Pretty Baby....
| "Pretty Baby...." | |
|---|---|
| EastEnders episode | |
Dot records a message for Jim
|
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| Episode no. | Episode 3,517 |
| Directed by | Clive Arnold |
| Written by | Tony Jordan |
| Produced by | Diederick Santer |
| Production code | LDXO596J |
| Original air date | 31 January 2008 |
| Running time | 28 minutes |
"Pretty Baby...." is an episode of the British television soap opera EastEnders, broadcast on BBC One on 31 January 2008. It is the only EastEnders episode to feature just one character and the first of its kind in soap. It was written by Tony Jordan, directed by Clive Arnold and produced by Diederick Santer. The episode features Dot Branning, played by June Brown, recording a message for her husband Jim Branning (John Bardon), who is in hospital recovering from a stroke, reflecting Bardon's real-life stroke, which saw him written out of the show and allowed the opportunity for the single-hander to arise. Jordan's scripting was inspired by Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape.
The episode was watched by 8.86 million viewers and received mixed reviews from critics. Brown's acting attracted praise, with both Nancy Banks-Smith of The Guardian and Mark Wright of The Stage doubting that any other actress would have been capable of carrying Dot's monologue. Banks-Smith and The Times's Tim Teeman questioned Dot's characterisation, and Teeman ultimately found the episode "much-loved character overkill", while Gerard O'Donovan of The Daily Telegraph called Brown's performance "mesmerising" but said the episode was "fuss over nothing". Brown received a British Academy Television Award nomination for Best Actress in 2009 for her performance in the episode.
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