Charlie Cotton confirmed to miss Dot Branning's funeral in EastEnders

However, there are some figures who viewers might expect to be appearing at the funeral of Dot Branning, following her death off screen last week.

In Thursday night's episode (8th December 2022), it was confirmed that Dot's grandson Charlie Cotton, played by Declan Bennett, would not be returning for her funeral.

So, why won't Charlie be back in EastEnders?

Why can't Charlie Cotton go to Dot Branning's funeral in EastEnders?

Thursday's episode (8th December 2022) of EastEnders confirmed that Charlie Cotton is unable to attend the funeral of his grandmother due to the fact he has tested positive for COVID.

"Nah, I've been thinking about it, it's so disrespectful, I don't care if he has COVID, Charlie should be at Grandma's funeral," protests his half-sister Dotty Cotton (Milly Zero) to Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) in the episode.

However, Sonia notes that "These things happen, alright?"

Sonia, meanwhile, is going through her own grief, rather than worrying about Charlie's absence.

At present, Charlie resides in Ireland with his wife Lisa, their child and his son Matthew Mitchell-Cotton from his marriage to the late Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack).

Dot had been living with him prior to her death.

Who is Charlie Cotton in EastEnders?

Charlie Cotton is the grandson of Dot Branning.

Named after his paternal grandfather Charlie Cotton Sr, Charlie was introduced in 2014 as the son of the villainous Nick Cotton (John Altman) and his ex-wife Yvonne Cotton (Pauline McLynn).

In his initial appearances, Charlie pretended to be a police officer and helped to fake the death of his evil father Nick as part of a scheme with his father and mother to make money.

Eventually, Charlie came clean and tried to make right on the situation, remaining close to Dot and going on to marry Ronnie Mitchell after she was revealed to be pregnant with his baby.

After Nick returned and cut the breaks to the couple's car on their wedding day, Ronnie was almost killed in a car crash and was left in a coma.

During this time, Charlie grew close to her sister Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) and they slept together.

When Ronnie awoke, her marriage to Charlie began to fall apart as he cheated with Roxy, while she cheated with her former flame Vincent Hubbard (Richard Blackwood).

Eventually, Charlie sought to flee with their baby Matthew but changed his mind and left him to Ronnie and Roxy.

However, he briefly returned to try and maintain a relationship with his son, but then vanished from the Square after a confrontation with Ronnie and Vincent.

In the aftermath, Roxy believed him to be dead but Ronnie confirmed they just forced him to leave Walford.

In 2017, after the deaths of Ronnie and Roxy, Charlie returned months later to regain custody of Matthew and clashed with Ronnie's widower, Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) in regard to taking his son back to Ireland.

The feud was exacerbated by Jack's scheming and embittered brother Max Branning (Jake Wood).

In the end, Jack agreed to let Charlie take custody of Matthew and live with him and his new wife, Liz Cotton (Michelle Connolly), in Ireland.

Max also provides Charlie with a payment to never return and he can use it to fund IVF treatment for him and Liz to have a biological child of their own.

However, Charlie's last appearance was in December 2017 when he returned and exposed Max's scheming to Jack, revealing that he had been paid by Max to take sole custody of Matthew when he initially only wanted contact with him. This prompts Jack to briefly disown Max and also sees Jack spend time with Matthew.

After these revelations, Charlie returned to Ireland with Matthew and in 2019, Dot revealed that Charlie and Liz had had a child together.

In January 2020, when Dot appeared in EastEnders for the last time, she revealed she was going to stay with Charlie, Liz and their family in Ireland.

In December 2022, Charlie contacted Sonia to reveal the circumstances of Dot's peaceful death in his family home.

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EastEnders airs on BBC One on Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm. Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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