Terry Alderton's wife urged him to join 'EastEnders'.
The 43-year-old comic was ready for a change and his wife thought he would be "mad" to turn down the role of Terry Spraggan, the cab driver boyfriend of Walford stalwart Bianca Butcher (Patsy Palmer).
He said: "When the part was offered to me, I did think that playing Bianca's boyfriend would be very funny and that Terry sounded like a really great character to play. I've been doing stand-up for 25 years, so I thought, 'Why not do it and have a bit of a change?' And my wife said I'd be mad not to do it! 'EastEnders' is such a British icon, arguably the biggest show on television."
Terry is relieved to find the work is not as hard as he expected, having previously seen soap stars discuss how "quickly" they have to film.
He added: "Before I started filming, I had seen a few interviews where people were saying how quickly things move on a soap. But it's not as fast as I was expecting. I think, because I'm a stand-up, I like the speed at which it goes; you get a good rhythm going."
Terry thinks his character is an "optimist" and cleverer than he seems.
Asked if he's anything like his character, he told RadioTimes.com: "Terry's a lot more placid that I am. He's a nice guy but he's no mug. I think he's clever feller and listens to Radio 4, Johnny Cash and Frank Zappa, that kind of stuff. He's one of life's optimists - he's always positive and aims to make things better. He's someone who's just trying to do his best but occasionally it goes wrong for him."
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