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
Steve Owen (EastEnders) I said no so I could feel what it was really like. My wrists were raw by the end of it and I was exhausted, but that was the challenge I wanted." Kemp decided to leave "EastEnders" at the end of his contract in 2002, to move from the BBC to rival station ITV. He said of his decision: "I have had a wonderful time at "EastEnders" and I will be very sad to leave, but I feel that its time to move on." It was reported that "EastEnders" producers decided to kill off his character as "revenge" for how