As the original landlady of the Queen Vic in EastEnders, Anita Dobson created one of the soap’s most iconic characters ever – but did you know she wasn’t first in line to play Angie Watts?
The 75-year-old star has revealed that she was brought into the role of Angie at the 11th hour after the first actress was dropped.
Theatre star Jean Fennell was cast by creators Julia Smith and Tony Holland as the Vic landlady, beginning rehearsals and even posing for publicity photos with on-screen husband and daughter Leslie Grantham and Letitia Dean, who became known to millions as Den and Sharon Watts.
Appearing on the We Started Here podcast – hosted by EastEnders star Lacey Turner, who plays Stacey Slater – Anita recalled the quick turnaround she had after being drafted in ahead of the BBC soap’s first episode in 1985.
She said: ‘There was somebody else cast to play Angie Watts. I came in at the 11th hour or 11th and a half hour really. It was meant to be.
‘I was cast on the Wednesday and I was filming by the Monday. It was very quick, the turnaround.’
Asked if her sudden casting was ‘scary’, Anita went on: ‘Well, everything that’s exciting is scary, isn’t it? So, yes, it was scary, but I just felt I knew this woman [Angie]. I knew her.
‘It was just a joy to play. It really was a gift. I feel very lucky that that happened. It changed my life,’ she added.
In 2015, director Matthew Robinson recalled how Tony and Julia decided to replace Jean during rehearsals.
He told MailOnline: ‘As it got closer and closer to the first day in the studio – three days before – Julia and Tony came in to see what was almost the final rehearsal.
‘Jean got really quite nervous because of that and she went over the top on her performance and became very theatrical, shouting the lines.
‘Tony and Julia were looking a bit ashen and shaking their heads.’
Matthew said Julia told him that Angie would need to be re-cast because it was such a key role.
‘Julia and Tony wanted to have the best, and I had to respect the decision although I argued to keep her in as I thought she would get better,’ he said.
‘I could see it was a very tough decision for them to make and I knew it was going to be devastating for Jean because she had the part that was going to be in the centre of the nation’s consciousness.’
Jean died in April 2011 aged just 59 after she was diagnosed with lung cancer, despite never having smoked.
Angie was not the only character nearly played by a different actor, however, as Derek Martin told of how he was up for the role of her husband Den Watts.
Leslie Grantham eventually landed the role, while Derek joined the soap 15 years later as Charlie Slater.
‘Leslie got it, and he was very good, he was the ladies’ man, and I was more the hard man,’ the actor told BBC News.
