Watts family

The Watts family was created for EastEnders by Tony Holland and Julia Smith and appeared from the programme’s first episode in 1985. Holland and Smith recognised that The Queen Victoria public house would be a crucial social centre for the new soap and built the Watts around that location. Den and Angie Watts were conceived as a charismatic but combustible married couple, with their adopted daughter Sharon completing the original household. Their marriage supplied the family’s foundational conflict: Den was a serial womaniser and manipulator, while Angie repeatedly attempted to preserve the relationship despite his betrayals. Sharon’s adoption and her closeness to the Fowler family gave the Watts a wider place in the fictional community. In 1986, her friend Michelle Fowler gave birth to Vicki, who was fathered by Den. This secret relationship created another branch of the family and established the pattern of hidden parentage that would recur in later stories. Den and Angie’s relationship deteriorated over the next several years. Angie’s final appearance came in April 1988, and Den’s final original scenes were broadcast in February 1989 after he was apparently killed. Sharon remained in the programme until 1995. Her marriage to Grant Mitchell and affair with his brother Phil connected the Watts to the emerging Mitchell family and produced the highly publicised “Sharongate” storyline. The family’s importance to EastEnders encouraged later producers to rebuild it. Sharon returned in 2001 as the previously undisclosed owner of the Queen Vic. The programme then reintroduced Vicki and brought Den back in 2003, despite his supposed death. Den’s return was used to reunite the family and intensify competition with other major soap operas. His previously unknown son Dennis Rickman was introduced in the same period. Dennis’s arrival gave the family a new emotional centre and created a difficult relationship between an adult son and the father whose absence had shaped his life. Chrissie Watts, Den’s second wife, arrived in 2004. Her character was deliberately distinct from Angie: she was more independent and was capable of matching Den’s strategic and deceptive behaviour. The household therefore repeated the original Den-and-Angie pattern in a more adversarial form. Sharon, Dennis and Vicki were drawn into Den and Chrissie’s conflicts, while the Queen Vic again functioned as both family home and contested symbol of authority. The revived Watts unit collapsed during 2005 and early 2006. Den was killed after Leslie Grantham left the programme. Vicki departed, Dennis was killed in an episode shown on 30 December 2005, Sharon left for America, and Chrissie was imprisoned for Den’s murder. Sharon eventually returned in August 2012 after her son Dennis had been kidnapped. She subsequently resumed life in Walford and continued to carry the Watts name and legacy. Later family associations included Dennis’s son Albie, Vicki’s husband Ross Marshall and Sharon’s biological half-brother Zack Hudson. The family’s continuing importance rests less on a conventional stable household than on its repeated reconstruction around Den’s legacy, Sharon’s relationships and the Queen Vic.

• 2012

  Sharon returns again

  [1]Watts familyen.wikipedia.org

  Sharon returns to Walford after rescuing her kidnapped son Dennis.

• 2005

  The revived family collapses

  [1]Watts familyen.wikipedia.org

  Den dies, Dennis is killed and Chrissie is imprisoned for Den’s murder.

• 2004

  Chrissie arrives

  [1]Watts familyen.wikipedia.org

  Den’s second wife becomes a central member of the revived family.

• 2003

  Den returns and Dennis is introduced

  [1]Watts familyen.wikipedia.org

  Den returns to Walford and his biological son Dennis Rickman enters the family narrative.

• 2001

  Sharon returns as Queen Vic owner

  [1]Watts familyen.wikipedia.org

  Sharon’s return begins the reconstitution of the Watts family.

• 1995

  Sharon’s original run ends

  [1]Watts familyen.wikipedia.org

  Sharon leaves Walford for America after the collapse of her marriage to Grant Mitchell.

• 1989

  Den apparently dies

  [1]Watts familyen.wikipedia.org

  Den is apparently killed after being shot and falling into a canal.

• 1988

  Angie leaves the programme

  [1]Watts familyen.wikipedia.org

  Angie Watts makes her final appearance.

• 1986

  Vicki’s parentage is established

  [1]Watts familyen.wikipedia.org

  Michelle Fowler gives birth to Vicki, whose father is Den Watts.

