlie Cotton is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Declan Bennett. He first appeared on 10 March 2014. He is the grandson of Dot Branning, played by June Brown, who was unaware of his existence until he turned up at her house to tell her that her son, Nick (John Altman), was dead. Charlie's casting was announced on 22 January. He has established links to Walford's history, due to his family ties with both Nick and Dot, both of whom have appeared in the show from its first year in 1985.

Storylines

Charlie accompanies a policewoman who informs Dot of the death of her son, Nick Cotton. He returns later and explains that he is Nick's son. Charlie indicates that he is a police detective by saying that a friend down at the station mentioned a dead Cotton. Dot struggles to accept Charlie, while he helps with the arrangements for Nick's funeral. Dot insists that the coffin will be in the house on the day before the funeral. When Dot's friends visit to pay their respects to Nick, Charlie gets into an argument with Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and the coffin falls open and an arm falls out. Charlie is quick to react, and tells the funeral director Les Coker (Roger Sloman) to nail the coffin closed so nothing like it happens again. After Nick's funeral, Charlie takes Dot to the crematorium to see Nick's body before cremation, but they are too late, leaving Dot devastated. Charlie later has sex with Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) after she accidentally runs over Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) in her car.

Charlie and Dot continue to grow close and she introduces her husband Jim to him off-screen. Les begins to blackmail Charlie by threatening to reveal secrets about Nick's death and funeral. Dot calls at the police station, to be told that nobody called Charlie Cotton works there and questions whether he is her grandson. She refuses to listen to Charlie's excuses, instead opting to contact Yvonne Cotton (Pauline McLynn) for answers. Yvonne backs up Charlie's story that his case requires him to use a false name, but after the meeting Charlie warns Yvonne to make sure that she keeps their secret. Charlie continues to bond with Dot.

Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson) asks Charlie to speak to her grandson, Liam Butcher (James Forde), as the police are asking questions about drug dealing. Charlie leaves his phone in the house, which Carol answers and discovers that Nick is alive. She confronts Charlie, who says Dot is better off without Nick and now he cannot return to her life. Carol tells Charlie to tell Dot the truth or she will, but eventually decides not to as Dot enjoys having Charlie around. However, Max is still suspicious of Charlie, and talks to DC Emma Summerhayes (Anna Acton), who cannot prove that Charlie is a police officer. However, when Charlie reveals to Emma that he knows about her affair with Max, he tells her to back off or he will expose her. Charlie shows up at a care home where he is greeted by Yvonne. She tells him that he is late for work and it is revealed that he is in fact a caretaker. Charlie's car window is smashed, and he receives a text message from Nick, confirming he did it. When Yvonne finds out, she insists they flee him to Ireland, and she forces him to say goodbye to Dot. He is unable to do so, and returns to Dot. With Yvonne gone, he moves in with her. He shows his angry side once again when he believes that Carol has told Dot about Nick still being alive, and, as a result, Carol's distrust grows and she orders him to do a DNA test to prove he is Dot's grandson. They intend to take DNA from Dot's toothbrush, she catches them but participates, and the tests reveal that Charlie is who he says he is.

Charlie is shocked when Ronnie returns and tells him that she is pregnant with his child. Dot encourages him to support her and persuades him to propose to her. As he tries to, Ronnie confesses that she killed a man. He tells her, and later tells Dot, that the policewoman was a carer in the home where he was the caretaker and that he had never been in the police. Ronnie accepts his proposal. Nick reveals himself to Dot, leaving her distraught. Yvonne moves in and they hide Nick.

Ronnie tries to bribe Nick to leave but he takes the money and stays. Charlie and Ronnie marry on New Year's Day, but Ronnie goes into labour at the reception. Roxy (Rita Simons) drives her and Charlie to the hospital, but she crashes the car. Charlie suffers a dislocated shoulder and Ronnie ends up in a coma. Their son is delivered via emergency caesarean and is named Matthew. Charlie struggles with fatherhood and asks Roxy to look after the baby. Charlie soon discovers from Yvonne that Nick caused the car crash because he cut the brakes of the car. Matthew goes missing which makes Charlie realise that he loves his son. When Charlie finds him, he takes Matthew home to Dot's house. He tells the Mitchells the truth about himself and vows to go to the police, but Roxy and Sharon convince him not to. When he and Roxy learn that Ronnie may have extreme brain damage when she fails to awake from her coma, they both bond due to their grief and end up kissing and sleeping together. After Ronnie is woken from her coma, Charlie learns that Dot has killed Nick. When she hands herself into the police, Charlie gives a statement trying to help her be released, but is arrested himself and charged with assisting an offender, he is later given a suspended prison sentence. Charlie admits to Roxy that he loves her, but, after seeing Ronnie with Matthew, decides that he cannot leave her and asks Roxy to leave Walford.

