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Pretty Baby....
"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.
It is night time, and as Dot Branning (June Brown) makes herself a cup of cocoa at home, she records a message on a tape recorder for her husband Jim Branning (John Bardon), who is in hospital recovering from a stroke. Dot tells Jim everyone is missing him, and that she has been dreading recording the message. She talks about her Christian faith and remembers her childhood, her first marriage to Charlie Cotton (Christopher Hancock) and her friendship with Ethel Skinner (Gretchen Franklin). She talks about when she was evacuated to Wales during the Second World War and how she did not cry when she left her mother. She says she was happy moving away to live with her guardians, a Welsh couple named Gwen and Will, as they made her feel special, and recalls the happiest day of her life. She remembers how Will would sing "Pretty Baby" to her at night, but says since then everyone she has cared about has died. She finishes by telling Jim that the hospital staff want to send him home, but she fears she will not be able to cope and concludes she is better on her own.
"It'll be a treat for EastEnders viewers to watch one of Albert Square's longest-serving and most cared about characters reminisce about her past."
On 14 November 2007, it was announced that former EastEnders scriptwriter Tony Jordan had been contacted by Controller of BBC Drama Production John Yorke with an idea for an episode and that Jordan had returned to EastEnders having written the script for the episode. The single-hander episode was announced the next day, the first episode of any soap opera to feature just one character. Jordan had wanted to write a solo episode for EastEnders – well known for its two-hander episodes – for some time, but the opportunity had never arisen until Bardon had a stroke in real life, which was reflected in storylines when Jim was said to have suffered a stroke when visiting relatives off screen. Cast and crew were grateful for the opportunity to make the episode but were aware it had come about due to the suffering of somebody they loved. Brown was initially sceptical that her character could carry an entire episode by herself, but stated that Dot has a lot of history so there was a lot to call upon.
When writing the script, Jordan had in his head an image of Samuel Beckett's play Krapp's Last Tape. The script was 27 pages long, instead of the normal average of about 65, due to lack of stage directions. Clive Arnold was asked to direct the episode, and was allowed to input more into the script than would be normal, which he said was due to his good working relationship with Jordan. Jordan also gave Brown the opportunity to change anything she wanted to. Arnold was careful that the episode would not alienate regular EastEnders viewers by making it too left of field, ensuring that it would be recognisable as an EastEnders episode, and made sure viewers would identify with the character, emphasising her state of mind with visual links. Brown found her lines for the episode easy to learn as they "flowed" and the script was well written. Arnold and Brown worked closely together, rehearsing and working on the script in detail. Rehearsals went on for a number of weeks and after being able to judge the pace of the episode, Arnold was able to introduce choreography and stage directions. He stated that the rehearsals were invaluable as he, Brown and Jordan could work together to develop and tweak the script as they progressed. He broke the script down into scenes to aid Brown's performance by giving her one scene to concentrate on per day of filming.
The episode was filmed over a number of afternoons at the end of 2007, with each day's filming beginning with a repeat of the last section from the previous day, to help blend each scene into the next. It was filmed with a "single camera mentality" but with up to five cameras running to give Brown a "freedom of performance away from hitting marks or favouring one particular camera position." This also helped in the case of technical problems, meaning that second takes were not necessary. Brown cried when she read the script and though she did not cry during filming, she had expected to, planning to pause the tape recorder if she did. She stated that the most difficult part of the script was the line about Jim being "here, but not here" because she felt that way about Bardon. Arnold admitted to "[wiping] away the tears" many times and noted that several other crew cried, and that one of the toughest things about it was that it mirrored real-life events. Brown found the episode easy to film due to the fact there were no other cast members to make mistakes, and because she "knew the character backwards" and "exactly how she'd behave and what she'd feel and [...] her history." She praised Arnold and the crew, stating that the episode was "lovely" to make and she felt "very fortunate to be given the opportunity." The performance was edited in post production after being committed to tape, where usually all scenes are vision mixed, and the usual EastEnders theme tune was replaced at the end of the episode with Tony Jackson's "Pretty Baby".
Overnight figures indicated that the episode averaged 8.7 million viewers and a 37% audience share. Official figures gave the episode ratings of 8.86 million for its original airing and 740,000 for its 10pm repeat on BBC Three. Brown's performance in the episode was praised by Robert Hanks of The Independent who wrote: "I don't ever remember hearing anybody on a soap talk like this before. I mean, like a real person, with real feelings, such as self-pity and a desperate urge for self-preservation. Brown conveyed the seedy gloom of it all beautifully, as well." Nancy Banks-Smith of The Guardian deemed Brown possibly the only member of the cast, with the exception of Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell), capable of carrying such a monologue, opining that she "carried it off magnificently". She took issue with Dot's characterisation, however, believing that Dot is presented as the serial's "moral compass", and would not leave her husband in a nursing home.
