Tom Cotton

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Evil-doer
Full Name	Thomas "Rocky" Cotton
Alias	Terry Cant Rocky Mr. Cant Tom Pillock Mr. Cotton Rocko
Origin	EastEnders
Occupation	Car Dealer at Square Dealz Conman
Powers / Skills	Charisma High intelligence Deception Sophistication
Hobby	Spending quality time with Kathy Beale and romancing with her. Hanging out with the residents of Walford.
Goals	Develop a father-daughter relationship with Sonia Fowler (succeeded at first; later failed). Help Dotty steal the inheritance that belonged to her grandmother Dot Cotton by defrauding Sonia (failed). Prevent both his girlfriend Kathy Beale and also Sonia from discovering his scheme with Dotty (failed). Reconcile with Kathy (succeeded).
Crimes	Identity fraud Conspiracy Threats of violence Fraud Blackmail Coercion Theft Forgery Arson Bigamy
Type of Villain	Charismatic Protagonist

Tom Cotton, most commonly known as Rocky and formerly aliased as Terry Cant, is a fictional character and major protagonist of the BBC British soap opera EastEnders. He appeared as a supporting antagonist turned anti-hero in 2021 before becoming one of the show's major protagonists in 2022-2023 onwards.

In his storyline, the man who first came to Walford as "Terry Cant" had initially appeared to be the long-lost father of Sonia Fowler and had also embarked on a relationship with her neighbour Kathy Beale. However, it is soon revealed that he is actually "Tom Cotton" and the brother of the late villainous Nick Cotton. It further transpired that Tom had been collaborating with his 'niece', Dotty, in a scheme to defraud Sonia from the inheritance that belonged to Nick's mother Dot. By the time this was exposed on Christmas Day 2021, it later emerged that Tom was actually Dotty's biological father.

The character is portrayed by Brian Conley.

Biography

Rocky C first came to Walford in May 2021 when he was tracked down by local resident Sonia Fowler, who had been trying to locate her long-lost father Terry Cant. During the COVID-19 panedemic last year in 2020, Sonia had sought to reconnect with her father and attempted to find him on genealogy websites to no avail.

When he first came to Walford, the man originally appeared to be "Terry Cant" had soon encounted Sonia when they crossed paths at a nightclub owned by businesswoman Ruby Allen. It was then Sonia noticed that the man was following her around, to which she responds by calling him a pervert before storming off to The Queen Victoria public house. When he arrived in the pub, the man claimed to be "Terry Cant" and thus making Sonia believe that he was her long-lost father. She initially wanted nothing to do with him, but eventually decided to give him a chance when he claimed to have loved her mother Carol Jackson and would've spent the rest of his life with her were it not for her other lover Alan Jackson being the one to marry her. Sonia comes to believe this as her mother had also been involved in past relationships with her "true" love David Wicks, and ex-fiance Dan Sullivan during her childhood.

As time went on, Rocky's identity was revealed when he gets acquainted with Sonia's roommate Dotty Cotton and it discloses that the latter is related to him - as Rocky is actually the brother of Dotty's late villainous father Nick Cotton and who also had a past fling with her estranged mother Sandy Gibson. It soon transpired that Rocky and Dotty are planning to defraud Sonia from the inheritance that belonged to Nick's beloved mother Dot, who had entursted Sonia to look after her possessions due to their growing friendship over the years. By then, however, Rocky is starting to have doubts in going through with Dotty's plan due to his growing closeness with Sonia - with whom he has formed a surrogate father-daughter relationship with even though she remains oblivious to his true identity. Furthermore, he has started dating Sonia's neighbour Kathy Beale and thw two have proceeded to embark on a relationship together. He has also struck close friendship with local publican Mick Carter and his punters after the pair were acquainted with legendary football manager Harry Redknapp.

Soon enough, Rocky is rushed to hospital after he collapses from a heart attack. Sonia and Kathy visit him to ensure he is okay, with Dotty joining them under the guise of supporting them. When she is alone with Rocky, however, Dotty wishes to know how they can continue with their plan. It is then Rocky begins to take control of the situation when Dotty begins to have doubts off her own, whereas Eocky persists on going through with their scheme. On Christmas Day when both join Sonia and Kathy for dinner, Sandy turns up and begins causing trouble until Rocky forces her to leave. Dotty then learns that Rocky had left Sandy to die at one point when she suffered from a drug overdose and he never really cared for her. Outraged by this revelation, Dotty exposes the truth to Sonia and Kathy by revealing rOCKY's true identity and also their scheme to steal Dot's inheritance from Sonia. This ultimately causes Sonia and Kathy to disown rOCKY, whose true identity would later become public knowledge the following day.

Later on that night, Dotty confronts Sandy when the latter goes to leave Walford. Thereupon the two have an argument about each other and Rocky. It is then Sandy makes a shocking revelation to Dotty - that Tom is not her uncle, he is actually Dotty's biological father and not Nick as she had originally believed. Dotty promptly questions her mother about this, but Sandy ignores her daughter before departing the square for good.

In 2022, Rocky attempts to reconcile with Sonia to no avail. He does manage to gradually recoup his relationship with Kathy and also continues to get along well with the residents due to his charisma and charming personality. At one point Rocky and Kathy end up getting locked in a car lot by fellow neighbour Jean Slater during the latter's mental breakdown. During that time, Kathy assures Rocky that he is not the worst of her past relationships - noting that she had previously been raped by her former boss James Willmott-Brown; had thereupon been married to the square's local hardman Phil Mitchell; and ended up getting subjugated to coercive control from her previous spouse Gavin Sullivan only a few years ago.

