Anita Dobson, well-known for her role as Angie Watts on the BBC’s EastEnders, has opened up about the significant changes she has witnessed in London’s East End. At 76, the actress has expressed concerns over the area’s evolving character, noting that the once tight-knit community spirit seems to have dissipated amidst a backdrop of increasing diversity. While acknowledging the East End’s transformation into a vibrant multicultural center, Dobson suggests that this shift has brought about some unintended consequences.

Reflecting on her childhood memories, Anita recalls a time when her neighborhood was predominantly Jewish, with families who became her closest friends. Today, the East End is a melting pot of various ethnicities and religions, marking a stark contrast to the past. Dobson describes the rapid demographic changes as leaving parts of the area “completely unrecognisable,” expressing a mix of nostalgia and surprise at the transformation.

In a recent interview, she recounted an emotional visit back to the East End, where she asked her driver to tour her childhood haunts, including the pub she frequented with her father. The experience was bittersweet, as she remarked on how dramatically places like Brick Lane had changed. “Some of it was completely unrecognisable in a shocking way,” she admitted, noting that even street names and shop fronts seemed foreign to her.

Despite acknowledging the benefits of a more diverse community, Dobson believes something has been lost in the process. “There are many more different races, colors, accents, and religions now,” she observed, “which has been good in many ways. But in some ways, you lose something as well.” Her reflections capture a common sentiment among those who have watched familiar places transform over time, balancing the excitement of new cultural influences with a longing for the familiar past.

She continued: “But now there are many, many more different races and colours and accents and voices, and many more religions. So it has been good in a lot of ways, but in some ways you lose something as well.

“Community. We’re not a society anymore. We’re not social. People don’t talk to each other like they used to,” Anita told the Telegraph when asked what specifically the area had “lost”.

While the Stepney-born performer’s childhood council estate remains standing, she explained much of the surrounding streets have changed dramatically.

Anita added that while the East End was a rough place back when she was growing up, she added “but nobody ever hurt women or children”.

Meanwhile, the actress and her husband have since quit London after the basement of their Kensington home was flooded with sewage during a storm in 2021.

The couple have since purchased a property in Surrey.