Grange Hill legend Lee MacDonald is joining the cast of EastEnders 32 years after playing Sammy ‘Zammo’ McGuire in the school drama.
Lee, 50, who has been running a locksmith in London since quitting acting, will make a surprise return to screens following belatedly in the footsteps of other Grange Hill alumni Todd Carty and Susan Tully to join the soap for a brief stint.
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Lee played Zammo, a cheeky and loveable character who spiralled into heroin addiction, when he appeared in Grange Hill from 1982 to 1987.
Lee will feature in two episodes of the BBC One soap this spring. He’ll play Terry, a London bus driver, and will go up against The Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter in a radio competition to win concert tickets.
Desperate to get the tickets for his beloved Linda, will Mick be able to clinch the prize or will Terry claim victory?
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Lee said of his return to acting: “I am absolutely chuffed to bits and so excited to be briefly joining the cast of EastEnders.
“I can’t say too much yet but watch this space. Top banana!”
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Lee was most famous for Zammo’s descent into drug addiction and the cast’s recording on the charity single Just Say No, which reached No. 5 in the UK charts in 1986.
The cast even performed the song at the Yankees Stadium in America where they met First Lady Nancy Reagan at the White House.
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After leaving Grange Hill, Lee became a boxer and had small parts in Birds of a Feather and The Bill before retiring from acting.
A source told The Sun: “EastEnders have made some surprise signings in the past and this is up there.
“Nobody saw this coming but it’s a great nostalgia trip for viewers.”
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