Eastenders

The Dot and Ethel Episodes

This year (2000-2001), we followed the episodes dealing with the moral issue surrounding the death of Ethel Skinner.

Outline of the Story

Ethel and Dot Cotton had been lifelong, good friends. In Ethel's final illness, Dot nursed her and looked after her. Ethel revealed that she was suffering from cancer, in particular a brain tumour. She realised that she did not have long to live and knew that, before the end, she would lose her mental powers, would not be able to recognise friends and relatives. The thought frightened her.

Ethel was taking morphine capsules/ tablets to help control the pain. However, one day, Dot found Ethel hiding a bag of morphine tablets. Instead of taking her tablets regularly, Ethel had been saving them. She told Dot that she would take them all at once when the right time came. Horrified, Dot took the bag away from her and told her how wrong she thought Ethel's intentions were. Dot is a very religious person and felt that suicide or assisted suicide would be punished by God.

Over a period of time, Ethel repeatedly begged Dot to give her the morphine tablets and to help her, when the time came, to finish her life when she wanted - surrounded by friends and still with her right mind. Dot refused.

After a party at 'The Vic', Ethel decided that she wanted to 'go'. She had enjoyed herself; she had had a drink with her friends and now she felt she was getting physically worse. She pleaded with Dot who eventually gave in and gave her the morphine tablets. By the morning Ethel was dead.

Afterwards, and particularly after the funeral, Dot became guilt ridden. Pauline Fowler and other friends could not understand why Dot had taken it so badly. Dot felt she had committed murder and deserved to be punished. She felt that God would punish her and that she would never go to heaven to be re-united with her deceased husband.

In incidents and conversations that followed, we get insights into the various arguments for and against euthanasia. Dot expressed the view that life is sacred, special to God, a gift from God - what we have referred to as 'the sanctity of life.' Only He has the right to take it. She found verses in the Bible which suggest that she deserved punishment from God.

Subsequent Comments and Events

Eddie Skinner, Dot's nephew, commented at the funeral, that he wished she could have hung around for a couple more days so that he could have seen her.

In Church, alone, Dot prayed in front of the altar, looking up at a stained glass picture of Christ. She said, "I asked other people but only got opinions. What do you think? It was difficult for Ethel - she wasn't strong. I only did it because I loved her. What sort of a friend would I be if I said, "You put up with it!" You die scared among strangers, because I am too scared of what might happen to me afterwards. I am scared. I have committed a crime, but have I committed a sin... an unforgivable sin? I'm scared..." And then she pleaded for grace from God.

Suddenly, she became aware that the vicar of the church was standing there. She had obviously consulted him about the matter before Ethel died. Now, having heard her prayer, he says, "So you went ahead and did it despite everything we talked about."

Dot replies, "I don't need your approval any more - I've made my peace."

The vicar comments, "I must tell you strongly that, whatever happens in the eyes of God, what you did in the eyes of the law is profoundly wrong. How you square that with your conscience is between you and God."

Later, Dot turned up at the Police Station where she confessed to the murder of Ethel Skinner. The police can find no real evidence - Ethel was on high doses of morphine and her body had been cremated. Dot, they feel, was her best friend, had nursed her and was now confused.

Pauline was sent for to collect Dot. Eventually, Dot told Pauline what she had done. Pauline was shocked. DOT said, "She begged me. She kept on for weeks. She made me promise. I knew it was wrong, but I saw it in her eyes. She always had that sparkle, but it was not there any more… just suffering. Then there was the party at the Vic. It was the best night of her life. She wanted to go surrounded by people who loved her. I helped Ethel take her own life.

Pauline retorts, "And what if she had asked you to put a pillow over her face? She didn't know what she was saying. How do you know what she wanted? She was old and confused. Some days she did not who you were. You made it sound as though you did something for her - like a bit of shopping or plumped up her cushions. You never talked about it to me or her nurse. You just made the decision and took it all upon yourself. What if she had had a good day the next day or week or a month? Another month of sitting in the Vic or watching the telly or laughing at a joke."

"But," Dot whined, "she hadn't - just a day or two"

"You don't know that," pointed out Pauline. "There's nothing I wouldn't give for having my dear husband or dead son back for one day. Life is so precious. Just one day. What would Ethel have done with her day - one day and you took it away."

Later, Pauline talked to her eldest son Mark (who has the HIV virus) about his attitude towards euthanasia. He said that he had thought about dying and that if he were really ill he was not sure whether he would want someone to help him die. If he were in pain and had only a short time to live then he would like to pick his own day. He thought that when you are dying anyway, right and wrong do not come into it - it is those who are left behind that have to deal with the problems. Ethel had had a great life - 85 years and at the end she was surrounded by friends.

Dot eventually keeps shoplifting so that she is arrested. In court, although she was going to be treated leniently, she made such a commotion, that she was given a jail sentence for contempt of court. DOT wanted to be punished for what she had done.

The Eastenders episodes on this issue did give the opportunity to hear various viewpoints on euthanasia, as expressed through the characters of the programme. Its treatment of the issue was thus fair and not one-sided.