As part of the Watts family and the last of its major members to have appeared on the show, Chrissie's storylines explored her tumultuous marriage to Den; bonding with his adopted daughter Sharon (Letitia Dean) and her two adoptive siblings, Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman) and Vicki Fowler (Scarlett Alice Johnson); conspiring with Den to retake ownership of The Queen Victoria public house; forming a relationship with Jake following Den's murder; attempting to sell the Queen Vic to Jake's gangland boss Johnny Allen (Billy Murray) and local businessman Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt); being blackmailed by young wayward Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner); and feuding with the rival Mitchell family.

Oberman won praise for her "three-dimensional portrayal of a classic soap bitch", with Chrissie hailed as "helping revive the show's fortunes that had been lagging somewhat in recent years".

According to the Daily Mirror reporter Elizabeth Hassell, the character became a "national TV heroine" to viewers shortly after arriving, for standing up to the antics of her dastardly husband, and is most often cited as a "strong" and "clever" woman, as well as being "hard as nails" in "the grand tradition of landladies of The Queen Vic".

Chrissie reluctantly agrees and is surprised to learn that he has an adopted daughter, Sharon (Letitia Dean), along with two other children: Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman) and Vicki Fowler (Scarlett Alice Johnson).

Chrissie and Johnny are alarmed when Peggy's two hardman sons Phil (Steve McFadden) and Grant (Ross Kemp) return to help with their mother's campaign for Sam's exoneration.

In September 2024, Sharon is sent to prison for seven days after being held in contempt of court, for degrading the judge during Dean Wicks' (Matt Di Angelo) trial for the murder of Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters).

Before she leaves, Chrissie drops a bombshell on Sharon, revealing that Johnny Allen's daughter Ruby (Louisa Lytton) was previously her cellmate and had been moved after having Martin Fowler's (James Bye) child.

Angie Watts (Anita Dobson) was an iconic character in British television history, with her troublesome marriage to Den largely anchoring EastEnders extraordinary success when it was launched in the mid-80s.

[6] The role of the second Mrs Den Watts was highly sought after with Oberman eventually beating out high-profile stars like Patsy Kensit, Cheryl Baker and Joanna Lumley for the part.

The arrival of Chrissie Watts was announced barely a month before she was set to first appear on-screen,[9] and came at a time when EastEnders was undergoing immense media criticism and falling ratings.

"[14] This all came during a period of great uncertainty for the show; media criticism and negative publicity created immense pressure behind-the-scenes, with large-scale cast culls and speculation in the press and on the set over who may be next.

[8] Talking to the Daily Mirror shortly after appearing on-screen for the first time in April, Oberman declared, "Chrissie is the sort of woman I'd really like to be friends with... She's an Essex girl who was brought up in a family of brothers, so she knows how to work men.

"[20] In her official character profile, Chrissie is portrayed as someone "happy to play mind games" and "often two steps ahead of her husband", being described as "the type of person to be your best friend.

"[21] Her strong-willed persona has led reviewers to label the character as "venomous",[13] "devious", and "hard as nails" in "the grand tradition of landladies of the Queen Vic",[22] manipulating others to ensure matters go her way.

"[27] Oberman explained how the character's fashion sense was informed by her own observations of British expatriates: "When I heard I had the part of Chrissie I was on holiday in Spain, where she had been living, and I remember looking at all the ex-pat women, and thinking how co-ordinated they are.

"[8] The character's highly stylised representation on-screen earned Oberman the award for best-dressed soap star in 2005,[29] and reflected Chrissie's new-found role as the "voluptuous landlady" of The Queen Vic.

[30] In the media the character was widely regarded as the show's ultimate femme fatale and resident "sex symbol",[14] being described by John Dingwall of the Daily Record as Walford's "black widow".

"[36] In an interview with the official EastEnders website, Oberman detailed the background dynamic to Chrissie and Den's relationship as it existed before their appearance on the show: "They were a real match for each other and ran a successful wine bar.

"[32] Den's womanising and philandering nature was deliberately set against Chrissie's strong and forceful personality, and culminated on-screen in his affair with Kate Mitchell (Jill Halfpenny).

The plot was praised by television editor Ru Green as being one of the "better storylines" during an otherwise weak year for the show,[37] with media attention at the time profiling Chrissie's dramatic plans for revenge.

"[5] As Den's equal, Chrissie was intended to be a challenge to his propensity for intellectual games, having already outwitted the show's prior top dog, Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden).

[12] The lead-up to the 20th anniversary episode in February was an immensely high-profile affair, with Imogen Ridgway and Richard Godwin of the Evening Standard dryly observing that "unless you've been living on Titan you probably know that EastEnders is 20 years old and Dirty Den is once again leaving Albert Square.

"[46] Events in the show centre around Chrissie manipulating Sam Mitchell and Zoe Slater in a plot of revenge against Den, the three women being dubbed the "Witches of Walford" by the popular press in reference to Shakespeare's play, Macbeth.

"[54] During the hour-long broadcast Chrissie leads Sam and Zoe into facing Den, with 14.34 million people watching her deliver the fatal blow to her husband after a violent struggle.

", the episode featured comments from Oberman, Grantham (Den), Dean (Sharon), Medcalf (Sam), Beckett (Jake), and Windsor (Peggy) profiling Chrissie and exploring the nuanced nature of the character.

[63] Oberman won praise for her "three-dimensional portrayal of a classic soap bitch", with Chrissie hailed as "helping revive the show's fortunes that had been lagging somewhat in recent years".

According to the Daily Mirror reporter Elizabeth Hassell, the character became a "national TV heroine" to viewers shortly after arriving, for standing up to the antics of her dastardly husband, and is most often cited as a "strong" and "clever" woman, as well as being "hard as nails" in "the grand tradition of landladies of The Queen Vic".

[46] Oberman revealed that she could not stop laughing during filming of the scenes, as Grantham's hair was stuck to the floor: "We did lots of takes and poor Leslie was on his back for hours with fake blood all around his head.

[68] However, Jim Shelley of the Daily Mirror was highly critical of Chrissie, calling her "the ludicrous Lady MacBeth wannabe", and felt her departure was ennabling EastEnders to move forward.

Problems with the script did not escape Oberman, who criticised her character's storylines after she left the show, saying the writers "must have been on crack", adding that "plots didn't make logical or emotional sense – but they said, 'That's the soap convention, dear, get used to it'".