User:Kelvin 101/Return of Nick Cotton

"Return of Nick Cotton" is a spin-off episode of the British television soap opera EastEnders, broadcast on BBC One on 1 October 2000.

Plot
Nick Cotton has just been released from prison. Ten weeks later he is living in a squat in North London. He has a dream where his dead father Charlie Cotton appears and warns him that something terrible is about to happen to him. He is was told by a black gay couple living in the squat that seeing your own dead relatives in your dreams is a bad sign but Nick is not worried. He decides to meet his son Ashley Cotton and former wife Zoe Cotton and goes to Zoe's brother Eddie to ask for her address. He also has some mean-looking thugs on his trail (one named Colin) who have a score to settle with him. He meets Ashley who reveals that he and Zoe are living with Zoe's new boyfriend. The thugs discover Nick's whereabouts and show up at Zoe's house trying to break in. To escape them, Ashley and Nick get into a stolen convertible car and drive off. Zoe pleads with Ashley not to go with Nick knowing he will be a bad influence but Ashley does not listen. Nick and Ashley discuss where to go from there and Nick decides to travel before returning to Walford.

Cast and characters

 * John Altman as Nick Cotton
 * Frankie Fitzgerald as Ashley Cotton
 * Christopher Hancock as Charlie's Ghost
 * Jim Millea as Colin
 * Gerard Bentall as Little Col
 * David Semark as Mr Frensham
 * Norman Roberts as Darren
 * Don Gilet as Biscuit
 * Tara Ellis as Zoe Newton
 * Ian Sanders as Eddie the Fire Extinguisher

Production
This episode leads up to the return of Nick Cotton as a regular character later that year, more than two years after his last appearance. It was written by Matthew Graham and directed by Chris Bernard.

Ratings
Official ratings from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board showed that this episode gained 9.10 million viewers and achieved 14th place in the British Top 100 programmes for that week. Whilst this spin-off episode did not achieve similar viewership to two episodes of EastEnders that week (16.68million and 14.64million), it did gain a higher viewership compared to other popular programmes that week, such as The Vicar of Dibley (7.77million), Only Fools and Horses (7.85million) and The Bill (6.75million).