She was introduced alongside her grandsons, Alfie (Shane Richie) and Spencer Moon (Christopher Parker), and made her first appearance on 3 December 2002.

The episode featured a two-minute silence, flashbacks to Nana's backstory, and a guest appearance from the actor Trevor Peacock, who played Sid, a war veteran.

The decision to kill off Nana was criticised by fans and critics, who did not see why she had to be written out of the series, simply because Richie had announced his departure.

After Alfred and his wife Cherry were killed in a car crash, she moved in with her two orphaned grandsons, Alfie (Shane Richie) and Spencer Moon (Christopher Parker), who call her Nana.

In 2005, Nana is diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm, and takes the decision to die, as her chances of surviving an operation were low due to her age (84).

She works on a wish list of things she wants to do before her death, such as getting arrested, playing poker, to have tea with the Queen and to visit her dead husband's grave in Normandy.

Per one of her wishes, Alfie buys Nana a battery-operated, dancing toy snowman and helps her decorate the Moon house for Christmas.

[1] Gavin Gaughan wrote Braid's obituary in The Guardian, and in it he described Nana as "vague, but always affectionate" and having "a wide smile and good-natured manner, her niche as a maternal Cockney was in the screen tradition inaugurated by Kathleen Harrison, which included Irene Handl and Patricia Hayes.

"[2] A special episode featuring Nana and Alfie in France on Armistice Day, the anniversary of the official end of World War I, aired on 11 November 2005.

The episode also features flashbacks of Nana's first encounter with her late husband in war-time London, and a guest appearance from the actor Trevor Peacock, who played Sid, a war veteran.

It was reported in The Daily Telegraph that Braid's memory had been problematic during her stint on the show and that BBC producers had to hire "a personal minder to assist her in learning lines and to ensure that she turned up in the right place at the right time.

[9] Writing of her storyline with Wilfred, Gaughan said that "Despite the comedic talents of Braid, Sutton and Richie, any hints towards Cockney family comedy were eschewed in favour of Albert Square's preponderance of gloom.

[2] When Braid died in late 2007 an EastEnders spokesperson issued a statement: "She was a lovely actress who brought her great humour and wit to the role of Nana which earned her many fans, young and old alike.

[11]Susannah Clapp from The Observer criticised how EastEnders portrayed dementia, saying that "[Nana] faded fairly quickly from beaming vagueness to doolally hopelessness.