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 a two-part adaptation of the Gerald Seymour novel "A Line in the Sand" for ITV. He has also presented on "The Friday Night Project" and appeared as a stand in host on "The Paul O'Grady Show" (2007, 2008). Kemp appeared in the 4th episode of Series 14 of BBC's motoring show "Top Gear". He was the "Man in Boot" of a Renault Twingo Sport being tested by Jeremy Clarkson. The test ended with Clarkson driving the car off the quayside of Belfast Harbour, after which Clarkson joked that Kemp had been killed. In 2004 Kemp filmed "Ross Kemp on Gangs",