EastEnders star gets TV drama role

Lisa O'Carroll
MediaGuardian,
Monday March 26 2001

EastEnders actor Steve McFadden is to star in his first blockbuster TV drama as part of a concerted effort by the corporation to revive the fortunes of BBC1.

In his first role outside Albert Square for a decade, the actor will star in Murder in Mind, a feature-length psychological thriller.

The deal gives McFadden the opportunity his former co-star Ross Kemp never received and is part of the BBC's effort to stop its home-grown talent switching sides.

Kemp quit EastEnders and defected to ITV in a £2m deal after his repeated pleas for a new challenge fell on deaf ears at the corporation.

McFadden plays one of Albert Square's best-loved characters, hardman Phil Mitchell. He is currently at the centre of one of the soap's biggest storylines after being shot on his doorstep.

The BBC's renewed drive in drama comes comes just weeks after it killed off Sunday night drama Ballykissangel.

At the time rivals at ITV including drama controller Nick Elliott warned the corporation needed to "have courage" and keep its best dramas on Sunday night.

The BBC's sense of impotence on Sunday nights was compounded by the corporation's decision to move one of its most successful dramas, Clocking Off, from a Sunday night to a midweek slot.

New BBC1 drama

This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Monday March 26 2001. It was last updated at 12:13 on March 26 2001.

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This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Monday March 26 2001. It was last updated at 12:13 on March 26 2001.

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