Actor John Altman aka ‘Nasty Nick’ from EastEnders to speak at the next Media Hub in Cookham in March 2020.

It’s not every day that an EastEnders legend comes to Cookham, but the Media Hub, in association with B7 Media, is delighted to be welcoming John Altman best known as ‘Nasty’ Nick Cotton to its next gathering at the Bel & The Dragon on Thursday, 19th March.

John will be talking to producer and director Helen Quigley from B7 Media about his colourful life, career and the release of his audiobook autobiography, “In the Nick of Time” published by B7 Media at end of March 2020.

One of the show’s original cast members, John’s role as Nasty Nick, the formidable, leather-jacketed, chain-smoking son of Dot Cotton was central to many famous storylines. His character was eventually killed off in the 30th anniversary episode, but it will forever be etched in the British public’s memory. As all avid soap opera fans will recall, ‘Nick’ dies of respiratory failure following a heroin overdose and in his final moments reveals to his mum Dot that he was responsible for Reg Cox’s death in 1985.

“They say that life can imitate art, but the character of Nick couldn’t be further from who I really am – although like my fictional alter ego I have had my dark times,” says John, who is the first to confess that he tested the boundaries in his younger years. He was arrested on suspicion of drug possession on the way back from his travels in Afghanistan and India and also struggled with alcoholism as an adult, a battle which cost him his marriage and nearly his sanity until he received help.

“From the moment John Altman exploded onto our screens in 1985 as EastEnders’ ‘Nasty’ Nick Cotton, he changed the face of TV villains for good. But there is far more to John’s story than his infamous alter ego. John tells it as it is; searingly honest and in his own words,” says Andrew Mark Sewell from B7 Media, who has known John for more than three decades. “Yet for all his tales of acting in film, theatre and television, and the people he has known and worked with, John doesn’t shy away from his darker life experiences.”

The Media Hub is the south-east’s leading group of media professionals and includes print journalists, producers, directors, writers, bloggers, actors, photographers, media trainers and consultants. Previous high-profile guest speakers have included; Theresa May, Princess Esméralda of Belgium, Tim Brooke-Taylor, BBC Radio 5 live’s Dotun Adebayo and Olympian swimmer Adrian Moorhouse. For further information, please visit our Media Hub Facebook page.

TICKETS for this exclusive evening with John Altman are available on Eventbrite.

PRE-ORDER John Altman’s audiobook ‘In the Nick of Time’ from B7 Media.