The swiftly apologised after former star John Altman, known for his role as Nick Cotton, said a racial slur during a radio interview.
On Wednesday (February 19), the 72 year old actor appeared on ‘s World At One to discuss the legendary soap’s 40th anniversary.
John, who played the infamous son of Dot Cotton, Nick, from the debut episode in 1985 until his character’s demise in the 30th-anniversary episodes in 2015, shared memories of his time on the series.
During the interview with host Sarah Montague and scriptwriter Ann Marie di Mambro, John was asked about his ability to ad-lib lines during his notorious altercations with other characters throughout the years.
“During the early days with June [his on-screen mother Dot Cotton] it was really flexible. You didn’t have to ask permission to have a cigarette. You could just do it. June and I used to improvise.”
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John Altman used the word ‘p***’ on air (Image: BBC)
“We knew our characters so well. We wouldn’t change it drastically. We’d put in words or a line here and there to make it comical. Just to liven it up a bit,” he said.
Reflecting on his return to in 2010, John observed how the show had evolved, mentioning that the production team had modified a script containing a racially insensitive term to “illegal immigrant”.
He recounted: “I suppose I can say it on air, if you don’t mind, but Nick referred to someone who was living with Dot as a p***. They start filming and they said, ‘Oh I don’t think we can say that’.”
John Altman said he used to ‘improvise’ lines (Image: BBC)
As John spoke, Sarah quickly cut in, cautioning: “No, I don’t think we can.”
John argued that “people do unfortunately still say it these days”, to which Sarah firmly responded, “they don’t”.
John went on to explain, “They changed it to illegal immigrant so this is just an example of what happened with the script. They just went with that line rather than the previous one.”
Sarah then took a moment to stress the importance of excluding derogatory terms from scripts, emphasising their potential to “influencing behaviour”.
Nick Cotton on Eastenders (Image: )
In response, John highlighted: “At the time, I think Nick come across as an example of how people wouldn’t want to be and he always got his comeuppance.”
After the interview section of the show, Sarah felt compelled to apologise for the earlier conversation, underlining: “Can I apologise. It wasn’t appropriate in the old days, and it wasn’t appropriate now, for what John Altman said.”