EastEnders fans spot sweet tribute to late legend June Brown as soap recreates her first scenes

SOAP legend June Brown's first scene was recreated, 37 years to the day it first aired.

EastEnders paid tribute to the Dot Cotton actress in last night's instalment with a scene featuring Sonia Fowler and Kathy Beale.

June Brown first appeared in the BBC One show on July 4, 1985 right on the dot.

To mark the anniversary of her first ever appearance on the program on Monday, soap bosses aired a special recreation of Dot's first scene and lines.

But did viewers spot it?

During the scene, Sonia Fowler actress Natalie Cassidy was seen walking into the café wearing a brown coat.

"Give us a tea, Kath", she asked manager Kathy Beale (portrayed by Gillian Taylforth), "and a glass of water so I can take a paracetamol."

Diehard EastEnders fans may already know this mirrored June's first scene on the long-running drama.

Thirty-seven years ago, Dot Cotton walked into the café wearing a similar brown coat before turning to George 'Lofty' Holloway (then played by Tom Watt), saying: "Give us a tea, Lofty, and a glass of water so I can take a paracetamol."

Fans were quick to spot the small tribute and swarmed over to Twitter to share their thoughts.

"Lovely tribute to Dot’s first ever scene in tonight’s first episode", one of them penned.

Another wrote: "This is really sweet! I love June Brown and Dorothy Cotton! Both legends. She will be missed", while a third fan added: "Ohhhh love this."

"Gone but not forgotten", one final fan commented.

The scene was aired more than two months after the death of accomplished actress and Walford stalwart June Brown.

The actress died at the age of 95 at her home in Surrey and with her family by her side.

June was an iconic face on EastEnders as devout Christian and larger-than-life Dot Cotton, also known for her addiction to cigarettes.

Although she had a break from the show between 1993 and 1997, June remained in Albert Square for more than thirty years until she left Walford in 2020.

"We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved June Brown, OBE, MBE, sadly passed away last night", an EastEnders spokeswoman said at the time of June's death.

"There are not enough words to describe how much June was loved and adored by everyone at EastEnders, her loving warmth, wit and great humour will never be forgotten."

EastEnders airs from Monday to Thursday.