EastEnders bosses remember Dot Cotton legend June Brown in special way at soap studio
EastEnders legend June Brown is always in the minds of the soap's cast and crew thanks to a special tribute at the BBC show's studios.
EastEnders bosses have renamed the studios canteen in tribute to June Brown.
The BBC soap's bosses have remembered the late actress - who played Dot Cotton on the soap from 1985 to 2020 - almost four years after her death aged 95 in April 2022, and ahead of what would have been her 100th birthday on February 16, 2027.
As reported by The Sun newspaper, EastEnders bosses have renamed the canteen On The Dot in a playful nod to her character.
A source said: "Naming the canteen after June was something she would no doubt have approved of, and she would have seen the funny side of it.
"Plus it was always a place where, over many fags and cups of tea, she could be found holding court with several of her adoring cast members hanging off her every words.”
Her castmates have fond memories of June's antics in the canteen.
Michelle Collins, who played Cindy Beale, said: "I know she smoked and loved her red wine (but) she was very healthy. I saw her once doing her pelvic floor exercises on the trolley in the BBC canteen.”
And John Altman - who played her TV son Nasty Nick - laughed at how June always took a long time to reach the canteen because of how popular she was on set.
He quipped: "We’d walk to the canteen at the BBC and it would always take about half an hour because she’d stop along the way chatting to people.”
Meanwhile, June's former co-star Katie Jarvis previously revealed how the soap veteran was allowed to break the rules by smoking on set.
She previously told The Sun: "I always remember, June sat down, and she was just smoking and smoking ... Yeah she was the only one that was allowed! ... "She'd always be working as an actress daily. She put her cigarette down, went on the set, and she's reading these pages of dialogue ...
"She knew all of her lines never got them wrong, and obviously, she was always allowed to walk around smoking!"
After June's death, she was remembered on the show as they screened a funeral for her character Dot and the actress' real life children were among those seen mourning the loss onscreen.
It was revealed that June didn't want her character to be killed off while she was still alive so EastEnders bosses spoke to her family after her death and were given the greenlight to show Dot's funeral in the soap.
Executive producer Chris Kershaw told the same outlet: "She did of course know that when she did leave us, it was the right thing to do. "After some time, we couldn’t put it off much longer. We spoke to June’s family who knew it was what she would have wanted."
