EastEnders’ original Martin Fowler actor, who left the soap 17 years ago, reveals his return to Walford

EastEnders’ original Martin Fowler actor, who left the soap 17 years ago, has revealed he has recently returned to Walford.

But James Alexandrou said that instead of reprising his role as Martin, now played by James Bye, he was behind the camera this time.

“I recently went back, I shadowed as a director,” James said Johnny Seifert on Secure The Insecure Podcast.

The Call the Midwife star, 38, took on the role almost two decades after he left the soap – where he started his acting career as a kid on the square in 1996.

While in EastEnders, James played Martin, who was married to Natalie Cassidy’s character Sonia, and he left the role in 2007 at the age of 21.

James Alexandrou said that instead of reprising his role as Martin (seen in the soap with Charlie Jones as Ben in 2007), now played by James Bye, this time he was behind the camera.

In 2014, James Bye took over the role of Martin, with the original actor revealing that he had turned down the chance to return.

Explaining what a shadow director does, James said, “What that means is you get to follow the director and see how they direct the show, and it just so happened that James Bye was there on the day I was shadowing, so that I did’ I don’t know he knew I was there.

‘I think he apparently got wind of it, and he came to do a scene, and he said something like, “Oh, it’s you!” and we just had this… it was a strange moment, it was a very strange moment, because we don’t know each other at all, and the only thing that connects us are these words on a page called Martin Fowler and it was a very nice moment .’

When discussing the differences between acting and directing for a soap opera, he said that directing is much more “intense.”

“Something like Enders, you might shoot about 25 or 30 pages a day, on a film you might shoot two,” James said.

“(It’s) kind of a nostalgia thing going back. And I think I would really enjoy doing it.”

He then joked about directing his former on-screen wife, Natalie.

James said, “You know, I just have to demand that I direct Natalie Cassidy because that would be the most fun thing to do.”

James ruled out ever returning to the show as Martin, saying the door was ‘closed’.

‘Come back as Martin? I don’t know, that door in my head is closed.

While in EastEnders, James played Martin, who was married to Natalie Cassidy’s character Sonia (seen together in 2006), and he left the role in 2007 at the age of 21.

In 2014, James Bye took over the role of Martin, with the original actor revealing that he had turned down the chance to return.

James joked about directing his former wife Natalie (starred together in 2006), saying, “You know, I just have to demand that I should direct Natalie Cassidy because that would be the most fun thing to do.”

‘Maybe if the door was open and James Bye said, ‘Listen, I’m gone and I don’t want to do it again,’ I’d say, ‘Yes.’

But any potential return appears to be temporary, as James added: “Maybe as a special Christmas thing. Maybe it’s funny to do that.’

It comes after current Martin actor James Bye revealed he fell and severed his head during a screening of his Christmas pantomime in Aylesbury in December.

James played the role of The Prince in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Live at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre.

He decided to take a short break from the popular soap to create a panto season.

James suffered the injury during the show’s first scene. After they were done for the day, his co-star Rhiannon Chesterton, who plays Snow White, posted a selfie of the two on her Instagram Story.

She captioned the photo: “Look at our brave prince, @jimmybye. He split his head open in the first scene, went ahead and decided to ‘make something of it,’ so he tied his arm for good measure.”