Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt)

[JustJodi]

Hmmmmmm now this is going to be really interesting,, I love it when Ian is backed into a corner...

[Abbie]

Could he become bankrupt again?

[Perdita]

Ian bankrupt? When the residents of the square go into the cafe and pay for tea/coffee to take away rather than go 20 yards further and make their drinks in their own homes for a lot less money? I should not think so.

[Abbie]

Yeah but I swear hes been bankrupt before

[di marco]

Yeah but I swear hes been bankrupt before

yeh i think he has been, cant remember exactly though

[Chris_2k11]

Yeah but I swear hes been bankrupt before

yeh i think he has been, cant remember exactly though

that was a crazy episode haha! i remember it well

[Kim]

It was because he couldn't sell some flats or something and he couldn't pay the builder and everyone else that he owed money to. Phil wouldn't lend him some of the money to pay off some of his creditors so he was declared bankrupt.

[Perdita]

As the only remaining original cast member, EastEnders veteran Adam Wooyatt celebrates his - and the BBC soap's - 25th anniversary on Friday evening with a special live episode, beamed to television sets across the nation directly from the show's home in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. With countless duff duff cliffhanger moments under his belt, his Walford counterpart has certainly been through the mill - and has the four wives (dead or alive) to prove it. As he prepares for his 26th year of service with the flagship soap's 14th executive producer, Adam chats to DS about his two-and-a-half-decades playing Britain's most well-known tightwad Ian Beale.

What's been the defining moment of your 25 years on the show?
"There have been hundreds of moments! I couldn't pick out one specific thing because there have been so many storylines and scenes. If you think back to the millennium storyline with Ian's wedding to Mel, it wasn't just about him getting married - it was the bit before when Ian thought Lucy had cancer. That then fed into Ian losing Mel and starting on the downward spiral, which eventually led him to bankruptcy. So it's so difficult to pick out individual ones because they all thread together."

Is the Ian/Mel storyline one of your favourites, then?
"Yeah, it was a significant one, definitely. They tried to make Ian a softer character but it wasn't long before he reverted back to normal Ian."

What do you think it is about Ian that's made him such a successful character?
"Lou Berridge was given a rough deal by the press and viewers when she took over. She had a series of circumstances beyond her control from day one, so with everything she was planning to do, something went wrong. It was like crisis management from one day to the next. Lou turned around to me one day and said, 'Ian's my chameleon, we can make him do anything'. And that's true. You can have him as a happy family man or you can have him being divisive and pitting one member of his family against the other to suit his needs. He can be tight-fisted, he can be generous… you can do pretty much whatever you want with him and justify it."

Can you remember your first scene?
"Yeah, I walked around the corner of The Vic, past the stall and Kathy turned around to me and said something like, 'Where you going?' and I said, 'I'm off to the caff' to play the machines'. She told me not to use my dinner money and I said, 'No, I'm playing with my own money!' Money was mentioned in his first couple of lines!"

When you were cast, did you ever think that you'd still be in the same job 25 years later?
"I didn't think I'd be here a year later. I only ever look at the end date on my contract - I don't look past that date. It'd just be presumptuous to do that."

Do you think EastEnders would be the same without Ian?
"The Square is the star of the show. The rest of us are replaceable. The Square's like Lost and its island. Ian will start digging down where Lucas has been burying bodies and find this big wheel where he'll take the show back to February 1985. I'd relocate the set somewhere near my house, though."

If you could bring any old character back, who would it be?
"I've got four. Gran, mum, Uncle Arthur and Mark. I got on so well with all of them. I've actually just realised that they're all from the same family! I remember doing my first emotional scene - which was the first time they used 'Julia's Theme' - when Ian went around to cry on Lou's shoulder that his dad was picking on him. Anna [Wing] was so helpful. I was 16 at the time and we suddenly had this seven-page scene ending the episode. Even with all the rehearsals, it was still daunting. She was such a great help and I've never forgotten that - I still call her Gran when I see her.

"There are too many reasons to want Gilly [Taylforth] back. She's just such a wonderful woman. I'd have her back in a heartbeat but it'd never work. I've read things on the forums about Kathy being in witness protection and faked her death - yeah, do you really want to destroy the credibility of the programme?! It was plausible with Den, but not with Kathy! Todd [Carty]'s possibly the nicest man in showbiz. And Bill Treacher used to make me laugh all the time. Did you realise that Bill Treacher's son Jamie is now in EastEnders? He plays DC Hughes!"

Do you have a favourite duff duff?
"The one which I mentioned which had the first use of 'Julia's Theme', that was special. And the one where Cindy died! The only reason I remember that one is because neither Pam nor I could keep a straight face! She'd spent the whole episode chasing me around the Square trying to tell me that Cindy was dead and when she finally caught up with me outside The Vic, we just couldn't hold back the laughter. Then there's the millennium one, too - that was pretty good."

How are the rehearsals for the live ep going?
"I've got to say that they're doing fine! June and I turned around and asked 'Can't we just come back next Friday as we know what we're doing?' Then someone from the crew turned around and pointed out that they'd like to see us perform, too!"

