Andrew Cotton

Name: Andrew Cotton
First Appeared: 22nd August 2011
Last Appeared: 24th August 2012
Played by: Ricky Grover

Andrew Cotton first popped up at a 1980s festival in Southend-on-Sea, where he let Heather Trott and Shirley Carter into the event, despite it being for couples only. Heather tried to pass herself and Shirley off as a couple, but Andrew saw through the ruse. After a bit of confusion, Heather and Andrew hit it off. It was soon revealed that Andrew was the son of Rose Cotton, Dot Branning’s half-sister, and they had a less-than-rosy relationship. Andrew and Heather’s budding romance faced its first hurdle when Heather scolded him for his treatment of Rose, but they managed to patch things up.

Andrew made his way to Walford just in time for Christmas, much to the delight of Rose and Dot. He rekindled his romance with Heather, despite a few hiccups, like choosing work over spending time with her and a minor café incident involving a flipped table. But love prevailed, and Andrew proposed to Heather, who happily accepted. Their relationship had its ups and downs, especially with Andrew’s jealousy over Heather’s friendship with Shirley, but they managed to find their groove.

The drama peaked at Heather’s hen night when Andrew’s temper flared, almost leading to a physical altercation with Shirley. It was revealed that Andrew had a stint in prison for assaulting Rose’s abusive husband. Despite the chaos, Heather stood by him, and they planned to elope. However, Heather’s tragic murder threw everything into disarray. Andrew, lacking an alibi, was arrested but later released. Shirley’s public accusations didn’t help, but Andrew was determined to stay in Walford and clear his name.

Dot initially doubted Andrew’s innocence, but after he opened up about his feelings for Heather, she came around. This led to a rift with Shirley, who banned them from Heather’s funeral. However, Shirley eventually found the train tickets Andrew had given Heather, proving his innocence. The unlikely duo then teamed up to find Heather’s real killer, which turned out to be Ben Mitchell. Andrew’s confrontation with Jay Brown, who had protected Ben, showed his lingering anger and grief.

Realising he couldn’t move on with so many painful memories in Walford, Andrew decided to leave.