Sharon Watts

Sharon Watts

Sharon Anne Rickman (née Stretton; previously Watts and Mitchell) is a fictional character from the BBC1 soap opera EastEnders, played by Letitia Dean. Sharon is one of EastEnders' original characters, appearing in the first episode broadcast on 19 February 1985. Sharon was conceptualised by Tony Holland and Julia Smith, the creators of EastEnders. Beginning in the serial as a teenager, Sharon is the adoptive daughter of landlords Den and Angie Watts. Sharon remained a prominent character into the 1990s due to romantic pairings with brothers, Grant and Phil Mitchell. In a long-running storyline dubbed Sharongate, Sharon marries Grant and has an affair with Phil, climaxing in 1994 with Grant's discovery of the affair; it remains one of EastEnders' highest viewed episodes. Letitia Dean quit the role in 1995 after ten years, with Sharon departing following the breakdown of her marriage to Grant, bound for America.

In 2001, Sharon was reintroduced by producer John Yorke. Dean continued in the role until January 2006, Sharon being featured in storylines including the resurrection of her father Den in 2003, and a love affair with her adoptive half-brother, Dennis Rickman, which ended in his death. Dean departed amidst reports that she was taking a break; however, an immediate return did not materialise. Over six years later in 2012, executive producer Bryan Kirkwood announced that he was reintroducing Sharon. She returned on 13 August 2012 in a special week's worth of episodes that saw Sharon jilting her fiancé John at the alter and turning to Phil Mitchell for help in the safe return of her son Dennis Rickman Jr. She is one of two original characters in the soap, the other being the longest serving character Ian Beale.

Sharon has topped numerous viewer polls suggesting she is one of EastEnders' most favoured characters. Critics have praised the character's complex progression from teenager to adult, referencing the investment that viewers hold in Sharon, having watched her grow up on-screen. While Sharon's returns to EastEnders have been welcomed by some critics, others received her comebacks as an indication that the show's writers and producers had run out of original ideas. Letitia Dean has defended the decision to reintroduce Sharon, suggesting that long-running dramas like EastEnders need "old blood".