EastEnders actor Ross Boatman has said his character Harvey is "horrified" at his best friend Rocky's harebrained scheme to get himself out of his gambling debt.
In recent weeks, viewers have witnessed an increasingly desperate Rocky (Brian Conley) turn to gambling in an effort to tackle his financial issues.
Speaking about the storyline, Boatman has said that Harvey is "very worried for his best friend".
The actor said: "He can see his life spiralling out of control due to gambling, but Harvey knows all too well that he's seen people go down this line before and it starts off with a fiver here, and a fiver there, but before you know it, it’s completely out of control. And sure enough, that’s what happens to Rocky."
Despite Harvey pleading with Rocky to speak to Kathy and be honest with her, Rocky has another approach about how to tackle his predicament - to set fire to the café so he can claim money back on the insurance.
The idea fills Harvey "with horror".
"He’s absolutely horrified that he’s considering something so foolhardy and so reckless", Boatman commented.
"Again, he’s very concerned for Kathy as well because Rocky is lying and going behind her back, and doing the most terrible thing by burning down her lifelong business to try and get them out of a hole.
"It’s met with complete horror and disbelief and he continually tries to persuade him not to do it."
Harvey is "relieved" when he thinks he has convinced Rocky not to follow through on the foolhardy plan after offering to lend him the money. However "at the last minute" he realises that Rocky is going through with it. Unfortunately, it's too late to intervene.
Boatman said: "He wants to stop him spiralling but Rocky’s not interested. Rocky’s already got his eye on what he thinks is the prize, and he thinks the insurance money will be much bigger than anything Harvey can borrow for him.
"Harvey says to him 'look if you do it, if you go ahead with this and you don’t come clean to Kathy about this reckless scheme, then you and I can no longer be friends.'"
The soap star said "the penny drops" for Harvey when Rocky is late to Walford East.
"He turns up at Walford East and realises that Rocky’s not there and he knows something is amiss," he said.
"There is only a short period of time where Harvey realises that Rocky is quite likely to go ahead with it."
EastEnders airs on RTÉ One, RTÉ Player and BBC One Monday to Thursday.
