Who was Reg Cox in EastEnders? Character's tragic history explained

Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) knew that Phil was in a dark place - though she is currently unaware that he has started to hallucinate.

Fearing that Phil was isolating himself, Sharon recalled an old neighbour who met a particularly distressing end.

"I say old, he was probably our age - Reg Cox," Sharon explained.

"He was a right misery, pushed people away. No one knew he'd died for three days. I'm not letting that happen to you, Phil."

Phil could only retort: "Nick Cotton knew he'd died..."

With the BBC soap due to celebrate its 40th anniversary this month, we're diving into poor Reg's story.

So, read on below as we look into who Reg was, and what exactly happened to him.

Who was Reg Cox in EastEnders and what happened to him?

Played by Johnnie Clayton, Reg was a pensioner who lived alone on Albert Square.

In the backstory for EastEnders' first ever scene, Saeed Jeffery (Andrew Johnson) told Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) that Reg had failed to drop by his wife Naima's (Shreela Ghosh) shop on Bridge Street for his daily milk purchase for the past three days.

Den, Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher) and Ali Osman (Nejdet Salih) broke down the door of his flat, with Den exclaiming "It stinks in here, dunnit?"

They found Reg laying unconscious in his chair, and an ambulance was called.

But sadly, Reg died from injuries sustained in a beating, which had not been picked up on when he was found.

As Phil alluded to, it was eventually revealed that Nick Cotton (played by John Altman) had attacked Reg while trying to steal his war medals.

Reg didn't have a good reputation among the Walford locals, who branded him cantankerous, miserable and nasty.

In 2014, Nick used the name Reg Cox as an alias after faking his own death.

The following year, 30 years to the day, Nick died in the very same spot where Reg was found - succumbing to a heroin overdose after confessing Reg's murder to mum Dot Branning (June Brown).

Aged just 59 when he passed away, Reg was not much younger than Phil is now; and Sharon's reference to him shows how, back in 1985, people like Reg struggled on without the support that can be found today.

We can only hope that, as Phil's brother Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) heads home to help, Phil can find his way through his battle with depression.

If you need help and support on issues raised within this article, please visit Samaritans, CALM, and Rethink Mental Illness for guidance.

Read more:

• EastEnders' Nish Panesar shocks family with final move from beyond the grave in early iPlayer release
• 6 EastEnders spoilers next week: Grant Mitchell returns to save Phil as Sonia has showdown with Reiss
• Iconic EastEnders writer breaks down Barbara Windsor's outstanding final episode – departure of a great matriarch
• EastEnders confirms new behind the scenes special fronted by returning soap legend

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

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