From today's Teletext.

The Bill's Russell Floyd goes from eating machine to action man tomorrow when his character DC Ken Drummond discovers his son is a murderer.

Floyd, 41, is keen to play down the "myth" that alter ego Ken does nothing but eat in his scenes which jokers have dubbed Bun Hill.

He tells TV Plus: "People think that he's an eating machine but I only have an eating scene in about one in every 20 episodes. But I don't think Ken will have a six-pack stomach for a while."

A major family crisis hits the food loving cop when son Alex reveals that he has killed a call girl.

Alex, 17, gets drunk with pals and then leaves a club with a woman not realising that she's a prostitute. When she asks for money he refuses and pushes her away and she falls to her death.

Floyd says: "He has to decide whether to report his son for murder and then Alex threatens to commit suicide. Ken is completely distraught as he knows his son could get life.

"He debates with his colleague DC Rob Thatcher (Brian Bovell) whether they should report the death. Then Alex vanishes and they discover him on the roof of a building threatening to jump."

Floyd defends his character's slobbish image. Burly Ken's style is eating fry-ups which he inevitably spills down his loud Hawaiian shirts.

"I have no say in what he wears but it is rather scruffy and slightly outlandish. I reckon they get the shirts from charity shops. In real life I wear jeans and T-shirts. Ken is a nice guy but he is a very good cop and he certainly isn't a buffoon," he says.

The seasoned actor's delighted his character is getting an action-packed plot in The Bill.

"Ken has had a reasonably quiet life compared to other characters since I joined the cast in 2002," he says.

"Even so he has still managed to have a mistress — even though he got back with his wife — and he was once kidnapped. But his son will face a manslaughter charge for killing a prostitute and there will be some surprising developments in that plot."

Floyd says real cops have praised his portrayal of the slobbish, food-loving DC Drummond.

He says: "The guys at Croydon CID have told me that he is very realistic. they say that CID can't function without guys like him as they run the department when things get tough.

"They like him because he likes his food and because of his dress sense he is like Columbo. They love his sense of humour and they want more of that in the show."

Floyd believes being a dad in real life helped him with his character. The actor, who lives near Brighton with wife Lucie Fitchett and son Gabriel, five, says: "It's an emotional plot and as a father I know how protective of your children you are."

He says he has enjoyed his two-year spell in The Bill more than the three years he spent on EastEnders as Michael Rose.

He quit the role of Walford's market inspector — the father of Matthew (Joe Absolom) who was framed by Steve Owen for a crime he didn't commit — in 1999.

"I enjoy it more than EastEnders as it's a crime-led drama and you get to flesh out your character so much more," he explains.