BILL
LEGEND TO SHAKE UP SQUARE (20/10/04)
From The
Sun newspaper:
EASTENDERS
is about to get a lot scarier — as Billy Murray terrorises Albert Square.
Actor Billy — who was the legendary Don
Beech in The Bill — joins the BBC soap in the New Year.
He plays super-hardman Jonny Allen to bring a nasty
villainous element back to Walford.
An insider said: “Jonny is the boss of the bad boys,
pure big league. He will make Andy Hunter look like small fry with his bold
dealings.”
Since Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) left last year, the
soap has struggled to find a great gangster.
Viewers
have failed to be convinced by Hunter (Michael Higgs)
and Dirty Den (Leslie Grantham) is seen as simply “too old” to be scary any
more.
The insider added: “The new executive producer, Kathleen Hutchinson, is
planning big things for Jonny.”
Billy, who played bent copper Beech for eight years, said last night: “It’s
great that I’m going to be part of one of the best shows on television.
“I’m looking forward to getting my teeth into the role.”
Billy, 52, was in EastEnders back in 1991 when he played a crook who
drove into the Square and crashed a car into the arches.
He has appeared in Dempsey and Makepeace, Rock Follies, Minder
and Z Cars.
He's not the only one...
Russell Boulter (DS
John Boulton) will be appearing in the soap next week, as will Diane Parish
(DC Eva Sharpe) who will be joining the cast in a
couple of months time.