EastEnders’ Ian Beale is consoled by enemy Phil Mitchell following the death of his daughter Lucy.
The distraught father – played by Adam Woodyatt – is comforted by unlikely friend Phil (Steve McFadden) after the 20-year-old businesswoman (Hetti Bywater) is brutally murdered this week, and the whole cast were left sobbing just listening to the actors film the emotional scene.
The BBC One soap’s producer, Dominic Treadwell-Collins, said: "Grief changes people and changes relationships. It changes Ian and Phil’s relationship. Ian and Phil are the biggest enemies in the world. Phil Mitchell hugs a crying Ian Beale and starts to cry himself."
Adam admits Steve broke down "twice" and he didn’t realise he was crying until after they’d shot the heart-breaking scene.
He explained: "We couldn’t even read the script, we couldn’t do a line run, some scenes I don’t even think we rehearsed for."
Laurie Brett, who plays Ian’s ex-wife Jane, revealed she was moved to tears listening to Adam and Steve.
She said: "Myself and Leticia Dean [Sharon Rickman] were in the kitchen part of that set while Steven and Adam were doing that scene.
"We couldn’t even see it but we could just hear it. The emotion … we were crying and we couldn’t even see it. It’s the one that put me right on my a**e, quite frankly. It was just brilliant."
Lucy will be found dead in tomorrow night’s (18.04.14) episode, and Adam has compared the storyline to TV crime thriller ‘Broadchurch’, which gained 9.3m viewers during its finale in April last year.
Ian Beale comforted by Phil Mitchell in EastEnders scenes
