The Graham Norton Show

Danny Dyer says EastEnders is his retirement home; Adam Woodyatt says Ian Beale might be going to prison next week; Shane Richie reveals Alfie was meant to be Peggy's love interest and that his character is based on Del Boy; while other cast members, past and present, speculate on who killed Lucy.

Celebrating 30 years of EastEnders, Graham welcomes a host of past and present cast members, including Kellie Bright, Danny Dyer, Letitia Dean, Adam Woodyatt, John Altman, June Brown, Shane Richie, Pam St Clement and Jessie Wallace, with many more including Dean Gaffney, Richard Blackwood, Natalie Cassidy, Hetti Bywater and Linda Davidson in Graham's audience.

Talking about the upcoming live episode of the show, and the fear it holds for the actors, Letitia says, "We're feeling a little leaky!"

Asked if he is worried he might swear live on air, Danny says, "I think the producers are a bit worried but I'm alright with it!" Kellie adds, "I'm more worried about nervous twinkling (laughter). That would be worse than forgetting our lines."

Adam, claiming he doesn't know who killed Lucy, says, "The script is censored, I haven't a clue. I just know enough for my part." Adding, "If I forget my lines we've got a plan. We're going to tell Ben Hardy to take off his top. He took it off in a recent episode and it seemed quite popular!"

Asked whether she knows who her killer is, Hetti Bywater (Lucy Beale), who is part of Graham audience, says, "No, I swear I don't know, I have no idea. When I was killed off I didn't even realise I was coming back for some flashback scenes and I'd had a fringe cut into my hair."

Talking about his longevity in the show, Adam says, "I've never taken it for granted." Asked if they could kill him off he says, "Yes. I might be going to prison next week!" Adding, "I do think about leaving, but it's a great place to work. You get fantastic opportunities that you wouldn't get in a normal drama series. If you did something else you would get a six-part series with pretty much one storyline, but we've got about 214 episodes in a year so everybody gets the opportunity to do a whole range of things."

Letitia, having left and then returned to the show, adds, "I was there for 11 years straight the first time because it was such a great show, but I was in my 20s and wanted to try other things but I came back because the basis of the job is so wonderful."

Kellie adds, "It's very odd joining a show that you have grown up watching. I remember walking on to the set and standing behind the bar of the Vic thinking, 'This is surreal.' And it felt surreal for quite a while and quite daunting to come into the show but it's really exciting."

Asked if he has an exit strategy, Danny says, "No. It's as long as they'll have me and I have the storylines. I'm glad I've done other stuff, but for me it's like a retirement home. It's tough being an actor, it's a great job but it's a lot of rejection. It's cutthroat and you never know where your next pay cheque is coming from so I'm happy to sit back and be part of this show."

June Brown and John Altman join Graham for a chat. Talking about fans of the show, John says, "I was worried about playing a villain because people tend to stay away from really nasty characters in real life, but I think there's something about Nick, perhaps a twinkle in his eye. He's not the most horrific villain so perhaps I've done something that gives him a little bit of charm, that makes people say hello."

Shane, Jessie and Pam join Graham for a chat. Asked if she missed being in the show, Pam says, "I miss it like hell. Of course I do. I know it's over done, but it really is like a family, you get to work so closely with people. You get to know them so well, you love some and not love some others but it's great, it's like home."

Asked if she has an opinion on who killed Lucy she says, "I've been looking at the thing and wondering who wants a break from the show, I'm very devious and look at it from a management point of view. I actually think it might be a case of manslaughter and not murder. The idea of suicide is a silly one, but I'm ready to stand corrected."

Revealing that Pat's trademark earrings were Pam's idea, she says, "I based her on someone I saw fleetingly on the number 38 bus in London and on another woman that worked at the bakery, and I saw the fringe and the earrings and I thought, 'That's the look I want.' I lot of the earrings came from fans. It was wonderful."

Talking about Pat's relationship with Frank (Mike Reid), Pam says, "It was believable. We fitted each other physically and emotionally. He was fantastic to work with and I miss him a lot."

On Alfie and Kat's similarly long-running relationship, Shane says, "It's been 12 years now but the characters got together by accident - it was never meant to happen. When I started the show I heard a rumour that I was brought in as a love interest for Peggy, they were going to do this 'Cougar' story, but then they saw the chemistry between Jessie and me and the writers said, 'Let's make this a slow burner.'"

Jessie, asked if kissing Shane, now she knows him so well, is weird, says with a giggle, "We're best friend so kissing becomes mechanical in a way."

Shane, asked why female viewers find Alfie such a turn on, says, "When he came into the show there were a lot of hard men, big guys and gangsters and he came in looking after his nana and Spencer and people bought into that." Revealing that the Moon family was inspired by the Trotters in Only Fools And Horses, he says, "Tony Jordan based me on Del Boy, and Nana and Spencer on Rodney and Granddad."

Talking about a more delicate issue on set, Shane recalls, "It was when Viagra had just come out and we all took one - we were told they would take 20 minutes to work so I popped a pill at the end of the day. Just as I was on my way out the director said, 'We need to shoot a scene again.' All the men filmed the scene pressed very close to the bar!"

Pam, Danny and Shane demonstrate how Walford folk slap each other by taking it in turn to hit Graham in The Queen Vic.