Editing Leslie Grantham (section)

=== EastEnders ===
In 1984, Grantham auditioned with the BBC for a part in its new soap opera ''EastEnders'', which aired in February 1985. He was recommended by Matthew Robinson, who was to become a key member of the ''EastEnders'' production team. Grantham had auditioned for the role of market trader Pete Beale, but he was offered the part of Den Watts. The character, landlord of The Queen Victoria public house, quickly became a national favourite and gained the nickname ''Dirty Den'' mostly because of the awful way he treated his wife Angie, played by Anita Dobson, with one of his many affairs occurring at the age of 39, when he fathered a child with 16-year-old Michelle Fowler, played by Susan Tully.
[[File:Divorce papers.jpg|thumb|237x237px|"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."]]
On 25 December 1986, Grantham's character served his on-screen wife with divorce papers, with the famous line "Happy Christmas, Ange." The episode was watched by a record 30 million viewers – over half the British population. In 1988, the character sold his pub to Frank Butcher, played by Mike Reid, and gradually drifted out of key storylines until finally departing in February 1989, although his final scenes had been filmed the previous autumn. Grantham had announced his intention to leave the soap early in 1988, around the same time that it was announced that Dobson would be leaving. However, the series’ bosses had not wanted to suffer the double blow of losing its two biggest characters so close together, and set about an intensive block of filming which would allow Den to remain on screen into 1989, while enabling Grantham to remain on ''EastEnders'' only until the previous autumn.

Den had become involved with The Firm over the summer of 1988 and his only option was to flee the square. After a spell on remand in custody and a dramatic escape from the police and from members of The Firm who ambushed him on his way to court, viewers watched a mysterious gunman shoot at Den with a gun hidden in a bunch of daffodils, before hearing a splash. A shot depicting Den's death was cut from the final scene, in the hope that Grantham might one day be persuaded to return to the role. The following year, a body believed to be Den was found in the canal.