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) Steve Owen (EastEnders) Steve Owen is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", played by Martin Kemp. He appeared onscreen from 28 December 1998 until 1 March 2002. Introduced by series producer Matthew Robinson, Steve was a shady businessman who soon became one of the show's primary villains. His first major storyline saw him murder old flame Saskia Duncan and frame Matthew Rose (Joe Absolom) for the crime. The episode in which Matthew enacted revenge on Steve drew in outstanding viewing figures and brought a storyline that had gripped the nation to a close. Afterwards Steve became embroiled