He has played an East End hardman, an SAS soldier and investigated vicious world gangs. Now Ross Kemp is taking on perhaps his hardest assignment of all - the Taliban. Watch the trailer here.
Kemp - Sky One's golden boy after winning a rare Bafta for the channel for his documentary series about gang culture - has completed a five-part series in which he follows British troops in the Helmand province of Afghanistan over a period of two-months.
The series, which was premiered at a press screening this morning, is shot in high definition giving its imagery - particularly the combat scenes - an impact that has perhaps not been seen on British television before.
The producers claim it is a British TV first for a war zone, and Ross admits it was hard work, describing the camera as like "carrying a golf bag" round.
"This is the first time an HD camera has been taken into a war zone and used in this way," director John Conroy says.
"It's delivered some truly amazing pictures and audio. During the contact where Ross and I were pinned down by the Taliban you can hear the bullets fizzing past us, getting closer and closer. It was terrifying. It's a big piece of kit, but was well worth it."
In the series, Ross is seen being shot at, tramping through the desert heat and meeting the mother of a soldier killed in the conflict. He also has quite a heated exchange with an Afghan local, who was berating the British for not doing enough to help reconstruction.
In one dramatic moment when he is under fire, Ross also appears to wet himself, although he says it might have actually been his water bottle bursting.
"During one engagement between B Company and the Taliban, we were pinned down by enemy fire in open ground," he says. "Bullets fizzed inches from our heads, hitting the ground on either side of us. It was the most frightening experience of my life. I've never hugged the ground as tightly as I did when that happened. It's definitely the closest I have ever come to dying. I was so scared."
Ross has used his defining role as EastEnder's hardman Grant Mitchell to great effect throughout his career, from playing an SAS soldier in Ultimate Force, to carving out a niche as a real-life documentary tough nut, confronting gangs and now fanatical Islamist groups.
Despite the bravado, Ross is actually a well spoken, articulate person with a touch of camp thrown in - he is also currently appearing in panto in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, playing the villainous Henchman.
He says he had empathy with the troops of the 1 Royal Anglian battalion, whom he was embedded with, as his father served in a previous incarnation of them and he comes from their part of the world.
However, he insists the series is not political, nor is it there to glamorise the fight in Afghanistan or boost support for it.
"I am not going to talk about that [the politics of the war] because that is not my job," he says. "I believe that most people in Afghanistan, all they want to do is live their lives as they have done for centuries."
The Ministry of Defence was given advance screenings of the series for security reasons, but Kemp says otherwise he was given free reign.
He says he wants the series to give a voice to the average soldier who doesn't normally get heard.
"If you are going to send young men into environments like Afghanistan, you need to hear their voice," he adds.
He says he intends to go back and see what becomes of the young men he served with in six months time, to see how their conflict experiences have affected them.
Kemp also says he intends to make more documentaries, but refuses to rule out another return to EastEnders.
However, if the Walford hard man is so successful outside Albert Square, there seems little reason to return.
Ross Kemp in Afghanistan launches at 9pm on Monday January 21 on Sky One and Sky One HD. The series is a Tiger Aspect/Mongoose production. Executive producers are Clive Tulloh and Ross Kemp; series producer is Matt Bennett; the producer/director is John Conroy. Commissioning editor for Sky One is Andrew O'Connell.
