Larry Lamb: Killing off Archie was the right move

Larry Lamb: Killing off Archie was the right move (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

EastEnders star Larry Lamb has admitted the decision to kill off Archie Mitchell was the right one, even though it wasn't his choice. Larry's twisted character was bumped off in the Queen Vic on Christmas Day by a mystery assailant whose identity will be revealed during a live episode on Friday, February 19. The actor told The Sun: "I remember asking if I had any choice in the matter and they said 'No', so I just accepted it - and what a fabulous way to go. "Anyway, they were right. The story had to be rounded off. "Archie couldn't have continued sitting around in the Vic, spinning his web of evil like some giant spider. It could have become a bit farcical. "At the end of the day, I'm glad the decision was made for me. Otherwise, I'd have stayed put because it's nice to have a regular job and such good fun playing a baddie." Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk’s weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop

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.