A time to CELEBRATE

As EastEnders turns 40, star STEVE MCFADDEN reflects on his wonderful career in Walford

- ALISON SLADE

EASTENDERS

MONDAY-THURSDAY, 7.30PM, BBC1 SOAP

The word 'iconic' is somewhat overused about soap characters, but nothing could be more apt to describe Phil Mitchell. He's been a fixture in BBC1's EastEnders for 35 of its 40 years and featured in some of its most nailbiting storylines, including that 1990s love triangle with his brother Grant (Ross Kemp) and Grant's wife Sharon (Letitia Dean), which we couldn't resist paying homage to on our cover this week to celebrate the show's ruby anniversary.

Here, in a rare interview, actor Steve McFadden, 65, who plays the Walford stalwart, opens up about Phil's latest challenging chapter, and why he's delighted that EastEnders is his 'life's work'...

EastEnders turns 40 on Wednesday 19 February, with an hour-long episode, while the next day marks 35 years since you made your debut as Phil. What does that mean to you, Steve?

It's amazing, and I'm very proud of it. Ross and I were on screen the week after the fifth anniversary. We'd signed a three-month contract and the producers had an option to keep us for another three months, but within two weeks, the bosses said they wanted to keep us for two years.

Amazingly, 35 years later, I'm still here, doing these huge storylines. What it means to me is that EastEnders is my life's work. I didn't plan it, but it's what my career became - and I'm very happy that's how it turned out.

Phil's current storyline revolves around his mental health. How have you found playing these scenes?

It felt to me like this was a valid and worthwhile story to tell.

I don't talk about my work very often because I believe that acting is a magical process, and I don't want to spoil it by deconstructing it too much.