Jamie Bamber, best known for playing Archie Hughes in the Death in Paradise spin-off Beyond Paradise, has revealed that joining EastEnders was not part of his original plan. The 53-year-old actor is set to make his debut as Ned Roper, a new character arriving in Walford as part of the Hawkins family.
Jamie Bamber on his unexpected EastEnders role
Discussing his fresh role, Jamie confessed: "This is not something that I ever thought be on my radar like it's completely not the plan. I've lived all over the world but I'm back in London and there's nothing that gives me more of a buzz than realising that I'm working for the BBC."
He added: "The BBC is under threat, as we all know, and having lived all over the world, I've seen, and felt, first-hand the respect and the love that the rest of the globe have for the BBC. It's a tragedy to me that we don't appreciate it."
Ned Roper's arrival in Walford
Ned is the brother-in-law of existing character Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington) who will shortly relocate to Walford with wife Gemma Hawkins (Patricia Potter) and their son Ryder (Felix Ruff). They'll be accompanied by Gemma and Nicola's younger sister Jodie Hawkins (Anna Constable) and their mum Rose Hawkins (Marian McLoughlin).
Viewers will meet Ned in the coming weeks, with actor Jamie revealing his character is already acquainted with one Albert Square local - Alfie Moon, portrayed by Shane Richie. He explained: "Ned is a former military man. He's from nothing and worked his way up through the ranks. He's become a therapist and which is a strange sort of pairing, a military therapist, but he retrained within the army as a PTSD therapist so he's someone who can talk."
Jamie Bamber's pride in the BBC
During the World Cup, Jamie recalled: "I was sitting at home and I had no idea the halftime show in Britain was going to be a love letter to the BBC and I just welled up."
He added: "I've done lots of things but this is genuinely totally different from anything else I've ever done and because I never thought I'd be doing this. I've just had my mind opened to a whole different way of working and to a whole different energy and I couldn't be prouder and I couldn't be more excited."
Executive producer Ben Wadey has hinted at thrilling plans for the new arrivals. EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer from 6am.
