Soap villain brings menace to River City
AS wife-beater Trevor Morgan in East-Enders, he played one of the most hated, yet memorable, characters in soaps.
Now Alex Ferns is returning to our screens, this time to terrorise Shieldinch.
Ferns, 48, played Little Mo’s abusive husband, one of Albert Square’s most memorable baddies, before he met a grisly end in 2002, in a fire that he started.
Fifteen years on, the actor is set to delight fans of River City as Rick Harper – a ‘menacing criminal with no moral code’.
A BBC Scotland spokesman said: ‘Motivated only by money, status and power, Rick is the illegitimate son of gangster Billy Kennedy who arrives in Shieldinch as a rival to Lenny Murdoch with his focus to bring down his criminal counterpart.
‘His arrival will cause chaos as the Murdoch family clash with Rick and the community bares the brunt of his ambition – to Rick, nothing and no one is off limits.’
In EastEnders, alongside his wife Mo Slater, played by Kacey Ainsworth, Ferns was at the centre of a harrowing domestic violence storyline that gripped viewers.
He will film his first River City scenes next week ahead of the character’s first appearance next month. He said: ‘I’m excited about my character, Rick – he’s going to bring some heat. He’s old school, not afraid of anybody in any sense. He’s going to be quite charming and funny but he can turn violent if he has to. Obviously, I’m nothing like that.’
He added: ‘I love being back in Scotland. I always feel better when I come back, more at home. It’s going to be great working on a show that’s Scottish, made for Scotland. The River City set is incredible and everyone here seems really friendly. ’
After leaving EastEnders, Ferns went on to star in the highly acclaimed film Joyeux Noel, which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, Golden Globes and the Baftas.
Small Faces and Rab C Nesbitt star Iain Robertson will also join the popular soap.
Robertson’s character Stevie Adams was last seen in 2005 played by another actor – Cas Harkins – when he was sent to jail, sacrificed by his mother Scarlett to save him from the wrath of his criminal connections.
His long-awaited return sees the character ‘unapologetic for the way he lives his life’ after a lengthy stint behind bars.
Robertson said: ‘I’m looking forward to getting into some of the storylines Stevie has coming his way.’
Kieran Hannigan, River City’s executive producer, said: ‘In Alex and Iain we have landed two brilliant actors with a stunning body of work. Shieldinch is buzzing with news of their arrival.’