Billy Mitchell (EastEnders) revealed in 2006 that the role was extended by "coincidence and chance": "I was offered four episodes and here I am, about 800 later. [...] Ross Kemp (Grant) said that he was leaving, and there was a gap in the Mitchell family, so they brought me back to do stuff towards his leaving. After that they offered me a year." Billy was reintroduced in 1999, making recurring appearances. He was involved in the leaving storyline of Grant Mitchell in October 1999, before returning later in the year as a regular character. When Billy was first introduced, he was depicted as
Ross Kemp in Afghanistan Anglians were chosen as Kemp has a twofold personal interest in the Vikings. His father saw active service as part of the Anglians in the 1950s, and had served in one of the Royal Anglians predecessor units, the Royal Norfolk Regiment, for four years in Cyprus. Kemp also claimed to have an affinity with the soldiers in the Royal Anglians, as having grown up in Essex/East Anglia, he had the same background and possessed shared life experiences as the troops who fall in the Anglians' recruiting area, albeit with an age difference. Kemp at 43 is significantly older than the