As a bully-boy double act, EastEnders brothers Phil and Grant Mitchell were an explosive onscreen combination. And now it seems the prime time soap may be looking to lure back Steve McFadden and Ross Kemp, the actors behind the duo, in an attempt to boost ratings.
Reviving the fortunes of characters from the award-winning show’s heyday has worked in the past. The return – after a 14-year absence – of former Albert Square resident Den Watts, played by Leslie Grantham, sent viewing figures soaring to 17 million. Since then, however, they have evened out at around 12 million and BBC bosses, keen to challenge Coronation Street, are looking to past characters to help them gain supremacy.
In addition to Steve and Ross, the Beeb is apparently also wooing Gillian Taylforth, who portrayed Phil’s ex-wife Cathy, with the view to seeing her back in the Square.
While Steve has been out of the soap for the last six months on a year-long sabbatical, he has not enjoyed a great deal of success. And Ross, despite being voted the most popular ex-soap star in a TV Times poll and appearing in the SAS drama Ultimate Force, has not had his two-year deal with ITV renewed.
Gillian, who bid farewell to the hit show in 1997 and has since appeared in the popular ITV series Footballers' Wives, has apparently not ruled out a return to the East End.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
