Back to Interviews
"Hello Dan," said a familiar voice-on-tape. "This is Steve McFadden. I'm an actor in EastEnders."
That last sentence was not necessary. I had already identified the voice of Phil Mitchell, that noted East London family man, entrepreneur and street thug. Steve McFadden and Phil Mitchell speak in the same non-dulcet tones.
"I just was interested in your publication," said McFadden "and I was going to ask you a couple of questions about it..."
Abramson's cry of delight could probably have been heard in Britain without a telephone. It drowned out the rest of McFadden's message. You see, I had been trying unsuccessfully to get through to authentic EastEnders for several months.
When I re-wound the tape, I heard McFadden provide his phone number and the best time to call him on the set at Elstree Centre in Borehamwood, Hertsfordshire.
"Okay," he said in closing. "Hope to hear from you. All the best. Bye now."
My heart sang. I'm not sure exactly what tune it was singing. But Nick Berry's "Every Loser Wins" does come readily to mind.
Two days and half a dozen phone calls later, I got through to McFadden just as he was leaving the Queen Vic. I started by telling him that I had recently seen the "three-handed" episode with Sharon, Grant and Phil, adding that "You make a marvelous drunk."
"Thank-you," he said with becoming sobriety.
"Have you had much experience?"
"Loads."
McFadden proceeded to ask me several questions about this Gazette and the methods by which we distribute it. He stated that the main reason for his call was to compliment me and Larry Jaffee on the quality of our publication.
"Most fan newspapers are crawling," he said. "But yours concentrates on humour instead."
The trans-Atlantic connection was not all that good. I couldn't figure out what "cawling" meant. Was this some new Cockney slang term to include in our Glossary?
"Not 'cawling'" he yelled in a chief mechanic's angry voice. "'Crawling!' You don't crawl or act sycophantic. I like that."
I liked it too. Hearing Phil Mitchell of The East End tell me that he liked my style was a big moment for me. The week had become a lot less stroppy. Unfortunately, I then ruined things by acting progressively more sycophantic through the rest of the conversation. But McFadden was understanding about that for the first few minutes. In any case, some degree of sycophancy was called for, as I had two favors to ask of him. The first was would he distribute copies of this Gazette to his fellow backstage Walfordites.
"I'll do that," said McFadden. "But we already have it slipped under our dressing room doors. It's very popular here on the set."
My heart began singing again. This time it was definitely the 'Victory' theme from Chariots Of Fire.
I then asked McFadden for an interview.
"I don't usually do interviews," he replied. "I've had some bad experiences with English newspapers. I really just called to tell you that I like your paper."
Somehow I got him to change his mind, but only on condition I fax him the interview in advance of publication for his approval.
It immediately occurred to me that this was how Phil Mitchell would have responded to a similar request. I mean, let's fantasize for a moment: If I were to ask Frank Butcher for an interview, he probably would take me to lunch and tell me more of his life story than I would care to know. By contrast, Grant Mitchell would say 'No f-----g way!' in a tone that implied violence.
But Phil Mitchell would carefully weigh the odds and demand to see the interview before it went into print. There is obviously a great deal of Steve McFadden in Phil Mitchell and vice versa.
"The trouble with interviews," he said, "is that implicitly you lie."
"Isn't that equally true of acting?" I asked.
"Yes, but at least you get to read a script."
I then mentioned Hilary Kingsley's EastEnders Handbook, which states that McFadden and Ross Kemp (who plays Grant Mitchell) regularly have portions of their heads shaved to create identical male-pattern baldness, so they will look like brothers.
McFadden laughed at that in a tone of friendly sibling rivalry. "Me and Ross have the same hairdresser," he explained "and she says that I have much more hair than he does. She didn't say that just because she likes me better than Ross. I really do have more hair."
But I intend to work on this and be less sycophantic in future conversations with Walfordites.
In fact, if Ross Kemp ever grants me an interview I'll verbally knock him into a cocked hat!