Yvonne Cotton

[Perdita]

EastEnders bosses have cast Father Ted actress Pauline Mclynn as newcomer Yvonne Cotton.

Yvonne is the mother of Dot Branning's grandson Charlie, who joined the BBC soap last month.
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Pauline McLynn as Yvonne Cotton in EastEnders
© BBC
Pauline McLynn as Yvonne Cotton

Viewers will see Yvonne make her first appearance on Albert Square in May when she pays a visit to Dot (June Brown).

She turns up in Walford after Dot makes a surprising discovery and starts to demand answers about Charlie (Declan Bennett).

A EastEnders statement teased: "Will Yvonne give Dot the answers she is looking for? And more importantly, is she all that she seems?"

Yvonne will be a recurring guest character for the programme and has already been tipped to make her mark on the Square.
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Dot Branning and Yvonne Cotton
© BBC
Dot Branning and Yvonne Cotton

McLynn commented: "It is a thrill to join EastEnders, my favourite soap, and in particular any chance to be part of a Dot Cotton storyline is not to be passed up. June Brown is a legend and I feel privileged to act with her."

EastEnders' executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins added: "I have always been a little in love with Pauline Mclynn so I'm so excited that she's joining the Cotton family. It was about time Albert Square had another Irish character and I know that viewers are going to both love and be intrigued by Yvonne Cotton."

Mclynn has a number of previous acting credits but is best known for her roles as Mrs Doyle on Father Ted and Libby Croker in Shameless.

[lizann]

who made the tea, dot or mrs doyle :p

[Perdita]

EastEnders' new recruit Pauline McLynn has admitted that she doesn't know the secrets of her mysterious character Yvonne Cotton.

The former Father Ted actress has been cast in the role of Charlie Cotton's mother, but show bosses have warned that Yvonne might not be all she seems.

Yvonne makes her first appearance in tonight's episode (May 12) as Walford favourite Dot Branning contacts her to seek answers following her discovery that Charlie may be a fraud.

Speaking about the upcoming scenes, McLynn told ITV's Lorraine this morning: "Dot has acquired what seems to be a daughter-in-law! Now the way it is, as we all know and this is why we love soaps so much, what can we believe here?

"We do know that I'm called Yvonne Cotton and I'm Charlie Cotton's mother. I arrive, put it this way, a very dour woman - and if she smiles I think you're really in trouble then!

"I see a lot of people on social media going, 'Oh there's going to be a little bit of comedy coming into EastEnders'. Not with me there ain't! It's fabulous for me."

She continued: "With this stony-faced woman, you think, 'What is going on?' Now, can I tell people, I don't know what's going on either! I know who Yvonne Cotton is and what she's like, but I don't know what's planned.

"Maybe that's just as well, because I think it keeps you with a lovely mystery. Even inside my head, I have to be mysterious because I don't know. I hope they never tell me until the day when I go, 'Oh that's what I'm up to!'"

McLynn also confessed that she wasn't sure whether to join EastEnders until the show's producers told her that she would be working alongside June Brown, who plays Dot.

She laughed: "That's why I'm there, I'll be honest with you. Sometimes you get a bit confused because you think, 'Do I want to be in something that's so iconic, and will I be able to watch it again, because it's my favourite soap? If I'm in it, maybe I won't be able to'.

"So they said, 'It will be a Dot Cotton storyline'. They'd hardly finished saying the word 'Dot' when I said, 'Well, I'll be there!' She is a goddess really, isn't she? She's done it all and I spent a day working with her in her living room and her kitchen on the set, and she was talking me through it.

"In fact, the only thing she objected to was, I had a line where I would say, 'Oh really? You're maybe not the nice little old lady you think'. She said, 'If you could just take out the 'old'!'"

EastEnders airs McLynn's first scenes tonight at 8pm on BBC One.

[tammyy2j]

It sounds like Nick beat her and maybe her and Charlie killed him and buried him somewhere else

[tammyy2j]

I really cant see her as a wife to Nick she looks older than him and the actress is 52 and John Altman who plays Nick is 62

[Dazzle]

I really cant see her as a wife to Nick she looks older than him and the actress is 52 and John Altman who plays Nick is 62

I've loved the actress since Father Ted, so am very happy to see her in EE. I agree that she doesn't seem like Nick's type though. Maybe she was a bit of a goer in her younger days? :D

[lizann]

I've loved the actress since Father Ted, so am very happy to see her in EE. I agree that she doesn't seem like Nick's type though. Maybe she was a bit of a goer in her younger days? :D

she will always be mrs doyle go on have a cup of tea fr :p

[lizann]

I've loved the actress since Father Ted, so am very happy to see her in EE. I agree that she doesn't seem like Nick's type though. Maybe she was a bit of a goer in her younger days? :D

she will always be mrs doyle go on have a cup of tea fr :p