Den and Angie Watts have gone down in soap history as EastEnders legends - and here's why as BBC1 screens a classic episode featuring the pair at 7.30pm tonight (Tuesday 23rd June). It originally went out in 1986 and was the first episode of the show to feature only two characters
Den and Angie Watts have forever been cemented in EastEnders history thanks to their turbulent marriage and ability to draw in record-breaking numbers of viewers.
EastEnders fans couldn't get enough of their rocky romance, but if there was one thing they did agree on, it was their shared love for their adopted daughter, Sharon Watts.
Who were Den and Angie Watts?
Den and Angie were the original landlord and landlady of the Queen Victoria pub in EastEnders.
The pair first appeared on the soap when it first launched in 1985, and spent nearly 19 years married.
Their relationship was plagued by secrets, infidelity and lies, and eventually Den discovered Angie had lied to him about only have six months left to live.
The pair were on a second honeymoon on the Orient Express when Den overheard drunk Angie telling the barman that she had lied about being terminally ill to keep him from leaving her.
Den didn't let on that he'd discovered her lies, instead saving the news for Christmas Day.
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How many people watched Den serve Angie with divorce papers on Christmas Day?
Christmas Day in 1986 has gone down in EastEnders history as being the most-watched episode of the soap.
A record-breaking 30.1 million viewers tuned in to watch Den hand Angie their divorce papers.
The episode was watched by more than half of the UK population and marked the beginning of the end for the pair.
Who played Angie Watts?
Angie was played by legendary actress Anita Dobson between 1985 and 1988.
Angie will go down in EastEnders history for being the loud, cheeky, landlady who sported an amazing 80s perm whilst drinking the Vic bar dry.
While her marriage to Den might have been doomed, she had a close bond with adoptive daughter, Sharon Watts, and the pair shared some happy times between Angie's battle with booze.
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Who played Den Watts?
Den Watts was played by Leslie Grantham from 1985 until 1989.
He then returned in 2003 until his demise in 2005.
Den was hated by many in Albert Square for his cheating and criminal ways, giving the character the legendary nickname 'Dirty Den'.
Is Angie Watts dead?
Angie left Albert Square back in 1988 to run a bar with her lover, Sonny, in Spain.
Sharon later discovered her mum had moved to America where she remarried in 1991.
But sadly in 2002 news reached Sharon that her mum had died.
In the end drinking got the better of Angie and she died off screen with cirrhosis of the liver after also suffering with alcohol-related dementia.
Sharon brought Angie's body back to Walford so that she could be buried in a local cemetery, believing that she was reuniting her deceased parents at last.
Little did she know, the man in the grave next to Angie was actually Mr Vinnicombe, the very man who had ordered Den's assassination in the first place.
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Is Den Watts dead?
Legendary character Den Watts will go down in EastEnders history for dying not once, but twice.
He first left the soap in February 1989 when he was apparently killed off after getting involved in criminal organisation, The Firm.
But the character made a shock return 14 years later when, in September 2003, Sharon discovered Den survived the shooting and had moved to Spain.
Den was finally killed off for good on 18th February 2005 during EastEnders' 20th anniversary episode.
During the episode, Den's long-suffering second wife, Chrissie Watts, teamed up with other women he had wronged, Sam Mitchell and Zoe Slater, to get their revenge.
The trio went on the attack, with Zoe hitting Den over the head with Pauline Fowler's doggy doorstop.
Zoe believed she was the one who killed Den, not knowing that Den had regained consciousness afterwards, and it was actually Chrissie who dealt the fatal blow.
The women buried Den's body under the cellar floor in the Queen Vic, but it was found six months later and moved to the grave next to Angie's.
BBC One will air EastEnders: Secrets from the Square, hosted by Stacey Dooley, at 8pm on Mondays, while classic episodes of the soap will air at 7.30pm on Tuesdays.
