“This, my sweet, is a letter from my solicitor, telling you that your husband has filed a petition for divorce. It also tells you to get yourself a solicitor pretty damn quick. Happy Christmas, Ange.” 

More than 30m viewers - over half the population - watched EastEnders’ Christmas Day episode in 1986, which climaxed with Dennis “Dirty Den” Watts handing divorce papers to his wife Angie with cruel relish. 

It has been voted soap opera’s best ever Christmas storyline and remains one of the most replayed, familiar and evocative scenes in British TV history. It has now acquired added poignancy with news that actor Leslie Grantham has died, aged 71. 

Grantham became a household name during the Eighties...