BBC issues apology as EastEnders star says offensive racial slur live on air
The BBC was forced to apologise after EastEnders' iconic villain Nick Cotton star John Altman made an "inappropriate" comment during a live radio interview
The BBC swiftly apologised after former EastEnders star John Altman, known for his role as Nick Cotton, made a controversial comment during a live radio interview.
The 72-year-old actor appeared on BBC Radio 4's World At One on Wednesday (February 19) to discuss the legendary soap's 40th anniversary.
John played the infamous son of Dot Cotton, Nick, from the show's inception in 1985 until his character's demise in the 30th-anniversary episodes in 2015.
The actor appeared on World At One this week to share memories of his time on the series. While chatting with host Sarah Montague and scriptwriter Ann Marie di Mambro, John was asked if he ever had the leeway to ad-lib 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," he said, as reported by the Manchester Evening News.
The BBC offered up apologies after former EastEnders star John Altman made an "inappropriate" comment during an interview (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 detailed.
Reflecting on his comeback to EastEnders in 2010, John observed how times had shifted, pointing out that the production team modified a racially insensitive term in the script to "illegal immigrant".
He revealed: "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'."
However, when John brought this up, Sarah quickly interrupted him saying: "No, I don't think we can."
Despite John noting that "people do unfortunately still say it these days", Sarah contradicted him with a resolute "they don't".
While chatting about improvising lines, John said an offensive term, which was immediately countered by presenter Sarah Montague"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," John elaborated further on the changes in the script dialogue, reports the Mirror.
Before they moved on, Sarah emphasised the importance of not using offensive language in scripts, as words carry the weight of "influencing behaviour". John responded by explaining that at the time, the character Nick was seen as someone people would not want to emulate and he always received his due punishment.
Towards the end of the show, following their conversation, Sarah felt compelled to apologise for the language discussed earlier, clarifying: "Can I apologise. It wasn't appropriate in the old days, and it wasn't appropriate now, for what John Altman said."
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