Exclusive: Larry Lamb on Archie, the live ep and future projects!

EastEnders star Larry Lamb calls time on his Walford role on Christmas Day when his twisted character Archie Mitchell is dramatically bumped off in cold blood within the pub he effectively ripped from beneath his family's feet.

With so many suspects at the close of what will be one of the BBC soap's most shocking episodes of the year, there'll be one question on everyone's lips until February 19: just Who Killed Archie?

To read the first half of my exclusive chat about how Larry's exit came about, Archie's legacy and more, then click your clicking thing here.

Read on, though, for loads more exclusive quotes about the Christmas storyline.

Following his return after the summer, what made Archie turn against his family?
"Because they wouldn't have Archie apologise - he tried to make amends but he'd gone too far. So he just pressed on regardless and started blundering around in an attempt to put it all right, but all he really did was make it worse!"

Did Archie always intend to use Janine or was it only when he overheard that she was double bluffing him that he realised he had to play her at her own game?
"Archie drew Janine in to get her on board so she didn't turn against him. She has a history of it and likes old blokes with money anyway!"

Does Archie not feel intimidated that he's annoyed everyone on the Square?
"I don't think Archie's intimidated by anybody. He's fearless. He might appear to be frightened of things, but that's just all part of the act."

He couldn't deal with the wasp nest, though…
"Why would he, though? He had slaves around the place like Billy. You wouldn't buy a dog and bark yourself!"

How has Archie come to own The Vic?
"By a deft bit of financial finagling. Basically, Archie's figured out that there's a way to use money to get hold of it. The Mitchells have exposed themselves by virtue of Sam showing up on the scene, they've done their best to help but left themselves open to attack in the process. Archie then saw an opportunity, swooped in and bought his way in on a deal with Ian that, in theory, he should never have had anything to do with. He's a very canny man - he's taken advantage of the situation. It's opened up a very interesting can of worms for the family."

What happens with the divorce papers over Christmas?
"They keep going backwards and forwards and become a pawn that keeps getting played across the table. Archie uses them as a means to test Peggy as to whether she'll be going through with what she says she's going to. Peggy signs them but Archie doesn't send them in and he puts them back to her, suggesting that they don't go through with it. The divorce papers are a measure of the state of their relationship - it's a very clever bit of writing."

There's an incident where Archie pushes Ronnie into the bar at The Vic, putting her baby in danger…
"Yeah... It's certainly not intentional, though. It's just the heat of the moment that causes it. He feels sincere guilt afterwards, but you then see a really nasty side of him in the way he deals with her reaction to what he's done. To be perfectly honest, you start to see Archie turn really twisted."

He starts acting a little out of character, doesn't he?
"Funnily enough, he starts doing something that he's never done before throughout his story. I made sure that Archie wasn't a drinker - despite the fact that he was living in a pub - because he'd had a history of it and had to lay off it because he had cancer. Archie's very much drinking whiskey towards the end and I think this can be held to account for the side of him you've not seen before."

Are you disappointed that you're not going to be around for the 25th anniversary?
"Not at all! If there's one way to get yourself sorted out with a heart attack, it's that! No thanks! I'll be sitting comfortable at home enjoying every second of it!"

Barbara leaving is a huge blow for EastEnders, isn't it? Were the quotes from you in the papers true?
"They were misquotes, that's what they were. All I ever said was, 'To me, she must be upset about something'. That was it. I know how much Barbara loves the show, so that's all I said. Then they started crediting me with 'Barbara's had a bust-up' and I didn't say anything of the sort. You have to assume that anything as big as EastEnders will bear the loss, repair and move on. However, what will be interesting is what happens to Peggy. How will she leave? Now there's a question."

How would you like to see her leave?
"I can't see that she'll be killed off. I'm sure they'll leave it up for her to return."

Where do you go from here? What projects do you have in the pipeline?
"I'm doing TV material with my boy George - we're doing a show about father-son relationships for ITV where we go off to Namibia and stay with some hill people out there who live off their herds. It's to compare our lives as an urban, European father and son, who are living in the same city with those people who live in the foothills of a mountain range in Africa, whose lives are probably as distant from ours as possible."

You're doing a one-man show, too?
"I'm just getting ready to do that now, preparing it. Well I say preparing, it's just like 'Larry Lamb bangs on' really! It's basically me talking about being an ordinary bloke becoming an actor. It's that journey of a person with a working-class background becoming an actor."

How did it come about?
"I've sat around talking to many people in this business, exchanging stories and people have said to me, 'You should put together a show', and now there's a lot of people around the country who know who I am. I was speaking to a publisher about a book and they then spoke to a promotions company and they suggested that I do a one-man show and take it around the country. All of a sudden, it's evolved."

Would you ever do something like Who Do You Think You Are? to look back at your family history?
"I'd love to do one of those because my family is a bit spooky! There's darkness from both sides. You don't really know what you'd unravel, though. I've been writing my autobiography and I've been trying to find out more about my family. I've spoken to so many people who know where they're from but my family are a bit more transient than that. I don't really know much about them once it gets back about two generations."

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