The writing in this scene is excellent and a good example of the quality of EastEnders in it's first decade. It's the little touches like the mention of Lofty and Nick's comeback about him not being missed.
Unlike now, writers were more talented and made more effort. Scripts weren't cobbled together and restricted to being "Politically Correct", and they didn't push harmful ideologies. Also back then, the actors weren't wooden like in Eastenders now, in the 80s/90s/00s they were entertaining and put passion into their characters in both emotionally charged and comical scenes. Nowdays the characters are a load of obnoxious, one-dimensional narcissists without any depth performed by actors who should not have even made it to the theatre, and they're in a show that should have ended about 10 years ago.
Den was the only character nick actually seemed to have a certain amount of respect for, with nearly every other bloke he went out of his way to wind them up even if they battered him, with den he usually backed off straight away
Den was the only hardman that Nick never answered back to. Other men, he just laughed in their faces. Phil, Pete, Tony, Mark, even though they all battered him, he just wound them up even more. If he’d had fights with Derek, Jack and Max(his stepbrothers), he’d have laughed in their faces too. He never did that to Den, every time Den got mad with him, Nick didn’t do anything, he just walked away. Whenever Den confronted Nick, he always did it like a father would discipline his son. In a weird way, Den treated Nick like a son and Nick saw Den as a father figure IMO. Apart from Den, the only hardmen that Nick would back off too IMO, would be Grant, Dennis Rickman and Sean Slater.
I love that guy whoever he is. EastEnders was so cutting edge back then they even dispensed with the stereotypically based wussy and bullied gay guy stuck in jail. EastEnders was also so funny back then, mixing the grimy, gritty yet realistic enough dramas of everyday people with hilarious one-liners, observations and situations, as in life. I reckon the show lasted for 10 years really well, then lost in past 1996. A shame. Still 10 years of cool, I'd love to see every episode of them if likely.
The idea that Eastenders was brilliant when den returned post 2003 with all the hardman outdoing hardman is rubbish.....it never held a torch to the 1985-89 period..it was innovative and brilliant TV soap drama...
0:36 It sure makes you nostalgic for the eighties when even the top dog prisoners sounded like eloquent cavaliers from a Shakespeare story. *Dries tears* Now the conversation would just be, "YOU LOOKIN' AT ME BOY?????? *STAB*", and the guards being like, "Ohhhh... that poor man accidentally lunged into the shard of glass the top dog was holding!!!!! Lets get him to the hospital!!!! Sorry his blood splattered on your shirt, top dog!!! Allow us to clean it with a lemon wipe for you!!!!!!"
If Nick & Den ended up in The Men's Gay Section in Prison in Atlanta, GA., they would have been terrified. If you can, check out Beyond Scared Straight.
Don't mess with The Prison "Daddy". On The US Beyond Scared Straight Show they tell the "Children" that if you are to survive in Prison you have to have a Daddy and that's something you don't want.
At least they can wear their own clothes. In US Prisons it would either be Gray, Blue, Green or Orange Uniforms. They would also have to wear a Bracelet to indicate who they are and without it they can't get their meals.
