| "Dot's Story" | |
|---|---|
| EastEnders episode | |
| Directed by | Joanna Hogg |
| Written by | Jeff Povey |
| Produced by | Sally Stokes |
| Production code | LDXA287H[1] |
| Original air date | 2 January 2003 |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
"Dot's Story" is a spin-off episode of the British television soap opera EastEnders, broadcast on BBC One on 2 January 2003.[2]
Plot
editDot reflects on when she was just a little girl and when she was evacuated to Wales at the start of World War II. How she met her surrogate parents Gwen and Will and how their relationship developed into them treating her as their actual daughter rather than a evacuee. Eventually Will starts to resent Dot for not being a boy but Dot shows him she can work just as well. Although Dot is fond of the time she spent with Gwen and Will she has a secret that she must now reveal her secret to Gwen before she dies.[3]
Cast and characters
edit- June Brown as Dot Branning
- Tallulah Pitt-Brown as Little Dot
- Dafydd Emyr as Young Will
- Rhys Parry Jones as Young Gwen
- Gwenllian Davies as Ewan
- Ruth Jones as Gwen
- Claire Thurgood as Jenny Morgan
Production
edit"Dot's Story" was directed by Joanna Hogg and was said to be a "bridge" between the two major phases of Hogg's career. The episode uses elaborate flashbacks.[4] It was billed as a "New Year special" of EastEnders that would focus on Dot's childhood. It was filmed on location in Dolgellau, north-west Wales, but the exact filming location was kept secret, with a BBC spokesperson saying, "It's a very tight schedule and we don't give out details because we don't want the general public to turn up while we're filming."[5] Hywel Trewyn from the North Wales Daily Post reported that Gwynedd Council were unaware that the BBC were filming, but said that EastEnders producershad asked for permission to use parking spaces at the Marian, Dolgellau.[5]
Broadcasts
editIt was reported that the episode was originally scheduled for broadcast on 1 January 2003,[5] but it was shown on 2 January 2003 on BBC One and was repeated later the same day on BBC Choice.[6] It was later broadcast in the United States by WLIW21 on 31 July 2009.[7]
Reception
editNeil Young, writing in 2014 for the Crossing Europe film festival, described "Dot's Story" as, "by some way the most formally adventurous of Hogg’s television works—with, at its core, a truly moving performance by Brown, whose Dot Cotton (a.k.a. Dot Branning) is now widely acknowledged as one of the greatest and most beloved characters in UK small-screen history."[4]
In 2017, Steven Murphy, editor of Inside Soap, said that it was "sweet to see one-offs like Dot's early days in EastEnders", referring to "Dot's Story".[8]
Ratings
editOfficial ratings from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board showed that the episode gained 7.94 million viewers.[9]
See also
editFootnotes
editReferences
edit- ^ "EASTENDERS BUBBLES - DOT'S STORY". Getty Images. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "EastEnders: Dot's Story". BBC Genome. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ Wilkes, Neil (8 December 2002). "SPECIAL EPISODE: Dot's Story". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ a b Young, Neil. "Casualty: Love's Labour / Eastenders: Dot's Story". Crossing Europe. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
- ^ a b c Trewyn, Hywel (3 December 2002). "Dot's secret war-time life in N. Wales; EastEnders star films New Year special at mystery location". North Wales Daily Post. Retrieved 3 March 2017 – via The Free Library.
- ^ "EastEnders: Dot's Story". BBC Genome. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
- ^ "EastEnders Dot's Story". WLIW21. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
- ^ Murphy, Steven (13–19 May 2017). "Welcome!". Inside Soap. 2017 (19): 3.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ "Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 3 March 2017.