Creation and development

Casting and introduction

The character of Charlie Cotton and Declan Bennett's casting were revealed on 22 January 2014.^[1][2] He was introduced to develop new storylines for long-standing character Dot Branning (June Brown), who had had a quiet few years on the show. On his casting, Bennett said that he was 'delighted' to be joining EastEnders and looked forward to working with Brown. The ambiguity over Charlie's intentions were also made clear, as executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins hinted that he may follow in the footsteps of his dodgy father and grandfather, who he was named after.^[1]

Bennett made his first appearance as Charlie on 10 March 2014, but was credited only as 'police officer' until his full introduction in the following episode in which he revealed his identity to Dot.

Nick Cotton's fake death

Charlie's introduction saw him lying to Dot that her son Nick Cotton (John Altman) was dead. Charlie refused to let Dot see inside the coffin at her home.^[3] Suspicion grew with the introduction of Charlie's mother Yvonne, a guest character played by Father Ted actress Pauline McLynn. She warned Charlie about getting too close to Dot, scared that 'he' would hurt them again, implying that Nick was still alive and threatening the Cottons.^[4]

On 29 July, a surprise twist saw Dot's step-daughter Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson) answer Charlie's phone and find Nick on the other end of the line. It was kept secret until transmission. Immediately afterwards, it was confirmed that John Altman would be returning to EastEnders.^[5] Altman said that he was looking forward to working with the new Cottons, including Declan Bennett. He returned on 24 October 2014, for a week of Halloween episodes where he stalked Dot and finally revealed himself to her on Halloween night.^[6]

Despite Charlie's lies to Dot and the other residents of Walford, Bennett said in an interview with All About Soap - in August 2014 - that Charlie was still a 'good man', and was starting to have 'Dot's best interests at heart'. He said that Charlie's relationship with Dot was 'beginning to blossom', and said that 'everyone's assumption was that (he'd be bad) because he was the spawn of Nick Cotton he would be bad'.^[7]

Ronnie Mitchell

Charlie was seen to have a one-night stand with Ronnie Mitchell, played by Samantha Womack, in early April, shortly after his introduction. Ronnie was upset and vulnerable due to running over Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) with her car in the spot she witnessed her daughter Danielle (Lauren Crace) run over and killed in 2009.^[8] Charlie comforted her, but afterwards Ronnie pushed him away and left Walford in July with feelings between her and Charlie unresolved.

Ronnie returned in September, visibly pregnant, and revealed to Charlie he was the father. On the story, Bennett said that he thought Charlie should 'tread carefully' around Ronnie due to her violent history, and said that the baby was a complete shock to Charlie as he thought Ronnie was 'never to be seen again'.^[7] Under Dot's advice, Charlie proposed to Ronnie after being in a full relationship with her just a week. However, he was shocked when she confessed she killed a man in self-defence earlier in the year. Charlie then revealed his own secrets about his profession and Nick still being alive, causing them to reconcile and Ronnie to accept Charlie's marital offer.^[9]

Reception

Charlie's initial appearances were criticised by Kate White from Inside Soap. She said "What's Charlie Cotton all about? He floats in and out of Walford like some kind of benign haunting. We sometimes forget about him even when's on screen in front of us. This plot needs shocking back to life!"^[10] Bennett's portrayal of Charlie and his relationship with Dot have been widely praised. Amy Duncan from the Metro thought Charlie "must be dodgy" and wondered "if he was as good as he seemed".^[11] Duncan also suspected Charlie would be "Walford's new bad boy" with Nick as his father.^[11] Charlie and Ronnie's romance was also praised by Ryan Love from Digital Spy, who said that he was "instantly sold on the pairing" and that the Ronnie/Charlie dynamic was much better than the Ronnie/Jack relationship before it.^[12]

References

External links

• Charlie Cotton at BBC Online