Not so long very long ago, EastEnders went through a period of ignoring its past, of turning the other cheek to a rich and varied history of storylines and characters. Coronation Street, conversely, would often revisit old characters and, indeed old storylines, with returns for Ray Langton, and Emily receiving a visit from the man who killed her husband over two decades previously.
But now it seems the BBC soap has an open arm policy in welcoming back actors who left the soap behind to forge new careers (successful or otherwise). Today it has been announced that actor John Altman will return to Albert Square after an absence of seven years, to revisit the character that blazed a trail in the very early days of EastEnders - Nick Cotton.
Dot Cotton’s wayward son was the original Albert Square bad boy - mad, bad and dangerous to know, he ruffled the feathers of many a Walford resident in his intermittent stints on the show, and brought constant woe to his mum, Dot, who always found it in her heart to forgive her crooked boy. It didn’t matter how many times he conned and cheated her with stories of converting to Christianity and contracting HIV, he was revealed to be just after her money.
The last we heard of Nick, he was in a prison hospital, undergoing treatment for cancer, a fact that Jim kept from Dot. Of course, she found out and went to visit him, but those events were never shown in the series. What was said between mother and son, we don’t know…
… and now Nick will return at Christmas. What this means for Dot, we don’t know, but there’s bound to be something seedy up his sleeve - or will he finally be a reformed a character? Storyline wise, this is a sound move to bring Dot back into the centre of the soap’s action. With John Bardon still sadly absent from the show due to ill health, Dot, while always a welcome presence on the show, has been on the sidelines a little recently, despite a couple of special event episodes involving the veteran character. With her son returning, and with some careful storylining, Dot will certainly have an interesting time ahead at the beginning of next year.
Will Nick get one over on his forgiving Ma yet again, or will Dot, always strong, be able to turn the tables? Or do we, as an audience, deep down always want the bad boys to win somewhere down the line?
Altman’s return to* EastEnders* is just one of a long line recently, with Patsy Palmer, a one time critic of the show since her first departure as Bianca, arriving back in Walford last Spring along with an extended brood of children. Alongside came Sid Owen as Ricky Butcher, and around the same time Nick Cotton resurfaces, we’ll also be seeing Charlie Brooks back as Ricky’s sister, Janine. Now Janine and Nick Cotton - there’s a chilling partnership just waiting to happen…
EastEnders hasn’t always had success with returning characters - I think everybody on the show would like to forget the much-publicised comeback of Den Watts and the even more publicised scandal surrounding certain extra curricular activities. But if storylines are good (and more importantly, believable), and the writing and acting stays true to the characters, then satisfying, entertaining results can be obtained.
If they’re not, the character might be just one step away from a doggy doorstop and a burial in the Queen Vic’s beer cellar.
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