Dot later finds Nick unconscious, having had a bad reaction to the drugs.

She raised Nick alone, with Charlie making unannounced returns and departures sporadically, and although Dot doted on Nick, she was not an affectionate mother.However, Dot causes trouble for certain residents too, although not intentionally. After Patrick and Dot go to the cinema together, he convinces her to see an optician because she was squinting throughout.

Dot is surprised when Charlie returns but he is only back for his son and she is upset when he leaves again with Matthew. Fatboy later allows his girlfriend Poppy Meadow (Rachel Bright) to move in with him and Dot, and Dot forms a close bond with Poppy. Dot is taken to court but manages to persuade the judge to allow her to keep her home and avoids a prison sentence. She finds a Christmas mixtape recorded by her deceased friend Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison), and takes in a stray cat, which she eventually names Dave. Dot disowns Nick after Ashley's funeral, having overheard the truth about Ashley's death during an earlier argument between Nick and Mark. Dot takes salsa classes and works with Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) to prepare for a salsa show, who mistakenly thinks she wants a relationship, but she actually sets him and Claudette Hubbard(Ellen Thomas) up on a date. Colin visits her on his wedding day to persuade her to come, which she does. Charlie comes and goes, always treating Dot badly and stealing from her, until he dies in a lorry accident. Dot then leaves Albert Square.Dot returns nearly four years later when Nigel Bates tracks her down. Although horrified that Charlie and Nick lied to her, she forgives Charlie and agrees to aid Nick's escape from the UK, this time for good.

Dot initially decides to plead guilty, believing she should atone for her sins in prison, but when Jim dies, she attends his funeral and realises how much her family needs her.

She reveals that Nick has been arrested for drugs possession and Zoe and Ashley have moved away. Dot is worried when the doctor tells her that she will need an operation on her hip but she refuses physiotherapy. Dot and Jim struggle to look after the baby and, after talking to the local vicar and her old friend Dr. Harold Legg (Leonard Fenton), Dot decides to hand him over to Social Services. However, it is later revealed that Charlie is being dishonest and although he is Nick's son, he is not a policeman but a caretaker and that he has helped Nick stage his own death to avoid being arrested following a robbery. Dot cares for Dr Legg in her home until his death.

However, Dot, unwilling to give up on her son, hides Nick in a derelict neighbouring house.Unable to leave the premises, Nick starts using heroin again but cannot feed his drug addiction and asks Dot to obtain drugs for him. Dot turns Edward down, remaining loyal to her husband. Dot reveals that she thinks she is going blind but then kicks Patrick out of the house. Dot is surprised to see the launderette had reopened and Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley) is working there.

Dot feels it is her Christian duty to inform Saeed's wife, and when Naima confronts Saeed, he does not deny it so she leaves him.In 1989, Nick tells Dot during an off-screen prison visit that he is married to a woman called Hazel, and that the couple have young daughter; Nick had avoided telling her due to their strained relationship. Dot is then taken to hospital and Sonia blames her neighbours for not looking out her and scolds Sharon and Ian. She has a difficult life with a criminal husband, Charlie, and their son Nick. Fatboy tells Dot he is spending Christmas with his father, but later Vincent Hubbard (Richard Blackwood) discovers Fatboy's belongings amongst some blood in the boot of a crushed car and tells Dot that Fatboy is not coming back because of a job abroad. Dot was born in Walford, and was evacuated to Wales as a child during the Second World War.

She contacts the police, and he is arrested a week after his return.Dot moves in with fellow senior citizen Lilly Mattock and is arrested for the illegal use of cannabis, which she confuses for herbal tea.

She tries to contact her boss by telephone but when she finally gets through, he hangs up.

Patrick books Dot a doctor's appointment; the doctor suspects age-related macular degeneration, which is later confirmed. When the police do not believe her story, Dot demands retribution in another form and she ends up in court for shoplifting. In a rage, Nick holds various members of the community hostage in the café, resulting in an explosion.

It is revealed Dotty and Nick are planning to kill Dot for her life insurance.

Patrick tells her she isn't scared of Halloween but of the world. She is worried about her health and despite being told by her doctor that she is fine, she visits Dr Legg. After attending Abi's funeral, Dot goes to stay with Charlie, Liz and Matthew in Ireland. When Jack is unable to take Dot to the garden centre, she decides to drive herself with her great-grandson, Matthew Mitchell Cotton, but drives through a no entry sign into oncoming traffic and ends up in the verge. Nick seeks his mother's forgiveness and she cradles him as he dies, ultimately deciding not to call an ambulance to attempt to save his life.

Dot's step-granddaughter Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) lives with her for a while but moves out with Dot's blessing.Dot trips over Dave and falls awkwardly onto a chair. Dot receives a wedding invitation from her old friend, Colin, but she does not want to attend because she does not believe in homosexual marriage. Nobody knows she is injured until her step-granddaughter, Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy), finds her.

Dot is diagnosed with kidney cancer and decides not to tell anyone except her friend Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman).

Torn between her Christian beliefs against euthanasia and her best friend's wishes, she helps Ethel to die, but later feels she should be jailed for murder. They decide that they will have a platonic marital relationship.

Dot discovers the launderette will become a dry cleaner and is interviewed for her own job; she struggles with the technical terminology but defends herself as a people person.