Apparently you're heavily involved?
"I've got a fairly big chunk to do. I got one of those special letters saying that I had a 'significant amount of dialogue' to deliver. I didn't get one of the really nice letters that said, 'You're in the back of shot and you've nothing to say'!"

Presumably your part has a lot to do with the box that Ian's digging up at the allotment in the run-up to the live?
"Yeah, that box does come into it…"


Adam Woodyatt on Tracey, Jane and 'Who Killed Archie?'


I recently caught up with EastEnders' longest-serving star Adam Woodyatt to reflect on two-and-a-half decades of playing one of Britain's best-known soap characters Ian Beale.

Click here to read the first half of my interview, or read on for the rest!

You share the long-standing title with Tracey The Barmaid, too - what's Jane like to work with?
"She's very quiet! I've only ever been in a few of the scenes over the years in which she's said more than one line. If you go back, Jane was in a kids series which I can remember watching when I was a kid. She was on the flower stall when I started working here."

Do you think Tracey could have a storyline?
"I think she should remain an enigma. It's nice to have something mythical about her. The reason everyone thinks that June [Brown] was here from episode one is because the character was mentioned from ep one. It's the same with Tracey - she's always there, but then she's not always there."

Do you think characters from the younger cast - like your screen children Melissa Suffield and Thomas Law - could replicate your success? Or do you think soapland's changed?
"That'd be entirely up to them and what they want to do with their careers. Mel and Tom didn't have much to do when they were under the age of 16, but they're now starting to get more storylines and they'll get so much experience. It's a fantastic place to learn. As for characters, it's a combination of how the character's been received and whether the actor's still happy. Sometimes actors want to move on and sometimes a character doesn't work out as had been hoped."

Ian's had quite a few wives - who's been your favourite?
"I'm not answering that! No way! They're all going to be at the party and I'm not going to say that number one was better than number two who was better than three!"

Do you think he's found his soul mate in Jane?
"No - the beauty of them are that they're still looking for something better. And they'll keep doing it. Jane's had a dalliance with Grant and then recently with Masood. Ian's been a pillock again with Janine. They keep thinking that the grass is greener on the other side. They're just settling for each other."

Do you think Ian would have had the nerve to kill Archie?
"He's certainly got a motive! Anything's possible. At Christmas, Ian was so desperate to keep Jane having only just got her back that he could have done anything. It's certainly plausible."

As a viewer, who do you think killed Archie?
"So far, I've gone through seven different people. I've been changing my mind each week. I was convinced it was Sam. Then I thought it was Ronnie. Then I thought it was Phil because he asked Shirley for the alibi. Then I was being so daft with the laptop that I thought it was me. Then I thought Janine, then Ryan. This week it's back with Sam…"

What was your reaction when you heard that Barbara was leaving?
"Gutted. It's the end of an era for EastEnders but it's not the end of the show and it's not the end of the Mitchells. I think Barbara will find it quite difficult [to leave] because if you've been turning up at work every day for so long and then you don't, it's a wrench. We all know there'll still be contact, though - we just won't see her at work."

What have been your thoughts about Diederick's reign at the top?
"He's done really, really well. Kate Harwood got us out of a bit of a crisis and Diederick continued that success and brought the show back to its strengths."

Looking forward to Bryan taking over?
"I'm looking forward to it. I've not met him yet, but have been talking to various cast members who know him. Everybody talks and everyone's curious what a new boss is going to be like. I think this is my 14th boss!"

What's the latest with your Haiti event?
"We have about 50 cast from various soaps. EastEnders have abut 25 going and Emmerdale have 11. It's been a little difficult with everyone's schedule so it's been difficult for everyone to fully commit. The staging's all been sorted, the funfair's booked and we have some brilliant auction items."

[Dazzle]

DC Hughes is Bill Treacher's son

[Perdita]

EastEnders' Ian Beale will ask his long-suffering wife Jane to renew their wedding vows.

The guilt-ridden wimp - who has been secretly bedding middle-aged minx Glenda Mitchell (Glynis Barber) - will attempt to make amends by presenting his wife with an elaborate cake reading, "Will you marry me - again?"

With Jane (Laurie Brett) overcome by emotion at the public proposal in the Queen Vic, she automatically accepts her hapless husband's seemingly romantic offer.

However, cash-strapped Glenda is determined to make some money out of her liaison with Ian (Adam Woodyatt), and demands the terrified dad buys her silence.

An 'EastEnders' insider told Inside Soap magazine: "Jane would be absolutely heartbroken if she discovered that Ian has been cheating. They've had their fair share of troubles but the revelation could be the last straw.

"Glenda turns up on Ian's doorstep with an ultimatum - give her £5,000 or she'll tell Jane everything. She's practically been forced out of the Square by the rest of the Mitchell clan, so she's got nothing left to lose."

Whether cowardly Ian will eventually summon the courage to tell Jane the heartbreaking truth about his saucy affair remains to be seen.

(C) BANG Media International