Ex-EastEnder spies new TV role

Former EastEnders hardman Ross Kemp is to play a spy in a new ITV thriller.

He is to lead the cast in a two-part drama, pencilled in for next year, called A Line In The Sand in which he is pursued by an Iraqi assassin.

Kemp, best known for playing Grant Mitchell in the Albert Square soap for nearly a decade, signed a "golden handcuffs" deal with ITV last year, tying him to the network.

In the new drama, Kemp is a spy who flees Iraq after leading an attack on a group of soldiers.

After settling back home in a coastal town under a false name he is followed by an Iraqi bent on revenge.

A spokeswoman for United Productions, which is making the thriller, said: "It's very early stages and we've only just been commissioned to make it. There are no scripts so far.

"He's busy for the rest of the year so we won't be making it until next year."

Other forthcoming roles for Kemp include a part as Scrooge in a modern-day adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and a part as a detective.

Last updated: 12:40 Thursday 10th August 2000.

• EastEnders
• Ross Kemp
• ITV
• Television
• Uk

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