Jack Dalton

Jack Dalton was a character in the BBC Soap Opera EastEnders. He first appeared in the show in 2003, although the events surrounding the apparent death of the character Dennis Watts in 1989 were then retconned to include him.

Related Topics:
BBC - Soap Opera - EastEnders - 2003 - Dennis Watts - Retconned

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Dalton was a hardened gangland boss, and as head of The Firm, he was responsible for ordering Den's death.

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By the late 1980s, Den had become involved with "Walford Investments", aka "The Firm", and was forced into becoming the titular manager of Strokes wine bar (fomerly Henry's), which was owned by "The Firm" and was really a front for illegal gambling.

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Strokes had a rival bar in the form of The Dagmar, fronted by James Wilmott-Brown, who went on to rape Kathy Beale, the wife of Den's best friend. Den used his connections with "The Firm" to arrange for The Dagmar to be torched.

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The fire drew attention to the illegal goings-on at Strokes, and thus greatly angered "The Firm". Den refused to take the blame and "The Firm" believed that he had grassed them up to the police.

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Consequently Dalton decided to have Den murdered. In one of the series most famous exits as he walked by the canal Den was shot by a Firm lackey with a gun hidden in a bunch of Daffodils. At Grantham's request, Den was filmed falling into the water and presumably drowning but this scene was deleted. A year later the Police found Den's body in the canal.

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As Den was not seen falling into the water (the viewers only heard a shot and a splash) the series was able to reseruct Den 14 years later. In 2003 the series revealed that Den had indeed been shot, but the shot had only wounded him and was he able to escape to Spain were he forged a new life, ultimately remarrying in the late nineties. The body which had been buried his grave had actually been the body of the person who had attempted to murder Den and had been killed and dumped in the canal (his teeth were bricked out to prevent indentification).

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By 2003, Jack had managed to establish himself as "The Firm's boss", and was now operating from his nightclub; The Imperial Room. During his brief spell on screen he showed a Machivellian and ruthless streak: he had Spencer Moon beaten up for using forged currency in his club and then ordered the murder of one of his loyalist employees Dennis Rickman (who beknown to him was Den's illegimate son).

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Unfortunately for Dalton, Dennis managed to convince his killer (Phil Mitchell) that he would murder Dalton himself. Armed with a gun Dennis moved Dalton to drive into the woods where he duly murdered him. Before dying he revealed the truth about Den.

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Jack was played by the distinguished actor Hywel Bennett.

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