i have been watching eastenders for years now but proberly not that far back as dot is always going on about her friend ethel has she even ever been in eastenders.

Yes, Ethel Skinner was in it from the start, from 1985 until 1997. She was a completely different person to Dot, not religious at all and she had a seedy past, liked to sleep around when she was younger but Ethel and Dot were soul mates, always together until Ethel died...Dot helped her to commit suicide because she was suffering.

Here's a link for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Skinn…