 The Guardian's Gareth McLean described the episode as a "bold move" on the part of the EastEnders producers in deviating from the serial's usual format, and found it to be "compelling and brave", but "not as convincing as it should be". The Daily Telegraph's Gerard O'Donovan felt that Brown gave a "mesmerising" performance, but was critical of the episode as a whole, concluding: "Overall [...] the feeling couldn 't be avoided that in the greater scheme of things this was a fuss over nothing. Had it been a swan song, it would have been a worthy one. But doubtless Dot will be out and about again tonight, fag in hand, quoting from the Good Book. Enjoyable as this Albert Square indulgence was, I suspect that most fans will be hoping this one-hander remains a one-off." Leigh Holmwood for The Guardian suggested that viewers may have agreed with O'Donovan's assessment, highlighting the fact that the episode received only 8.7 million viewers, compared to 9.4 million watching EastEnders the previous week. O'Donovan compared the episode to Krapp's Last Tape, saying "it must be said there were quite a few moments of positively (or perhaps that should be negatively) Beckettian bleakness here as Dot recalled, in painfully vivid detail, how time and time again' life took away everything I ever cared about 'and' all that I ever 'ad, I lorst'."