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Pretty Baby....
"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.
It is night time, and as Dot Branning (June Brown) makes herself a cup of cocoa at home, she records a message on a tape recorder for her husband Jim Branning (John Bardon), who is in hospital recovering from a stroke. Dot tells Jim everyone is missing him, and that she has been dreading recording the message. She talks about her Christian faith and remembers her childhood, her first marriage to Charlie Cotton (Christopher Hancock) and her friendship with Ethel Skinner (Gretchen Franklin). She talks about when she was evacuated to Wales during the Second World War and how she did not cry when she left her mother. She says she was happy moving away to live with her guardians, a Welsh couple named Gwen and Will, as they made her feel special, and recalls the happiest day of her life. She remembers how Will would sing "Pretty Baby" to her at night, but says since then everyone she has cared about has died. She finishes by telling Jim that the hospital staff want to send him home, but she fears she will not be able to cope and concludes she is better on her own.
"It'll be a treat for EastEnders viewers to watch one of Albert Square's longest-serving and most cared about characters reminisce about her past."
On 14 November 2007, it was announced that former EastEnders scriptwriter Tony Jordan had been contacted by Controller of BBC Drama Production John Yorke with an idea for an episode and that Jordan had returned to EastEnders having written the script for the episode. The single-hander episode was announced the next day, the first episode of any soap opera to feature just one character. Jordan had wanted to write a solo episode for EastEnders – well known for its two-hander episodes – for some time, but the opportunity had never arisen until Bardon had a stroke in real life, which was reflected in storylines when Jim was said to have suffered a stroke when visiting relatives off screen. Cast and crew were grateful for the opportunity to make the episode but were aware it had come about due to the suffering of somebody they loved. Brown was initially sceptical that her character could carry an entire episode by herself, but stated that Dot has a lot of history so there was a lot to call upon.
When writing the script, Jordan had in his head an image of Samuel Beckett's play Krapp's Last Tape. The script was 27 pages long, instead of the normal average of about 65, due to lack of stage directions. Clive Arnold was asked to direct the episode, and was allowed to input more into the script than would be normal, which he said was due to his good working relationship with Jordan. Jordan also gave Brown the opportunity to change anything she wanted to. Arnold was careful that the episode would not alienate regular EastEnders viewers by making it too left of field, ensuring that it would be recognisable as an EastEnders episode, and made sure viewers would identify with the character, emphasising her state of mind with visual links. Brown found her lines for the episode easy to learn as they "flowed" and the script was well written. Arnold and Brown worked closely together, rehearsing and working on the script in detail. Rehearsals went on for a number of weeks and after being able to judge the pace of the episode, Arnold was able to introduce choreography and stage directions. He stated that the rehearsals were invaluable as he, Brown and Jordan could work together to develop and tweak the script as they progressed. He broke the script down into scenes to aid Brown's performance by giving her one scene to concentrate on per day of filming.
The episode was filmed over a number of afternoons at the end of 2007, with each day's filming beginning with a repeat of the last section from the previous day, to help blend each scene into the next. It was filmed with a "single camera mentality" but with up to five cameras running to give Brown a "freedom of performance away from hitting marks or favouring one particular camera position." This also helped in the case of technical problems, meaning that second takes were not necessary. Brown cried when she read the script and though she did not cry during filming, she had expected to, planning to pause the tape recorder if she did. She stated that the most difficult part of the script was the line about Jim being "here, but not here" because she felt that way about Bardon. Arnold admitted to "[wiping] away the tears" many times and noted that several other crew cried, and that one of the toughest things about it was that it mirrored real-life events. Brown found the episode easy to film due to the fact there were no other cast members to make mistakes, and because she "knew the character backwards" and "exactly how she'd behave and what she'd feel and [...] her history." She praised Arnold and the crew, stating that the episode was "lovely" to make and she felt "very fortunate to be given the opportunity." The performance was edited in post production after being committed to tape, where usually all scenes are vision mixed, and the usual EastEnders theme tune was replaced at the end of the episode with Tony Jackson's "Pretty Baby".
Overnight figures indicated that the episode averaged 8.7 million viewers and a 37% audience share. Official figures gave the episode ratings of 8.86 million for its original airing and 740,000 for its 10pm repeat on BBC Three. Brown's performance in the episode was praised by Robert Hanks of The Independent who wrote: "I don't ever remember hearing anybody on a soap talk like this before. I mean, like a real person, with real feelings, such as self-pity and a desperate urge for self-preservation. Brown conveyed the seedy gloom of it all beautifully, as well." Nancy Banks-Smith of The Guardian deemed Brown possibly the only member of the cast, with the exception of Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell), capable of carrying such a monologue, opining that she "carried it off magnificently". She took issue with Dot's characterisation, however, believing that Dot is presented as the serial's "moral compass", and would not leave her husband in a nursing home.