Nick star John Altman reckoned the episode, which laid Dot Cotton to rest, should’ve been longer (Picture: BBC)
John Altman has revealed that he thought EastEnders’ critically-acclaimed Dot Cotton funeral episode was too short.
The actor, who played Dot’s dastardly son Nick Cotton across various stints in the BBC One soap, reckoned the episode should’ve been an hour-long one and featured a number of ‘old scenes’ from years gone by.
‘It seemed to be quite quick,’ he said in a new interview.
‘They should have done an hour-long episode to pay homage to her. They could have put in some old scenes from over the years.’
The episode of the long-running serial drama, which aired on December 12, was actually extended, running at almost 40 minutes, and it received universal praise from both fans and critics alike, with audiences branding it the perfect send-off and tribute for an icon such as Dot.
A number of faces returned to pay their respects, including Colin Russell (Lord Michael Cashman), Barry Clark (Gary Hailes), Disa O’Brien (Jan Graveson), plus an unannounced appearance from Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt).
Dot was laid to rest next to long-time friend Ethel Skinner in a truly touching farewell.
The funeral episode received acclaim from audiences, who thought it was the perfect tribute for Dot (Picture: BBC / Jack Barnes / Kieron McCarron)
Despite John’s issues with the runtime, however, he thinks the team at EastEnders did do June Brown justice.
‘I liked the cigarettes being thrown onto the coffin,’ he told The Daily Star, recalling the heartfelt moment that stepson Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) threw a packet of cigarettes onto Dot’s coffin.
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‘June would have liked that.’
John made his final appearance as Nick back in 2015, when the character died during the show’s 30th anniversary celebrations.
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One. A displaced episode will air Friday this week, due to scheduling changes.
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The former Walford star offered his thoughts on the tribute to Dot following June Brown’s death last year.
