from beaming vagueness to doolally hopelessness." Nancy Banks-Smith, from The Guardian, also criticised the portrayal of dementia but praised Braid's portrayal of Nana, saying, "There was something odd about Nana, don't you think? On the face of it, she wasn't all there. The part of the brain that notices when all hell is breaking loose around you in large lumps seemed to be missing. The BBC's book about EastEnders refers to her only twice, once as loopy and then as barmy. This hardly covers the case. She may have been conceived as Alfie's batty granny but Hilda Braid injected a steely and unnerving sweetness into the role that made you wonder if Nana wore her battiness as a protective flak jacket." Dek Hogan from Digital Spy said that the dementia scenes were "a welcome change", and added "The scene when [Alfie] was desperately trying to get Nana to eat steak and chips was very moving." See also List of EastEnders characters (2002) References External links EastEnders characters Television characters introduced in 2002 Female characters in television Fictional characters with dementia