Tom Hooper worked 10-hour days on "EastEnders", and learned to direct with speed. He was influenced in his early career by the cinematic style of American TV series such as "ER", "NYPD Blue" and "" and tried to work that style into his "EastEnders" episodes; one scene featuring Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) involved a crane shot, which Hooper believes made him infamous among the "EastEnders" production crew. In 1999, Hooper directed two episodes of Granada Television's comedy-drama television series "Cold Feet", which marked his move to bigger-budget productions. There was initially concern at Granada that Hooper might be an unsuitable director for
Peggy Mitchell a comic actress, notably appearing in the long-running "Carry On" films. Scott Matthewman of "The Stage" commented on the recast in 2006: "Quite the biggest – and most inexplicable – transformation is that of Peggy Mitchell in "EastEnders". While Barbara Windsor has dominated the role...first appearing in [1994], the character had appeared briefly [three] years earlier, played by Jo Warne, a lady who physically is as different from our Babs as it's possible to get." Steve McFadden and Ross Kemp had attempted to persuade "EastEnders" writer Tony Jordan to develop a spin-off for their characters, which would star Windsor as