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
Ross Kemp in Afghanistan of the second series, 5 SCOTS and Kemp are ambushed by the Taliban within 30 minutes of his first patrol, targeted by small arms fire and RPG rockets, as well as mortars. Kemp is extricated to safety by crawling 50 metres along a ditch. In a later contact, after coming under fire, Kemp unwittingly ran into an area Kemp described as "probably" featuring the pressure plate devices used to detonate IEDs and mines, necessitating 30 steps back to the cleared area. During the filming for the second series, 100 metres from the crew a 22-year-old Royal Marine was fatally wounded