Phil Daniels blasts 'Enders writers

Phil Daniels has claimed that he left EastEnders because the standard of writing on the soap had deteriorated.

The actor, who played Kevin Wicks, said that he wanted the show to be more "light and witty" and that he had fallen into a "mire" after two years with the soap.

He told the Daily Star: "I thought two years would be a good amount of time and by the end of that, I'd kind of had enough.

"I'd fallen into that mire that always happens on EastEnders. The wit had gone, all they were writing was bad stuff and I wasn't interested in carrying on in that way. I wanted to keep it light and witty."

Talking about his character's exit, Daniels said: "They killed me off and it was gruesome. But it's all about getting viewing figures."