EastEnders star Jake Wood has said it was a “great honour” to be at the centre of the soap’s Christmas Day episode.
The actor, who plays Max Branning in the soap, attributed the resurgence of the show to the return of boss John Yorke.
Only one more week to enter your script for our #Drama script room!Get some great advice on #story structure and some common errors made by new writers in this interview with John Yorke who recently returned to the helm @bbceastenders >>>https://t.co/PYKlIHXngj @jyintothewoods pic.twitter.com/B5qXhkkDcr
— BBC Writersroom (@bbcwritersroom) January 8, 2018
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “We’ve had John Yorke come back, who is a legendary EastEnders producer.
“He was there about 10 years ago and he’s come back in the last few months, he’s really ramping up the storylines.”
Wood took a year off from the soap after competing in Strictly Come Dancing in 2014.
In May 2015 he said he would be absent from the show for 12 months , before returning while Sean O’Connor was still running the soap.
He said: “Its been great, I had a year off and then I came back under Sean O’Connor and when I came back he sort of outlined Max’s revenge in the last year.
“I like him, I’m very fond of Max. I couldn’t play it for 12 years if I didn’t like the character, he’s so complicated.”
“Strictly on its own is very exhausting and we were filming EastEnders at the same time so shortly after that I took a year off because I had done 10 years without a break.
“I’ve got two small children, I wanted to spend a bit of time at home. It’s really important.”
At Christmas, Branning contemplated suicide while standing on a rooftop.
When his daughters Lauren and Abi tried to talk him down, they both fell to the cobbles of Albert Square below.
While they both survived, the actresses have confirmed they will leave in the near future.
Wood said: “It’s always a great honour to be part of an EastEnders Christmas.
“For me, it’s part of British life, EastEnders at Christmas. It’s an honour to be at the centre of those storylines.”
Asked if the return of Melanie Owen, played by Tamzin Outhwaite, could also open up new storylines for Branning, he said: “It could do, I don’t know exactly what they have got in mind.
“Obviously that character has got a lot of history with Ian Beale, who knows.”