Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp)

[twinkle_eyes83]

grant mitchell has been offerd 1 million pound to come back to ee and he might just be persuaded to come back. so with the stage set for grants possable return to the square what stoylines could he return to

[Huch'net]

EXCLUSIVE: Ross Kemp is returning to EastEnders

I had to come back to stop Babs nagging

SORTED! TV's No1 soap villain Ross Kemp was finally lured back to EastEnders— after a good talking-to by screen mum Barbara Windsor.

And the sensational deal he struck will see him working for both BBC AND ITV.

In an exclusive interview with the News of the World, Ross, 40, revealed how he was cajoled by screen mum Babs into returning as hardman Grant Mitchell after six years away.

"She must have asked 50 times," he said. "In fact she nagged so much I told her I'd say yes if she STOPPED asking!

"Now I've finally agreed, I'm looking forward to it."

Tough-guy Grant will hit BBC1's ailing soap—and return from exile in Rio —this autumn in an explosive one-off plotline. At the same time Ross carries on starring in ITV1 hit Ultimate Force.

Speaking for the first time about his long-awaited comeback, Ross confessed how he:

VOTED for rival Coronation Street as Soap of the Year,

ACCEPTS his legendary character may have to be killed off as a ratings booster,

RECKONS the Beeb should cut one episode a week and rehire Mike Reid to reverse flagging fortunes, and

PLANS to direct a new BBC series and star in yet another developed specially for him.

With the ink just dry on his new contract, Ross also revealed that as well as the brief return to our screens later this year he has the option to star for a further four months.

And he only signed after months of talks, the arm-twisting by "mum" Barbara and persuasive arguments from chief scriptwriter Tony Jordan and BBC drama boss John Yorke.

Ross recalled how the conspiracy to get him back on board started in January. He was filming new comedy show Extras with Ricky Gervais when Tony Jordan called to ask him out for a drink.

"We've been mates for years and went to a pub near Elstree where EastEnders is filmed," said Ross. "He'd asked me about returning a few times before but this time he was really serious. My first reaction was to say no because I'd no time to do it—I still had lots of work and was very happy with ITV.

"Then with the other Mitchells coming back—Babs as Peggy and Steve McFadden as brother Phil—it made me think long and hard."

Ross then met with Yorke, who offered the fabulous package—including star role in a new drama, the chance to direct AND freedom to pursue other shows with rival channels.

"I realised it was an amazing opportunity," admitted Ross, who also fronts a documentary on real-life gangs for Sky One next month. "This means I can have a profile on ITV and the BBC.

Lucky

"It's a fantastic position to be in and I feel really lucky."

Delighted, he added: "It's great to come back now because I don't really need to. The money is good but I'm not doing it for that. I'm coming back because it'll be fun—and the opportunity to do other BBC projects is one of my main motivations.

"It'll be great to do something different in TV and directing is a real challenge.

"I'm also really excited about starring in another project. There are three formats currently in development and I've been guaranteed that one of those will definitely come off. I'm hoping it'll be a detective show."

Ross will film his Walford return during a two-week break in shooting Ultimate Force in August. He expects to return to Albert Square with a bang some time between autumn and Christmas, after Phil and Peggy arrive back.

Details of the storyline are still being thrashed out. But the Beeb are banking on the homecoming of the Mitchell clan to help turn the show around after a disastrous year.

While critics slammed poor plots, it was overtaken in the ratings by ITV1 drama Emmerdale.

But although Ross hopes his return— hailed last night as "great news" by co-star Babs—will get millions of runaway fans tuning in again, he says he doesn't feel under pressure.

"If the ratings don't rise I'll be disappointed," he confessed. "But the writing is the most important thing.

"The show needs good plots and characters. But I'm not the star of the show. It's the show itself that's the real star." And, after six years of playing a soldier in Ultimate Force and a copper in Without Motive during his £1.5million golden handcuffs deal with ITV, he admits to being worried about being Grant Mitchell again.

"I really hope I can do it," he said, recalling favourite scenes from the past, above. "I'll have to watch a load of old episodes to get back into his head.

"Grant wasn't totally dissimilar to me but he might have changed. A big part of me hopes he's the same screwed-up man he always was."

Last night co-star Steve McFadden told us: "It's great to have the old team back together again."

And Ross added: "One thing's certain, it will be an interesting comeback as there are so many characters, new and old, that Grant can clash with.

"But the hours will be tough. I never really missed the relentlessness of being in a soap and having to film so quickly. At the moment I'm totally spoilt. I'm driven to work, I have my own trailer and we shoot maybe 12 pages of scripts a day. At EastEnders they shoot at least 20 pages a day. People say it's easy working in a soap, but it's not." And once he is back on the Square there's one thing Ross won't miss—being asked when Grant's coming back.

"I get it all the time," he grinned. "I can't even get into a cab without the driver wanting to know."

After his August stint Ross will be busy on other work. "But if the bosses want me I could start again in January for another four months," he said. At this stage no one knows what will happen but I think they might want me to. It wouldn't bother me if they killed off Grant during my return though, especially if it was a great plot. Anyway, EastEnders has proved that getting bumped off doesn't mean anything.

"You can still come back. Just look at Dirty Den."

Although Den's return from the dead helped pull more viewers at first, the show was thrown into chaos when actor Leslie Grantham was exposed in an internet sex scandal.

It all added to EastEnders' woes. Even loyal Ross thought the show had hit a low with dull plots and boring characters like the Ferreira family.

And when he judged the soap category for the Royal Television Society awards he plumped for Coronation Street as No1 and even ranked Emmerdale above his old mates.

Bounce

"I voted Corrie top as I thought it was the better show," he admitted. "It's on the crest of a wave but I'm pretty sure EastEnders can bounce back."

And he is certain that less is more when it comes to soap success.

"The more you have to do, the harder it is," he declared. "Doing more shows dilutes the quality. Three episodes a week are the maximum—1 hours' worth of the same drama is enough."

As more old stars return to the show Ross admits he would love to lure back cockney comic Mike Reid as wide-boy Frank Butcher.

"He was superb," said Ross. "But I doubt anyone could get him off the golf course and back into the studio!"

[Treacle]

Fantastic news and long awaited!

[di marco]

great! so will courtney be back as well?

[callummc]

sounds interesting,i hope they come up with a good storyline for him,maybe he comes back cos sams been murdered,and ends up in bed with the blackwiddow herself not knowing she's responsible,then clock of he goes down the celler.

[i_love_matt!]

;) yeah!!

[Babe14]

Wasn't he badly injured in a car accident in Rio and that's how Peggy was written out to look after him? In two minds about him returning after so long, it sounds though as it's not a permanent return just visiting from time to time then going off again. What I would like to know though is why are they bringing back all the bad boys when the excuse given for axing characters was that they were moving away from "gnagster" plots? Still I suppose Phil and Grant, like Jake and Danny can be classed as "Bad Boy, Small time villans"

I'm all for the action/drama and grit storylines. Hope it works.

[Rain_]

well their not actually gangsters are they? more like tuff blokes you shouldn't mess with

[Babe14]

well their not actually gangsters are they? more like tuff blokes you shouldn't mess with

I agree, but it has been said that Eastenders is moving more towards family orientated storylines. Looks as though they are moving from Gangsters and back to the good ole' "bad boys". Bring it on. We have a nice selection of them building again.

[chance]

cant wait ,great news!!! easties is on the up! what if he turns up at sharons wedding???