Who was Dennis Rickman in EastEnders and what happened with Sharon and Zoe?

The central figure of a big portion of Sharon Watts’ and Zoe Slater’s beef – who was Dennis Rickman? (Picture: BBC)

EastEnders icon Sharon Watts’ (Letitia Dean) jaw well and truly hits the floor upon her return to Walford when she steps out of her taxi and immediately locks eyes with Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan).

The two fiery females have a great deal of animosity between them. During Zoe’s last stint on the square, she was a co-conspirator in the death of Sharon’s beloved adoptive father, Dennis Watts (Leslie Grantham).

Zoe was also a rival for the affection of her adoptive brother and lover, Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman).

Upon the two finally coming face to face in todays (September 22) episode of EastEnders and traded barbs, Dennis was brought up a number of times.

But for newer viewers of the show, just who was Dennis Rickman?

Who was Dennis Rickman?

Nigel Harman played Dennis Rickman (Picture: BBC)

Dennis was initially introduced by then-EastEnders boss, Louise Berridge, coinciding with the return of ‘Dirty’ Den Watts in a move to return the Wattsfamily to the forefront of the show.

As Sharon sought to locate the long-lost brother she recently discovered she had, Dennis burst onto Albert Square fresh out of prison and became involved in a feud with rival hard man Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), seducing his sister, Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) and fiancée Kate Morton (Jill Halfpenny).

He breaks free of his ‘father figure’, Jack Dalton (Hywell Bennett), leader of ‘the Firm’ gangland organisation that’d cast a shadow over the Square since the early days of the soap, and that’d overseen the ‘death’ of Dirty Den and kills him, though not before learning Den is still alive.

Dennis had an early feud with Phil Mitchell (Picture: BBC)

Initially frosty, Dennis eventually softened toward his dad once he re-emerged, though their relationship was blown apart upon the reveal that he and Sharon had fallen in love and were locked in a passionate affair.

Desperate to build a relationship with Den, Dennis broke up with Sharon and began a relationship with Zoe…and this is where things become really, really sticky.

What happened between Dennis, Sharon and Zoe?

Zoe’s pregnancy lie allowed Den to manipulate her into sleeping with him (Picture: BBC)

Zoe and Dennis moved in together, though he couldn’t deny his love for Sharon for too long. As they announced their decision to leave for America together, Zoe revealed that she was pregnant.

The problem being, of course, that she wasn’t, and it was a desperate bid to keep Dennis around. Desperate to not be an absentee father, Dennis remains with Zoe, leaving a heartbroken Sharon to head to America alone.

Never one to miss an opportunity, Den had engineered the fake pregnancy, and used this to convince Zoe to sleep with him in order to get pregnant for real.

In true soap fashion, just as Dennis begins to forget about Sharon and look forward to a life with Zoe and their child, he finds her in bed with his dad. Before leaving to find Sharon, he informs Den’s wife Chrissie (Tracy-Ann Oberman), leading to his dad’s grisly demise.

After discovering Zoe and Den in bed, Dennis headed to America to reunite with Sharon (Picture: BBC) The love triangle lead to the trio of Zoe, Chrissie and Sam plotting Den’s downfall (Picture: BBC)

While Zoe became a part of a triumvirate with Chrissie and Sam to bring about Den’s downfall, ending in his murder by Chrissie and burial in the Queen Vic cellar, she began to crumble when Chrissie let her believe it was she who’d struck the fatal blow.

Upon discovering the truth, Zoe fled to Ibiza, leaving a major bruise on Chrissie’s jaw as a parting gift, before Chrissie eventually was arrested and charged with Den’s murder, his corpse exhumed on Sharon and Dennis’ wedding day. Most people just buy the happy couple a toaster…

The end of Dennis

Sharon and Dennis became engaged to be married (Picture: BBC)

Dennis and Sharon finally got to live as a married couple, and upon Sharon learning that she was pregnant, they planned their seemingly rosy future together as a family.

Dennis’ temper and connections to the underworld, however, never left him, and he began a deadly feud with the latest Walford gang lord, Johnny Allen (Billy Murray). As things heated up between them, Johnny attempted to attack Sharon, though, upon learning she was pregnant relented.

He offered her a choice, take Dennis and leave the area by New Years Day or he’d kill Dennis.

Dennis’ feud with Johnny Allen lead to his death (Picture: BBC)

Though Sharon convinced Dennis to leave with her, Phil intervened, manipulating Dennis into taking revenge on Johnny. Dennis did, and beat the gangster half to death, leaving him with a phone so he could call for help.

Before he did, however, Johnny ordered Dennis’ murder.

As Dennis raced toward Sharon, the final bell about to toll to welcome in the New Year, Dennis was stabbed my Johnny’s henchmen. He managed to gasp ‘we did it’, referring to the baby Sharon was carrying before dying in her arms.

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