Steve McFadden he made his acting debut playing a small role in the 1988 television film "The Firm". That same year he had an uncredited brief appearance in the film "Buster" as a gang member. This was followed by appearances in the television series "The Bill", "Minder" and "Bergerac". McFadden then became famous for playing 'hard man' Phil Mitchell in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders". He joined EastEnders at the beginning of 1990, at the same time as Ross Kemp, who played Phil's younger brother Grant Mitchell. During that time, his character has been involved in numerous ratings-pulling storylines such as Sharongate
EastEnders Bianca Jackson and Tiffany Mitchell. Lock also wrote a character guide entitled "Who's Who in EastEnders" () in 2000, examining main characters from the first 15 years of the show. Show creators Julia Smith and Tony Holland also wrote a book about the show in 1987, entitled "EastEnders: The Inside Story" (), telling the story of how the show made it to screen. Two special anniversary books have been written about the show; "EastEnders: The First 10 Years: A Celebration" () by Colin Brake in 1995 and "EastEnders: 20 Years in Albert Square" () by Rupert Smith in 2005. EastEnders