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 Davidson of BBC's flagship soap opera "EastEnders". He played the altruistic nurse Andy O'Brien for 18 months, after which his screen alter-ego went down in history for being the first main character to be killed off, dying in a road accident in August 1986. Just before leaving EastEnders, Davidson recorded a pop single, "Jigsaw Puzzle", that failed to chart. He then returned to acting in stage plays (he had previously appeared in "Guys and Dolls" at the National Theatre) and returned to the small-screen in 1987 as a television presenter. He presented the BBC lunchtime magazine show "Daytime Live" (1987–88) and