• 1985

  Watts family debuts

  [1]Watts familyen.wikipedia.org

  Den, Angie and Sharon appear as one of EastEnders’ original families.

A high-drama, legacy family unit within EastEnders, positioned around the Queen Vic and characterised by volatile relationships, secrets, rivalries and repeated returns to Walford.

• Fictional television character · 1985

  Den Watts

  The family’s dominant patriarch and an original EastEnders character. Den is portrayed as charming, unfaithful, manipulative and deeply influential over his spouses and children. His relationship with Angie, his secret relationship with Michelle Fowler, the later revelation of Dennis as his son and his return after an apparent death form the central architecture of the Watts saga.

• Fictional television character · 1985

  Angie Watts

  Den’s first wife and Sharon’s adoptive mother. Angie’s troubled marriage, emotional volatility and attempts to respond to Den’s affairs defined the original Watts household. She left EastEnders in 1988.

• Fictional television character · 1985

  Sharon Watts

  Den and Angie’s adopted daughter and the family’s longest-running member. Sharon connects the Watts with the Fowlers and Mitchells and has repeatedly returned to Walford. Her relationships, including the Sharongate affair and her later family life with Dennis and Albie, keep the Watts legacy active.

• Fictional television character · 1986

  Vicki Fowler

  Den’s biological daughter with Michelle Fowler. Although legally associated with the Fowler family, Vicki has strong ties to Sharon and the Watts storyline. She was reintroduced during the family’s early-2000s revival and later left the programme.

• Fictional television character · 2003

  Dennis Rickman

  Den’s biological son, introduced in 2003 after the programme revealed a decades-old affair. Dennis became a major emotional and romantic figure in the revived Watts narrative, particularly through his relationship with Sharon, before being killed in December 2005.

• Fictional television character · 2004

  Chrissie Watts

  Den’s second wife, introduced in 2004. Chrissie was written as an independent and calculating counterpart to Angie, able to challenge Den on his own terms. Her storyline culminated in Den’s murder, for which she was arrested and imprisoned.

• Fictional television character · 2006

  Dennis Rickman Jr (Albie)

  Sharon’s son and a later-generation member of the Watts family. His kidnapping preceded Sharon’s 2012 return to Walford. He is also known as Albie.

• Fictional television character

  Zack Hudson

  Sharon’s biological half-brother, regarded as part of the wider Watts family unit despite not being one of the original household members.

• Fictional television character

  Ross Marshall

  Vicki Fowler’s husband and a member of the wider family unit by marriage.

• 2005

  Chrissie’s conviction for Den’s murder

  After Den’s death, Chrissie was arrested and imprisoned for his murder, bringing the revived Watts family storyline to a criminal and familial climax.

  Source

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• 2004

  Introduce Chrissie WattsProduct launch

  Background

  The revived family required a new spouse to continue the dramatic structure previously created by Den and Angie.

  Action taken

  Chrissie was introduced as Den’s second wife, with a more independent and strategically confrontational personality.

  Aftermath

  Her conflict with Den and involvement in his death became the closing arc of the family’s 2003–2006 revival.

  Source

• 2003

  Bring Den Watts back from apparent deathOther

  Background

  The programme faced strong competition from other British soaps and wanted to restore one of its most recognisable characters.

  Action taken

  Leslie Grantham returned as Den, whose supposed 1989 death was retrospectively revealed not to have been final.

  Aftermath

  The return generated considerable attention and reunited the Watts family, although its plausibility was questioned by some critics.

  Source

• 2001

  Rebuild the Watts family around Sharon’s returnStrategy

  Background

  Producers sought to capitalise on the family’s continuing popularity and Sharon’s importance to EastEnders.

  Action taken

  Sharon was returned to Walford as the secret owner of the Queen Vic, followed by plans to restore further family connections.

  Aftermath

  The decision led to Den’s return, the introduction of Dennis Rickman and the family’s second major period of dominance.

  Source

1. 1Watts familyen.wikipedia.org