WITH his greying locks, glasses and salt and pepper moustache, an EastEnders hunk looks worlds away from the days when he was at the centre of a huge festive storyline.
The actor in question was one of the suspects in the ‘Who Killed Archie Mitchell?’ whodunit, which gripped the nation during Christmas 2009.
The hunky fella joined EastEnders earlier that year, where he was revealed to be the mystery half brother of a Walford favourite.
He has been involved in a gang and was fleeing the police when he turned up in Albert Square.
And the handsome chap certainly caught the eye of plenty of ladies while he was a resident of E20.
There was a fling with Ronnie Mitchell, a marriage to Janine Butcher and he also fathered the child of a Slater sister.
Have you guessed it yet?
Yes, our mystery man is none other than actor Neil McDermott, who played Ryan Malloy in the long-running BBC soap.
Ryan was of course the estranged half sibling of Whitney Dean, and father Stacey Slater’s baby daughter Lily – the revelation of his paternity powering a plot that kept soap fans on the edge of their seat for weeks.
During his first Christmas on the Square, Ryan was one of many residents who was suspected of killing evil Archie in the pub.
As devotees of the saga will recall, Archie, played by Larry Lamb, met his maker when he was based over the head by the bust of the Queen Victoria.
Ryan was in the frame, along with several other Walford favourites, because he was in a relationship with Janine, who was Archie’s fiancee.
His background with gang violence also didn’t help his case with the police.
After weeks of red herrings, however, it was revealed during the February 2010 live episode that it was actually Stacey who killed Archie.
Her motive for committing the crime was that Archie had raped her.
When Ryan discovered Stacey’s guilt, he tried to protect her and run away with her, but in the end she fled the Square alone.
The following year, Ryan became a killer himself when he accidentally murdered Rob Grayson, the man who had been sexually exploiting Whitney.
He ended up following in Stacey’s footsteps and doing a runner from Walford, but made brief returns in 2014 and 2016 – the latter of which saw him turn himself into the police.
Since leaving the soap, actor Neil has become a fixture in the West End, as well as still popping up in TV guest spots.
On stage, he has appeared in Shrek The Musical, Pretty Woman and is currently treading the boards in Matilda as Mr Wormwood.
He has also toured with production of Wind in the Willows and The Sound of Music.
On the box, fans may have spotted him in Doctors, Casualty and Inspector George Gently over the years.
Away from work, Ryan is a devoted family man and regularly shares holidays and adventures with his brood on social media.
Married to actress Michelle Edwards since July 2007, the pair share three children: Arrabella, Maria and Roddy.
Ryan has said in the past, however, that he is always happy to get the call to return to the Square.
He told Radio Times in 2023: “I’ve popped back to do various bits – Whitney’s wedding, and I think I’ve been back before but ended up in prison [laughs]. But it’s always really lovely – it feels like a home from home a little bit and I feel very comfortable working here.
“It’s a lovely phone call to receive, especially when I’ve got the time and can make it work.”
