Dog end of a day gone by
Though I no longer watch EastEnders, I felt compelled to see the much-fanfared Dot Cotton episode last night. This was just Dot (June Brown), recording a message for her hospitalised husband Jim for 28 minutes. (John Bardon, who plays Jim, had a stroke last year and may, or may not, return to the show - he's said to be making "steady progress".) Although this obviously had shades of Alan Bennett's celebrated Talking Heads series, it was subtly different. In those, Bennett paints a picture of a life through a single, half-hour script. Here, the life already exists - to regular viewers, Dot lives. She's been a staple of the Square for 22 years - one of the few survivors from those early days. As such, giving her an episode to herself is a kind of reward for long service. June Brown is certainly one of the few actors who could carry it, but chiefly thanks to the way the character has been honed with care and attention down the years, by every writer who's written for her and every storyliner who's storylined for her. (June Brown knows the character so well, she can spot a duff line a mile off, and will change it.) I was lucky to have worked on the show when I did, 1999-2002, as Dot and Jim's relationship was in its first flush, and tremendous fun to write. One of my favourite episodes to write was the one where Dot has her hair done for a romantic night out with Jim and it turns out that the whole family have to wash their hair in nit shampoo and end up sat around the table, miserable. What fun! (I loved writing for John Barden: "I'm afraid all day trips are off for the foreseeable, Dorothy - the motor didn't respond to my surgeon's fingers.") It was fitting that Tony Jordan, surely the crown prince of all EastEnders writers, was called back to do Dot's big moment.It was compelling stuff, ranging from confessional and self-pity, through the Bible and nostalgic rhapsody (Dot's happiest moment was while evacuated to the country during the war), to the money shot, which was ... something I won't reveal in case you've taped it. Actually, the dramatic reveal was the least interesting part for me. I just enjoyed the language and the pacing, and the fact that only in a long-running soap can a character really breathe like this. What this episode did was remind us how good the writing can be on EastEnders. (I haven't watched it for, ooh, five years, so I make no claims for it now - indeed, I only hear bad things. All I know is that the most recent episode was beautifully written and seems guaranteed of awards this year.) Jordan is a populist master. Not everything he touches turns to gold (for every Life On Mars, there's a Hustle, which is not for me at all), but the man is quietly behind a large chunk of today's best TV drama. When you think about it, writing an episode of primetime drama about an old lady in her seventies, talking to herself in a pink dressing gown at night, over a cup of cocoa and a fag, is a tall order. This does not fit in with TV's current obsessions with youth and speed and jeopardy. But such is Jordan's affection for Dot this was no half-hour moan, nor an exercise in camp, more like a tribute from afar. God was in the details - the mention of a "rent tin", "bed socks", the euphemism "next week's washing", even the stirring of the cocoa into a drop of milk before the hot water goes in - and the only bum note for me was Dot's mangling of "iPod" as "earPod", which didn't ring true.
Will I be watching the next episode? I don't think so. (And a point for anyone who recognises where my title comes from.)
posted by Andrew Collins @ 9:42 AM
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Do points make prizes?
Love and Rockets.
I saw the end of the episode and it seemed pretty good. Probably needed to have watched the whole thing to have got a real sense of it though.
ooh, ooh, ooh me me me sir...
I think it is Love and Rockets....not that I was a fan but I saw this on Youtube recently...
Do I get a point and will it count towards my end of term course work?
AnonoNick
I thought it was all round excellent. As you say, one of the few cast members who has the quality to deliver a performance like that, and thankfully, it was skilfully written.
"Don't let the smoke get in your eyes (Dot)"
You have quoted Love and Rockets and I claim my five pounds.
Do you know how nice it is to be surrounded by people who recognise a Love & Rockets song title?
I didn't recognise it, shame on me.
Haven't seen this yet but it has been recorded...
As for the 'earpod' thing, reminds me of my dear departed grandma who we lost last year (she died, we're not careless).
I told her I'd emailed my Dad and she said 'Emile? Emile Heskey?'
Bless her.
andrew - either you have captured a zeitgeist or there some more people out there like you...
they ripped off the manners manifesto?
http://www.friendlybritain.org.uk/
there's a facebook group too.
Andrew, I thought the 'earpod' thing worked quite well, especially in conjunction with the 'PS whatisnames'.
It reminded me of the lovely malapropisms that Ethel used to come out with when in her pomp.
I particularly liked the tape recorder she was using - haven't seen one like that for years.
i was so glad to see that it was tony jordan back writing for it again as i feared one of the current writers doing it and making a complete mess of it. i stopped myself from watching it last month because i couldn't bear the poor storylines and cringeworthy script anymore but i had to watch it last night cos yeah she is one of the only actors who could do this. and i'm glad i did as it was wonderful. i was expecting that longer version of the theme tune at the end which they always do when it gets a bit emotional but i can't think of the last time they dispensed with the theme tune entirely, if they ever have before...
peter
There's a man on the corner
Coming on like Moses
Found a new religion
that rebuts your plastic roses
He's found his path
To the living heart of jesus
You tell him
You've found yours
Been to the future
You've never made
There is nothing less than music
Then the amusement arcade
In a city without a soul
Newspaper boys selling you the hard truth
Lucifer employs by the hands of malady
Stuck at the dog-end of a day gone by, boy
Stuck at the dog-end of a day gone by
Stuck at the dog-end of a day gone by, boy
Don't let the smoke get in your eyes
Well the drunk outside the Wendy's
Is becoming less than friendly
A dog is barking at the moon
The drunk outside the windy
Is becoming less than friendly
A dog is barking at the moon
You want to get away
From the city of light
Then when you've gone
You want to get back
It is some strange addiction
When you need to put yourself
Back in your eye
Stuck at the dog-end of a day gone by, boy
Stuck at the dog-end of a day gone by
Stuck at the dog-end of a day gone by, boy
Don't let the smoke get in your eye
Stuck at the dog-end of a day gone by, boy
Stuck at the dog-end of a day gone by
Stuck at the dog-end of a day gone by, boy
Don't let the smoke get in your...
As a lapsed 'Enders viewer, I made a point of watching Thursday Night's episode. And I'm very glad I did. June Brown is a marvellous actor, Tony Jordan's script ticked pretty much every box required, and the combination made for a compelling and believable performance. I particularly enjoyed Dot's memories of the young Ethel, I could just see a young Gretchen Franklin full of devilment and mischief. Lovely stuff. Did I watch the next episode on Friday? No.
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