SQUARE roots

ALICE HAIG and ALEX WALKINSHAW on moving to E20

- ALISON SLADE, HANNAH DAVIES

EASTENDERS

MONDAY-THURSDAY, 7.30PM, BBC1 SOAP

A familiar character is back in Albert Square with a new family in tow this week. Vicki Fowler, the love child of Michelle Fowler and Den Watts, returns from Australia to her East End roots to attend the funeral of her uncle, Martin Fowler (James Bye), accompanied by her latest partner, Ross Marshall, and his son Joel.

Here, Rain Dogs star Alice Haig, 40, who takes over the role of Vicki from Scarlett Alice Johnson, and The Bill favourite Alex Walkinshaw, 50, who plays Ross, join TV Times for an exclusive chat about all things EastEnders…

So, what’s your take on your characters?

ALICE I only found out I was playing Vicki a few days before filming – it was super-secret. I’m lucky as we’ve not seen Vicki for over 20 years, so she feels like a blank canvas.

Chris Clenshaw, who was the executive producer when we started, said, ‘I’m really interested in her parents and where she has come from,’ so you want elements of Michelle’s down-to-earth grittiness and Dirty Den’s lying. She’s very normal, but I think there’s room in the future for her dad to make ‘appearances’ in her…