Brian Conley joins cast of EastEnders

"As you can imagine being a Londoner and now being part of EastEnders is such an incredible moment for me. I know for sure my dad’s looking down from above and saying 'Good on yer son!' — Brian Conley

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Sonia, feeling lonely and missing her daughter Bex, searched for her lost father’s name online last year to no avail. Having given up any hope of finding her dad, Terry’s arrival in Walford will be a huge shock for her. Terry is the ultimate people pleaser and will be quick to charm everyone on the Square and make himself at home but just how will Sonia react when he turns up in Walford?

Brian is a star of both stage and screen with a television career spanning four decades, he most famously hosted The Brian Conley Show and starred in the popular comedy drama The Grimleys. He has also been a force on the West End, playing the lead in musicals such as Me and My Girl, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hairspray, Oliver!, Barnum and more recently 9 To 5 The Musical and A Christmas Carol at the Dominion Theatre London.

On his arrival to Albert Square, Brian says: “As you can imagine being a Londoner and now being part of EastEnders is such an incredible moment for me. I know for sure my dad’s looking down from above and saying 'Good on yer son!' It was always his favourite programme. So in so many ways it really is an honour to be part of such an iconic show and to be working with an incredibly talented team on camera and off. I cannot wait to order my first pint at The Queen Vic.”

Jon Sen, Executive Producer, EastEnders, adds: “We are delighted to welcome Brian to Albert Square. We had been searching for some time but the moment we met Brian, we knew instantly we had found our man. Brian’s a talented performer whose charm, wit and charisma are exactly the qualities we want for Terry. We’ve got some wonderful stories in store for him and can’t wait for the audience to see Brian bring him to life.”

Brian’s first scenes as Terry will be on screen later this spring.

About

Biography

In a career spanning four decades Brian has appeared in award winning West End musicals and television sitcoms, presented his own chat show, recorded four albums and completed numerous sell out tours of the UK, as well as appearing a record eight times on The Royal Variety Performance.

Theatre includes:

Leading roles in Me And My Girl (Adelphi Theatre); Jolson (Victoria Palace Theatre); Elton John’s Glasses (Queen’s Theatre); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium); The Music Man (Chichester Festival Theatre); Hairspray (Shaftesbury Theatre and UK Tour); Oliver! (UK Tour); Barnum (UK Tour); 9 to 5 (Savoy Theatre); A Christmas Carol (The Dominion Theatre); Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show (UK Tour); The Play What I wrote (UK Tour); The Real Life Of Brian Conley (UK Tour); An Evening With Brian Conley (UK Tour) and Brian Conley The Greatest Entertainer in his Price Range (UK Tour)

Film includes:

Equilibrium (dir. Kurt Wimmer); I Am Bob (dir. Donald Rice); Dream (dir. Mikael Hylin); Hotel (dir. Alan Nickson); Arthur’s Dyke (dir. Gerry Poulson); Unconditional Love (dir. P.J. Hogan) and Circus (dir. Rob Walker)

Television includes:

The Brian Conley Show (ITV); Brian Conley This Way Up (ITV); Brian Conley Alive & Dangerous (ITV); An Audience With Brian Conley (ITV); The Brian Conley Show (Chat Show ITV); Brian Conley-This is Your Life (ITV); The Grimleys (ITV); The Life & Times of Vivienne Vyle (BBC); Five Alive (ITV); Live from The Palladium (ITV); Live from Her Majesty’s (ITV); Time After Time (ITV); The TV That Made Me (Raise the Roof Productions); Timeline (Sky); Dirty Rotten Cheater (BBC); The National Lottery Live (BBC); Let Me Entertain You (BBC); Judgement Day (ITV); Buy It Now (Studio Lambert Productions); The Royal Variety Performance (ITV and BBC); Strictly Come Dancing (ITV) and many more

Recordings include:

Jolson original cast album, 9 to 5 the Musical West End Cast Recording (Live), Stage to Stage with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Let the Good Times Roll and Brian Conley Sings

Awards include:

The Theatre Management Award for Best Performance in a Musical for The Music Man (Chichester Festival Theatre) and the National TV Awards Most Popular Comedy Performer, The British Comedy Awards Most Popular Comedy Performer for Time After Time (ITV); Show Business Personality of the Year, Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards Best Performance in a Musical; Brian was also nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for Jolson (Victoria Palace Theatre)

Source BBC One