Actor Phil Daniels, famed for his role as Jimmy the Mod in Quadrophenia, will star as George the pigeon fancier in Call the Midwife.
Daniels was 21 when he played Cockney teenager Jimmy Cooper, who took amphetamines and headed out of London on his scooter to scrap with Rockers in Brighton.
Now 61, Daniels will appear in BBC One’s hit Sunday-night drama next weekend as George, a man who refuses to leave his East End home during the slum clearances, despite it being marked for demolition.
It falls to Nonnatus House handyman Fred, played by Cliff Parisi, 59, to coax him out.
George’s hacking cough is what first alerts Fred to George’s presence inside the condemned building, while also revealing that he is not a well man.
And when Fred goes to investigate, helped by Reggie (Daniel Laurie), he finds George is every bit as angry and headstrong as Jimmy was in the film which first put Daniels on the map and led to his collaboration with Blur on their 1994 hit, Parklife.
A source said: “George just wants to be left alone. But that all changes when Fred returns to check on George with Reggie in tow, and the pair bond over the pigeons."
Let's hope George is luckier at finding happiness than Phil's EastEnders character Kevin Wicks, who he played from 2006 to 2008.
Phil's episode of Call the Midwife airs on Sunday, January 26, on BBC One at 8pm.
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