Former 'EastEnders' star James Alexandrou has made a shock return to the soap - behind the camera.
James Alexandrou has made a return to EastEnders
The 38-year-old actor played Martin Fowler, who is now portrayed by James Bye, from 1996 to 2007, but he recently headed back to Albert Square.
Speaking on the 'Secure The Insecure' podcast, he said: "I kind of did go back recently, I shadowed as a director.
"What that means is you go and follow the director and see how they direct the show, and it just so happened that James Bye was on the day that I was shadowing, so I didn't know that he knew I was there.
"I think he apparently caught wind of it, and he came on to do a scene, and he kind of went, 'Oh, it's you!' and we just kind of had this ... it was a strange moment, it was a really strange moment, because we don't know each other at all, and the only thing that bonds us are these words on a page called Martin Fowler and it was a really nice moment."
James then admitted that directing is much more "intense" than acting on the soap.
He explained: "Something like 'Enders', you might shoot some 25 or 30 pages a day, on a film, you might be shooting two. [It's] kind of a nostalgia thing going back. And I think I'd have a lot of fun doing it."
The star was then asked if he would get back in front of the camera as Martin, but insisted that door was "closed" for now, but he might change his mind if Bye said farewell to the soap.
He said: "Coming back as Martin? I don't know, that door's closed in my head. Maybe if the door was open, if James Bye said, 'Listen, I'm gone and I don't want to do it again', then I'd go, 'Yeah'.
"Maybe like a special one off Christmas thing. That might be funny to do that."
Tagged in Eastenders