EastEnders star Shane Richie has said that Danny Dyer will not be typecast in his usual role for the soap.
Shane, who plays long-running character Alfie Moon, told This Morning it was exciting to see what Danny was doing with his new part of Mick Carter, who arrives in Walford with his family to take over The Queen Vic.
Shane's character is the pub's current landlord and he said of Danny's introduction: "It's great. It's the big Christmas storyline when the Carters come in. They come in and they change the dynamics of the Queen Vic.
"Where does Alfie fit into all this? Well, then that's Christmas Day - this is the big Christmas [story] and it's great to play."
He promised viewers would see something new from Danny: "At the moment he's playing it and it's wonderful to see, because he's playing against type. We all know Danny's films and his reputation as an actor.
"But he's come in and he's playing against type and he's doing really well. He's not playing the hardman, but there is an element of that just underneath, which he plays really well and the whole family do.
"You've got Kellie Bright who plays his wife, and there's a great family there. I think they're going to prove to be really popular. They're going to go up against the Mitchells, the Moons, the Beales, so that's another great family."
Asked whether Danny was finding it tough not to swear, Shane said: "Well he won't be in any live episodes! He's taken to it like a duck to water. The schedule's very different from doing a film. I've done a few movies where you spend six weeks on a film, but no, this is continuous - six days a week."
Alfie is about to decide whether to marry Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) or go back to ex-wife Kat (Jessie Wallace) and Shane said: "This is the beginning of everything. It's not what you think. When you watch it, it's not what you think."
