James Bye says his latest ‘EastEnders’ storyline has been a "gift".
The 35-year-old actor – who plays Martin Fowler on the BBC One soap – is in for a bleak Christmas as he finds himself in a dangerous spot after he teamed up with Walford loan shark Tubbs recently.
But Christmas has come early for James, who says the plot is "the best stuff [he’s] had" since he started out on the programme in 2014.
James said: "It’s probably the best stuff I’ve had since I’ve been on the show to be honest. It’s a gift."
Over Christmas, viewers will see Martin get involved in even more criminal activity with Tubbs – played by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong – after being introduced to him by former nemesis Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden).
The idea for the twist came from executive producer Jon Sen and senior exec producer Kate Oates, but James was left concerned about how they would pull it off.
He explained: "I had a meeting with Jon and Kate and they sort of floated the idea.
"I was a bit unsure of how we were going to get from the fruit and veg man until that point."
Kate added: "One of the reasons we had this idea initially was, when got together for a bit of a character chat, James mentioned this thing – it was Martin with a different head and how he dangled Ben over the railway bridge.
"I hadn’t seen that. James and Max were talking about it, and I just thought it was brilliant. It’s nice to have those conversations and work collaboratively."
After things heat up on the Christmas Eve (24.12.19) episode, Martin reaches out to Ben for help with his friend but fails miserably, igniting their feud once again.
James Bye says latest EastEnders plot has been a ‘gift’
