Danny Dyer and Kellie Bright
Danny Dyer has helped gay men to come out.
The 'EastEnders' actor - who usually plays gangsters and hard-men on the big screen - took on the role of Mick Carter in the soap last year, and as viewers watched him comfort his son as he admitted to being gay, it appeared the soap had been pulled out of its boring rut.
Danny explained: "I don't think 'EastEnders' usually portrays good fathers. They're often quite dysfunctional. I'm one of the first to come in and be a really good parent. I think that's what was needed.
"Plus, they used the perception of what I'm known for and spun it on its head. It was a gamble. But I've had letters from young gay men who'd been too scared to come out, but who did so after watching that episode."
Kellie Bright - who plays Danny's on-screen wife Linda - thinks the reason viewers warmed to her soap-family so quickly is because they were immediately involved in situations which made audiences feel like they knew their story.
She said: "Characters fall apart when there's no substance. When we stepped into the roles, there was already a history there."
Although the Carter family look as though they've brought Albert Square and The Queen Vic back to life, soap bosses are planning more changes for the Walford soap as its producer, Dominic Treadwell-Collins, plans to give it an update.
He admitted to Radio Times magazine: "It should feel more like London. It's been frozen is aspic for too long ... It's got to reflect the modern world."
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