Dot’s funeral in EastEnders wasn’t long enough, says John Altman

A special episode last month saw Walford residents bid farewell to actress June Brown’s character, Dot Cotton.

Despite the episode being extended to 40 minutes, John Altman, who played Dot’s son Nasty Nick from 1985 to 2015, believes that it should have been even longer.

Speaking to the Daily Star at the premiere of Cirque du Soleil’s Kurios, John said:

“It seemed to be quite quick. 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.”

Despite feeling that the runtime was insufficient, John added that he thought the special episode “did June justice”.

“But I do think they did June justice. I liked the cigarettes being thrown onto the coffin. June would have liked that.”

With 3.52 million viewers, the episode ranked as the most watched of 2022 and received favourable press coverage. In June Brown’s memory, it came eight months after her death in April 2022.

John reflected on what it was like to attend June’s funeral before watching her iconic character being laid to rest:

“It was quite bizarre. I went to her real funeral and then I watched the one on TV. I was quite moved by it. I found it very emotional.”