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
Ross Kemp in Afghanistan during its tour, 5 hostile and 4 accident. Kemp was travelling in a convoy in which a corporal was killed by a mine strike on his vehicle. He also witnessed the death of a private. The film was dedicated to the dead soldiers, and the men and families of the Vikings. Following the first series, Kemp's next project was to be a documentary on drugs in Thailand for Sky. Kemp stated he would love to return to Helmand in six months or a year to document any progress made in the region by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission.