In Swash's opinion, Mickey had only been used for ``light relief'' since September 2005, when Swash was forced to take a three month break from the serial after he contracted meningoencephalitis -- a rare form of viral meningitis, which makes the brain swell up. EastEnders writers were reported to be ``frantically reworking scripts'' to explain Mickey's sudden disappearance, and according to Swash, this meant that a big storyline concentrating on the relationship between Mickey and his estranged father Mike had to be cut.
Swash
Mickey