Former child star John Alford guests in Casualty

Former child star John Alford guests in Casualty (Image credit: PA Archive/Press Association Images)

After a four-year absence from our screens, London's Burning actor John Alford guest stars in next Saturday's episode of Casualty as a taxi driver with anger issues. When a homeless patient, William, tries to escape from Jeff and Polly's ambulance, he has a near collision with the gobby cabbie, Dave, played by Alford. Upset his car's been damaged, Dave harasses William, an illegal immigrant, and starts shouting about getting compensation or else he'll call the police. But when Dave threatens to report him, former journalist William douses himself in petrol and threatens to set himself on fire... Alford is famous for his appearances in the BBC school drama Grange Hill and ITV's London's Burning but was jailed for nine months in 1999 after selling drugs to an undercover journalist. In 2005, Alford made his TV comeback in the Five reality show Trust Me...I'm A Beauty Therapist, but he had further troubles in 2006 when he was found guilty of drink driving and banned from the road for 16 months. Alford can be seen in Casualty on Saturday May 23 at 9.05pm on BBC1. Casualty is not showing on Saturday May 16, due to live coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Get exclusive access to your favourite stars. Subscribe to TV Times magazine

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.