is thoroughly unpleasant: a pig’s head in Brylcreem. He looks so much like one of the Krays he’s practically walking round with a cardboard cut out of Mad Frankie Fraser." Shelley also nicknamed him "Derek the Menace." Jake Wood said that Foreman is "fantastic" to work with and that his character has had a "huge impact" on the show. Foreman stated that Derek is worse than any gangster he has ever known. Upon the announcement that Derek was to show a "softer side", a writer from Soaplife said that Derek was certainly not a "baddie we love to hate" and more of a "baddie we [just] hate". They questioned whether Derek could even pull off a soft side and predicted that the transition would be like watching "a speeding car screeching and skidding into a U-turn". Carena Crawford from All About Soap said that Derek needed to ditch his "ridiculous" flat cap, which made him look more like Del Boy than David Beckham. Crawford opined that while Derek was turning the Brannings into the Kray twins; she would advise him steer clear of Phil. The latter has outlived many gangsters and Derek was not "even half as menacing as some of them were". The writer also predicted that their feud would generate weeks of "fuming facial expressions and gurning glances as they vie to become ruler of Walford". David Brown from Radio Times said that Derek "connives like an East End Jabba the Hutt" in his scheme to prevent Carol from leaving. Another writer for the Daily Mirror said: "Call Dirty Derek Branning an over-protective father, or just a psychopath, but Lucy isn't safe when he wants revenge because she spiked his precious daughter Alice's drinks last week." See also List of EastEnders characters (1996) List of soap opera villains "Who's Been Sleeping with Kat?" References External links Television characters introduced in 1996 EastEnders characters Fictional criminals in soap operas Fictional gangsters Fictional businesspeople Fictional salespeople Male villains Fictional career criminals Male characters in television Fictional prisoners and detainees