{"id":68074,"date":"2023-11-07T10:23:30","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T10:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talkcelnews.com\/?p=68074"},"modified":"2023-11-07T10:23:30","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T10:23:30","slug":"bbc-eastenders-brian-conleys-tom-cruise-moment-in-dramatic-fire-stunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talkcelnews.com\/tv-movies\/bbc-eastenders-brian-conleys-tom-cruise-moment-in-dramatic-fire-stunt\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC EastEnders Brian Conleys Tom Cruise moment in dramatic fire stunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Comedian Brian Conley has always made the nation chuckle, but what his EastEnders character Rocky Cotton has done is no laughing matter. <\/p>\n

Desperate to clear his huge gambling debt, Rocky set fire to his wife\u2019s caf\u00e9 hoping to claim on insurance. However, his plan backfired as the blaze had huge repercussions for the Beale family and this week Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) gets arrested for arson.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s awful,\u201d agrees Brian, \u201cbut Rocky is hanging on to the fact Kathy will be released \u2013 he wants to give it a bit longer before confessing because he might be able to get away with it and live happily ever after."<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Harvey [Monroe, played by Ross Boatman] is putting pressure on Rocky quite literally, he has him against the wall \u2013 he threatens him. Harvey wants to smack Rocky around the head and say, \u2018Look mate, you\u2019ve got to take the rap for this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a big surprise that Rocky wants to get the cash through illegal means. After all, he arrived in Walford under the alias of Terry Cant to con Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy), and ended up a bigamist when he married Kathy in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m surprised Rocky\u2019s still hanging around,\u201d says Brian. \u201cHe would be treated like mud if the truth were to ever come out. And it\u2019s affected everyone, they all love that caf\u00e9. [But] he only wanted a little fire, Rocky never wanted it to explode!"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the whole situation goes from bad to worse because after the fire, Rocky\u2019s seen as a hero because he ran back inside. And that makes him feel so much worse. Rocky\u2019s in such an awful position, but he does play along with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian reveals the blast storyline was a shock for him as well as Rocky when the secret came out in the scripts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big moment when I found that out, and the caf\u00e9 is so iconic \u2013 it\u2019s like blowing up The Vic. Since then, it\u2019s left a horrible burnt-out building and every time Rocky walks by, it reminds him of what he\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he still always tries to defuse anything with a bit of comedy \u2013 which I have to say is exactly like me. It\u2019s always been a great tool to help me in certain situations, making people laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

With Brian leaving the show soon, the fire will be his one and only stunt in the soap, and it lived up to his expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must admit, I felt like Tom Cruise,\u201d confesses Brian. \u201cIt was scary when we were in there, we genuinely could not see anything. The firemen were real, from the armed forces. I\u2019ve never done anything like it before, apart from fire-eating on my own show \u2013 I told the firemen that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n