Sharon Watts (also Mitchell, Rickman, and Beale) is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Letitia Dean. Sharon was one of EastEnders original characters, conceptualised by creators Tony Holland and Julia Smith. She first appeared in the first episode broadcast on 19 February 1985 as the teenage adopted daughter of Queen Vic landlords Den (Leslie Grantham) and Angie Watts (Anita Dobson). Dean originally quit the role in 1995 after ten years before returning for a second stint between 2001 and 2006. Dean returned to the role for a third time in 2012 and has remained on the serial since.
Sharon became prominent in the 1990s due to her becoming the landlady of the Queen Victoria public house and her romantic pairings with brothers Grant (Ross Kemp) and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). In a storyline dubbed "Sharongate", Sharon married Grant and then had an affair with Phil, climaxing in 1994 with Grant's discovery of the affair, which remains one of EastEnders highest-viewed episodes; the storyline was reinvented in 2018 when Sharon began an affair with a much younger Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters). In her second stint, Sharon featured in storylines that included a feud with Phil and Grant's mother Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor); the return of Den, thought long dead, bonding with his wife Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman) until it emerged that she killed Den in retribution for sleeping with Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan); and a forbidden relationship-turned-marriage with Den's son Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman), which culminated with his death after the couple ended up feuding with gangster Johnny Allen (Billy Murray).
Since 2012, Sharon's storylines have featured an aborted engagement to Jack Branning (Scott Maslen); battling a painkiller addiction; a reunion and tempestuous marriage to Phil; being attacked in her own bar; meeting her biological father Gavin Sullivan (Paul Nicholas) and her affair with Keanu, popularly dubbed 'Sheanu', sparking the events of Sharon having a late-in-life pregnancy, her split and divorce with Phil after her affair with Keanu is revealed, and giving birth to a son, Albie (who Sharon believes is Keanu's son), on the same night her other son, Dennis Jnr, dies in a boat accident due to Phil, stepson Ben (Max Bowden), and Keanu fighting in the wheelhouse, and her friend Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) locking him in a room on the boat as he found out Denny orchestrated the attack on Ian's son Bobby (Clay Milner Russell). Sharon attempts suicide before becoming the landlady of The Queen Vic once again. As part of her revenge plan upon finding out Ian's role in Dennis' death, she marries Ian and attempts to poison him to death but realises she cannot do it and lets him flee. After this, Sharon discovers that she has a half-brother, Zack Hudson (James Farrar); has a fling with Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol); and finds out she has a granddaughter, Alyssa. In December 2022, Keanu returns to Walford, and he and Sharon reunite before getting engaged. Sharon deals with Albie's kidnapping unaware that Keanu has orchestrated it, and she also learns that Albie is not Keanu's son after all and that Phil is his real father. The storyline culminates with Keanu's death on Christmas Day 2023 after Sharon jilts him at the altar after learning of his role in Albie's kidnapping and reveals that Keanu is not Albie's father. Keanu almost kills Sharon before her best friend Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) stabs him to defend her during "the Six" storyline. In 2024, Sharon deals with the grief of losing Keanu, which leads to her being in prison; bumping into Chrissie after framing Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) with the help of the Six; developing a relationship with Phil and Grant's relative, Teddy Mitchell (Roland Manookian); and a feud with his ex-wife, Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington).
She was named the best EastEnders character of all time by the Daily Mirror in 2020. For her portrayal of Sharon, Dean was awarded the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2022 British Soap Awards.
Creation Background Sharon Watts was one of the original twenty-three characters conceived by the creators of EastEnders, Tony Holland and Julia Smith. She was originally to be named Tracey, and she and her parents were to be the occupants of the soap's local pub, now known as The Queen Vic. Holland, who had worked as a barman in his youth, called upon his own personal experiences to invent the Watts family and the pub they lived in. Holland and Smith had always been critical of the way pubs had been portrayed on television, feeling they lacked vitality and life, so they were determined that their pub and occupants were going to be more "real". The Watts were seen by Holland as integral to the show's success, partly because he had already guessed that the pub was going to be a monstrous battleground where emotions would run high on a regular basis, and also because the occupants would be providing the majority of the drama.Smith and Holland 1987, p. 62. Sharon's original character outline, as written by Smith and Holland, appeared in an abridged form in their 1987 book, EastEnders: The Inside Story. In this passage, Sharon is referred to as Tracey and her parents as Jack and Pearl (known now as Den and Angie).
Casting Although Sharon was meant to be fourteen, licensing regulations required the cast actress to be a sixteen-year-old who could "play down."Smith and Holland 1987, p. 123. Holland and Smith were looking for a "bouncy, attractive, oddly vulnerable young woman" who would come across as slightly more sophisticated than the character of Michelle Fowler, due to be Sharon's closest peer. Out of the various applicants they had seen, they felt only actress Letitia Dean had all of the qualities they were looking for. As the casting directors were only looking for real East End actors, Dean falsely claimed that she was born and raised in Hackney, east London. The lie paid off and she got the part, clinching the deal because of her laugh, which Holland and Smith have described as "the dirtiest in the world!"
