EastEnders fans were emotional after news finally broke in Walford of Dot Cotton's death in scenes that aired on Thursday evening.
The farewell episode comes after June Brown died earlier this year, after more than 20 years of playing the iconic Walford matriarch, whose death on the soap was announced this week.
Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) took the news of Dot's death particularly hard, staying up all night looking at pictures of her grandmother through marriage, before she headed to the Queen Vic to let the other Albert Square residents know.
Sharon (Leticia Dean) immediately burst into tears at the news, while other characters who had known Dot for years looked equally as devastated.
Sonia said: "She didn't suffer, she fell asleep peacefully. Charlie found her this morning, rollers in, packet of fags and her Bible next to her."
Patrick then stood and told the pub: "Dot is not a sentimental woman and if she was here now she'd be judging every single one of us and enjoying every second of it."
As the pub filled with a knowing laugh, he added: "What can we do to remember her? I tell you what, let us give her something that she will disapprove of" before raising his glass in a toast to the soap legend.
The revelation came in the middle of the Albert Square Christmas party and the residents decided to carry on with the Christmas tree light switch on in Dot's honour.
Sonia was then seen heading back to her house, where Dot once lived, and picked up a picture of her standing in the living room.
She whispered: "Goodnight Dot" before closing the door and the final seconds of the episode featured the ticking of the clock in the darkened room as the credits rolled.
Then the soap's infamous 'Duff Duff's' and theme tune were absent as a silent mark of respect to the iconic Walford matriarch.
EastEnders viewers were in tears at the poignant scenes and special end to the episode.
Taking to Twitter, one wrote: "Bye Dot," with a heartbroken emoji.
Another added: "Beautifully done Eastenders .. to Dot,” as a third chimed: “Oh dot we love you. My heart broke that was tough tonight.”
Another concluded: “Brilliant and very sad episode. You could see the raw and genuine emotion on all of their faces. End of an era.”
The special tribute episode to June Brown was announced earlier this year, when the show's executive producer Chris Clenshaw said: "Everyone at EastEnders was truly heartbroken when June passed away earlier this year and, for quite a while, no-one could even think about saying goodbye to Dot; an iconic character who will go down in television history and be cherished forever.
"June was always adamant that she never wanted Dot's time to end while she was still with us, but she also knew that EastEnders would rightly say their farewells to Dot when the time was right.
"Sadly that time has come, and we are determined to give the audience, who treasured Dot for so many years, the fitting tribute that she so deeply deserves.
"So whilst it will be a very, very sad day in Walford, we will be giving Dot the send-off that she and June would want and rightly deserve."
