Charles Cotton

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Evil-doer
Full Name	Charles Cotton
Alias	Charlie
Origin	EastEnders
Occupation	Lorry driver Conman
Powers / Skills	Deception Exceptional intelligence
Goals	Steal money from Dot Cotton (failed)
Crimes	Theft Fraud Negligence Adultery
Type of Villain	Egotistical Con-Artist

Charles Cotton is a fictional character and major antagonist of the British soap opera EastEnders, debuting from 6th March 1986 to 14th June 1990 before later getting killed off-screen in 1991 itself.

He is portrayed by Christopher Hancock.

History

Charles Cotton first came to Albert Square in Walford, a fictional borough in East London, from March 1986. He was a lorry driver and the ex-husband of local resident Dot Cotton, as well as the estranged father of their wayward son Nick.

As time went on, it soon transpired that Charles was at times a petty crook and small-time conman who frequents himself in swindling money from people. He is also mainly the reason that Nick not only became a conman himself, but a notorious villain who ended up perpetuating lots of worse crimes throughout his time in the square. Soon enough the father and son both attempt to con Dot from her bingo winnings. But when she discovered the truth, Nick manipulated her into believing that Charles was the only guilty person; Dot believes her son and kicks Charles out, in addition to having already resented her ex-husband for discovering his past lies.

In 1991, Charles is killed in a road accident on the M25. Dot and the square learn about this from her best-friend Ethel Skinner, who informs everyone about Charles' fate. His funeral took place not long afterwards. Nearly a decade ago, Charles posthumously appears as a ghost to confront Nick and order him to change his ways.

Trivia

• He made a total of 56 appearances during his time on the show.