Anita Dobson, 75, shares real reason she refuses to watch BBC EastEnders despite iconic role: ‘It’s hard’

Soap legend Anita Dobson starred in one of the most iconic Christmas Day EastEnders scenes in history – but has since admitted she no longer watches the BBC staple.

Dobson, 75, played Angie Watts in the soap from 1985 to 1988. Her character was the wife of Queen Vic landlord Den Watts (played by Leslie Grantham) and his decision to divorce Angie was watched on Christmas Day by a record-breaking 30.1million viewers.

Dobson, who is married to Queen legend Brian May, may have left the soap decades ago but remains a memorable part of its history.

While many of her former co-stars remain in EastEnders, including her on-screen daughter Letitia Dean, Dobson isn’t a regular viewer.

“I tend to always miss it,” she confessed, explaining: “But I do try to catch up with stuff now and again.

“But it’s hard with that because it turns over so quickly. You’d have to be constantly catching up. So no, I have watched bits and pieces.”

Speaking to The Mirror, the actress continued: “I don’t really watch television very much at all, I watch things like a series because then you can get your teeth into it, and you can watch it when you want to rather than having to keep playing catch up.”

EastEnders’ Christmas Day episodes continue to attract a wider audience than usual, but ratings fail to reach the momentous figures reached during Dobson’s stint in the show, with 2023 seeing only 3.8 million viewers tune in.

Dobson likely has bigger things to focus on, with husband Brian May having opened up about his ill health this year.

The former Queen guitarist, 77, suffered a stroke in September which left him unable to use his arm.

He detailed he had been rushed to hospital in a candid video on his personal website.

However, Dobson has since reassured fans her husband has “stabilised”. Earlier this month, she said of May: “He’s much better now, he’s stabilised now, which is brilliant.”

“I just hope we don’t have any more reoccurrences,” she commented.

“He’s got the use of that arm, which was a bit of a challenge, back now. So, yeah, he’s good to go now,” Dobson told The Mirror.

Recalling the medical emergency, Dobson confessed: “It was scary.

“And also being a genius for someone like that. His brain’s overloaded, that’s what it is. He’s too clever for his own good.”

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The Queen guitarist was rushed to Frimley Hospital in Surrey by ambulance, complete with “blue lights flashing, the lot – very exciting,” as he later described it.

Following his admission to the hospital, doctors diagnosed May as having suffered what he termed a “minor” stroke.

The incident left the musician temporarily unable to control one of his arms, a particularly concerning development for the legendary guitarist.