As Dirty Den on EastEnders, he pulled in a record 30 million viewers – however

a sex scandal saw Leslie Grantham’s career hit a nightmare that he never recovered from

As EastEnders approaches its 40th anniversary next February, the show has

been in a nostalgic mood, reliving past glories by bringing back several old characters over the past few months. Fans have enjoyed appearances by David Wicks (Michael French), Tracy-Ann Oberman (Chrissie Watts) and Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer).

However, those returns pale in comparison with the show’s biggest ever comeback plot, which happened back in 2003, when producers decided to resurrect arguably the show’s most-famous character ever. The return of ‘Dirty’ Den Watts from the dead – the character having been ‘killed off’ in 1988 – hit the front pages and saw the show’s ratings soar.

Den and Angie’s dramas had viewers gripped

Den’s 2003 return ended in controversy

Sadly, for the actor behind Den, Leslie Grantham, the return as Den was to be his final glory, with Leslie’s second stint on the show ending in controversy, leading Leslie’s career to falter.

In 2004 a newspaper printed lewd photographs of Leslie taken via a webcam from his EastEnders dressing room. Den was then written out of the show in early 2005, the character dying for a second time after his wife Chrissie struck him on the head with an iron doorstop – and this time there was to be no miracle resurrection.

Following his exit, Leslie did win a TV role in The Bill, but his work following his 2005 exit from the soap was mainly pantomime and theatre. The actor died of cancer ‘virtually penniless’ in 2018 according to reports with the star spending some of his final years staying in the spare room of a friend’s house following the collapse of his 31-year marriage to actress Jane Laurie.

The Daily Mail reported that Leslie planned and paid for his own ‘no frills funeral’, after fearing his family would have to cover the costs. His only assets were a small share in a company worth less than £23,000, and a small home in Bulgaria. Once ‘complex taxes and legal fees’ are considered, his family – he and Jane shared three sons – would not be left with much from the proceeds.

Leslie pictured in 2016, two years before his death

Leslie’s son Daniel carries on the family’s acting tradition

A source close to him at the time alleged: “Leslie suffered from really bad money troubles the past several years, and worrying about it did his health no good. In fact, the stress of his financial situation probably speeded up his death as he was so frail.”

The source explained that Leslie had planned his funeral: “He paid for the whole event and left specific instructions about what he wanted. An average funeral costs £4,000 and he made sure it was all sorted.”

These days, Leslie’s son Daniel Laurie can be regularly seen on our screens as Reggie Jackson in BBC’s Call The Midwife.