Eventually, though, Rocky manages to make amends with Sonia before reconciling with Kathy. In the latter case, he confronts Kathy and Phil's son Ben for supposedly giving his mother a hard time and accidentally hitting her during a mother-son argument between them. But he later supports Kathy when she tells him that Ben had been raped by his former friend Lewis Butler, which had nearly destroyed Ben's marriage with his beloved husband Callum Highway and compromised his other relationships with ex-girlfriend Lola Pearce and their daughter Lexi in the process. As such Kathy also tells Rocky about her regrets for not being completely involved in Ben's upbringing, as during that time Ben had been a victim of child abuse by Phil's ex-fiance Stella Crawford and that it indirectly led to him going down a dark path that involved killing his ex-babysitter Heather Trott a few years later.

By December 2022, Rocky comforts Dotty and Sonia when the pair learn that Dot has passed away. But then Rocky finds out that Dotty has lashed out at Sonia over the fact that Dot has given Sonia her house in her will as opposed to giving it to Dotty as the latter had hoped. When Dotty threatens to set fire to the house in a fit of rage, Sonia summons Rocky to stop her and he is able to do so before Dotty can drop the matches on the petrol that had been poured around the house. Rocky then rebukes Dotty for giving Sonia a hard time and tells Dotty that she is no better than Nick back in the past; Dotty then curses Rocky before leaving the square in a disgrace.

In 2023, Rocky proposes to Kathy and she accepts. They plan to get married at the end of Spring 2023, but agree to postpone the ceremony when Lola tragically suffers from terminal cancer and eventually dies at the end of May that year. Then just two months later, Kathy goes ahead with her wedding to Rocky. They nearly seperate instantly, however, when Rocky gets reacquainted with his ex-wife Joe and makes a starting discovery - Joe never signed their divorce papers back when the pair broke up, thereby exposing Rocky as a bigamist due to marrying Kathy when he is still legally married to Joe. Soon enough Joe attempts to extort money from Rocky, who then tells Kathy about his secret. Kathy is lived but supports Rocky and confronts Joe before she threatens to report them to the police, which forces the couple to pay her off to stop her from doing so.

Following Joe's actions, though, Rocky and Kathy are left in dire financial straits. They nevertheless celebrate their marriage and bond with Linda's newly arrived family - including her mother Elaine Peacock, her fiance George Knight, his two daughters Gina and Anna along with their adopted pet dog Tyson. It also transpires that Rocky appears to know George from his past as a renowed boxer several years ago. Soon enough, Rocky gets caught in a crossfire involving Kathy and her other son Ian Beale. It is revealed that Ian's deceased first spouse, Cindy Beale, is alive all along and that she had been married to George before giving birht to Gina and Anna throughout the time when she was believed to be dead. Kathy confindes to Rocky about the fact that Cindy is her sworn archenemy due to the fact that she constantly betrayed Ian in their previous marriage; Cindy had cheated on Ian by having a one-night stand with his half-brother Simon Wicks, an affair with Simon's older brother David Wicks, nearly stole custody of their children with the help from ex-boyfriend Nick Holland, and even tried to have Ian killed by hiring hitman John Valecue to asssassinate him over their divorce prospects.

Upon hearing about Kathy's past with Ian and Cindy respectively, Rocky supports her and confronts Ian for siding with Cindy over Kathy. As such he also helps Kathy confront her grandson Peter Beale for stealing money from her grandmother a few years ago and giving his half-brother, Bobby Beale, a hard time over the fact the latter had killed their half-sister Lucy Beale by accident in the past. However, Rocky soon helps Kathy reconcile with Ian and his family as well as giving Cindy another chance for the family's sake. Kathy agrees with Rocky's suggestion but nevertheless continues to remain apprehensive towards Cindy over her past antics.

By then, Rocky's dire financial straits have continued to grow problematic for him and Kathy. As such he develops a gambling addiction and borrows money from illegitimate businessman Nish Panesar, who soon demands that Rocky pay him back under the threat of repucussions. Nish also authorizes his wife Suki and their son Vinny, along with the latter's half-brother Ravi Gulati, to help him pressure Rocky on the repayment. Rocky soon confindes to his best-friend Harvey Munroe about the situation. Harvey urges Rocky to tell the truth to no avail. In a deseperate attempt to claim monetary insurance, Rocky sets fire to Kathy's beloved cafe at one night. This initially works until both Peter and Bobby are left hospilatized in the fire; both survive, but Rocky's actions are discovered by Nish and he threatens to tell Kathy the truth unless Rocky lets him buy the cafe at a reduced price.

In December 2023, Rocky gives in to Nish's ultimatum and convinces Kathy to sell the cafe to Nish before Christmas that year. But Rocky's actions were going to cost him dearly when Kathy notices Rocky's friendship with Harvey getting estranged and confronts Harvey about it, which leads to Harvey telling Kathy the truth about Rocky's recent problems. Enraged by this revelation, Kathy confronts Rocky and exposes his actions to her family. She then breaks up with Rocky and kicks him out of her house, telling Rocky she never wants to see him again.

Trivia

• Tom Cotton was born on 14 July 1961.