Reflecting on her casting, Dean told the magazine, Woman, in 2005: "I was 16 when we started filming EastEnders and my contract was initially for eight weeks—none of us had any idea it would go on for so long. I nearly fainted when I saw Wendy Richard [who played Pauline Fowler] for the first time, because she was a really big name and I was in awe of her. Anita Dobson who played Angie Watts, [Sharon's] mum, took me under her wing." In the early days of EastEnders, it was in Letitia Dean's contract that she was not allowed to lose any weight.
Characterisation
Described by the BBC as "slightly spoilt, over-dramatic, blousy, but ultimately kind-hearted", Sharon has been classified by Rupert Smith, author of EastEnders: 20 Years in Albert Square, as a "drama queen",Smith 2005, pp. 174–175. a "strong passionate [woman] who [goes] to pieces where men are concerned and always [comes] back for more". Early on in her narrative, Sharon was depicted as a mixed-up individual, torn between her warring parents, but spoilt by both; the British press dubbed her "Den's princess", an indication of her spoilt upbringing. Scriptwriter Colin Brake suggested that because of the dysfunctional marriage of her adoptive parents, "Sharon was a fairly troubled teenager. Set apart from the other kids because Den and Angie sent her to private school rather than the local comprehensive, she was a bit of a loner. Spoilt rotten by both her parents, Den's 'little princess' was really a little madam."Brake 1995, pp. 30–31.
As the character progressed into her 20s, she underwent some changes. Colin Brake suggested that, following the discovery of Den's (wrongly identified) body in 1990, it was "time for Den's princess to grow up".Brake 1995, p. 84. In 1993, Letitia Dean discussed the evolution of Sharon from teenager to adult: "She's grown up a lot. Once she got into her stride she got quite strong—not hard, but knew what she wanted." Matthew Bayliss, writing for The Guardian, suggested that Sharon developed into a character that was simultaneously "vamp and victim", comparing her to another popular soap opera character from ITV's Coronation Street, Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix).
In 1991, author Hilary Kingsley compared Sharon in adulthood to her mother Angie: "There's a lot of her mother in Sharon Watts. There is the warm sympathy and the barbed tongue for a kick-off. But Sharon is more sensible than Angie, less likely to fly off the beer handle in The Vic." Letitia Dean suggested that Sharon was trying to establish her own personality as landlady of The Vic in 1993, but that she was also taking tips from Angie, whom she "admired for her strength of character." In the 1990s, the producers of EastEnders wanted to take the similarities between Sharon and Angie one step further; they proposed that Sharon would begin drinking gin, the favourite beverage of her alcoholic mother. Dean was opposed to this development and persuaded the producers not to go down this route with Sharon. In 1993, she explained her reasons: "There was one time they wanted [Sharon] to drink gin because that was Angie's tipple, but I thought that was wrong. Her mother was on a dialysis machine which would have put Sharon off gin for life. She would either follow right behind her or she would make her mind up and say no. And since she had seen Angie in such a state, it really put her off." Sharon has been described as a "buxom femme fatale" and one of "life's survivors", who has had "many moments of emotional turmoil". Kingsley suggested that despite this, Sharon is "a sensitive, vulnerable girl who is easily hurt. Even so, that doesn't stop her going after something that she really wants [...] Sharon came through to become a nice girl behind the streetwise image [...] with her blonde hair and bright make-up she adds a cheerful touch to drab Albert Square."
Television critic Matt Bayliss discussed the psychology of Sharon in 2010: "She had a terrible childhood. An alcoholic mother and a father she adored but who treated her mother appallingly. She had a very long subsequent career on the show, falling for the wrong bloke and not realising her own worth. You could see that the way she turned was directly related to her beginnings, to that difficult family situation."
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 such as EastEnders need "old blood". On 10 April 2019, Dean filmed her 2000th episode as Sharon.
Development Early storylines (1985–1990) An early controversial storyline involving Sharon revolved around her desire to take contraceptive pills to persuade her friend, Kelvin Carpenter (Paul J. Medford) to date her. According to Holland and Smith, this storyline caused tremendous interest in the UK. Holland and Smith have suggested that it was a daring issue to tackle in the 1980s, as it involved a girl under sixteen, and was to be aired at a time when the issue was prominent in British society. Holland and Smith suggested that people took sides with the issue and Sharon's dilemma became a debate used as a teaching method, both in schools and at home. The creators stated that many families admitted that, as a result of Sharon's storyline, they were discussing taboo topics openly in their homes for the first time in years, or ever.Smith and Holland 1987, p. 186.