Charlie Cotton is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Christopher Hancock. Charlie is a recurring character, introduced in March 1986 as the estranged husband of Dot Cotton (June Brown). He appears in stints until producers made the decision to kill the character off-screen in 1991, to aid development of characters connected to him. June Brown, who plays Dot, was openly against the killing of Charlie. Charlie appears one last time, in the October 2000 spin-off, Return of Nick Cotton, as an apparition, warning his son Nick (John Altman) to change his ways.