Alfie Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Shane Richie. He made his first appearance on 21 November 2002, and left on 25 December 2005. He returned on 21 September 2010, following the return of his on-screen wife, Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace), two episodes previously, and they continued to feature until 22 May 2015. Alfie appeared in a guest stint between 26 December 2015 and 25 January 2016, before starring in the six-part drama spin-off series Kat & Alfie: Redwater in 2017. Richie returned for two short stints in 2018, concluding with his exit on 22 January 2019. Richie then made a virtual cameo appearance on 12 July 2022, followed by a permanent return from 12 September 2022.
Some of the character's more prominent storylines have included: his turbulent relationship with Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace); an affair with Kat's sister Little Mo Mitchell (Kacey Ainsworth); the dementia and death of his grandmother Nana Moon (Hilda Braid); believing that Kat's son Tommy Moon had died of cot death, unaware that their neighbour Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) had switched him with her own deceased child, James Branning; discovering that Kat had been sleeping with Derek Branning (Jamie Foreman); beginning a relationship with Ronnie's sister Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) and marrying her, but reuniting with Kat moments after the wedding; Kat's pregnancy with twinsBert and Ernie Moon, destroying their home by committing arson to get the insurance money; winning the lottery; being diagnosed with a brain tumour; reuniting with Kat until they split again when she discovers that he is the father of Cherry Slater; being diagnosed with prostate cancer; supporting Kat with Tommy's parental abuse; and trying to bring Kat's estranged daughter Zoe (Michelle Ryan) back to Walford.
Creation and development Alfie Moon was conceptualised by EastEnders''' scriptwriter Tony Jordan. The character is based on Jordan himself. Jordan has commented, "Alfie is basically me—a Jack The Lad in jeans, cowboy boots and dodgy shirts who wears his heart on his sleeve." Julia Crampsie, the BBC's casting executive, recommended that Shane Richie be considered for the role. Richie was already a familiar face to the UK audience, having had a career as an entertainer, appearing in various gameshows, variety shows and fronting advertising campaigns, most notably for the washing detergent Daz. Jordan was apprehensive about casting Ritchie in the role. He commented, "I just had this image of the guy with the mullet from the Daz adverts. And if we had Shane where would it stop? Harry Hill? Les Dennis? Bradley Walsh? But Julia was insistent, so I went to a workshop where we'd see lots of actors and [Richie] was fantastic."
Jordan has suggested that many of the rows featured on-screen between Alfie and his love-interest Kat were word-for-word arguments he had with his wife, Tracy. He commented, "We'd be watching EastEnders at home, then an Alfie and Kat scene would start and I'd think, 'Oh shit', because I'd know what was coming. And then we'd have another row about how I don't argue properly because when we do argue I'm just making mental notes for stuff to write the next day."
Reintroduction (2010) On 7 February 2010, it was announced that Richie would return to the show to reprise the role in autumn 2010. The decision was made following the resignation from the show of Barbara Windsor, who played Peggy Mitchell, which left what executive producer Bryan Kirkwood described as a "hole" in the programme. Kirkwood decided that the time was right for Kat and Alfie to return, saying that they "very much herald the new era of EastEnders." Richie had ruled out a return in 2009, saying that the show had moved on from his character and he felt he did not have the energy to be in such a "full-on" show again. Richie commented on his return: "It's an honour and a privilege to be asked back to the iconic series of EastEnders which is at the top of its game! I'm looking forward to finding out what Alfie has been up to over the last few years but more importantly—what the future has in store for him." John Yorke, controller of BBC drama production, said: "Alfie is one of EastEnders most loved and iconic characters, so he's bound to get a very warm welcome from viewers when he returns to Walford. We've had so many new and interesting characters settle into Albert Square since Alfie departed that it's going to make for fantastic viewing when one of the show's most familiar faces rides back into the East End." It was reported by The Daily Mirror that Alfie and Kat would regain control of The Queen Victoria public house after it burns down. Controller of BBC drama production John Yorke predicted that their return would make "fantastic viewing", given the wealth of new characters introduced since their departure. Wallace and Richie were the first cast members signed by new executive producer Bryan Kirkwood.
The plot saw Alfie and Kat regaining control of The Queen Victoria public house after it burned down, and Kat returning to Walford pregnant, with some public suspicions about the paternity of her child. To promote the characters' return, the BBC released a trailer across the BBC network in September 2010. The western-themed trailer sees Kat outside of The Queen Victoria, with various characters looking on and Kat saying "Where d'ya get a drink around 'ere?" with Alfie replying "I think you're gonna' need one." The advertisement uses the tag line "It's all kicking off in the square". The return, in September 2010, drew 9.22 million viewers and 37.7% of the total TV viewing audience. Kat returned on 17 September 2010, and Alfie followed on 21 September.
Talking to What's on TV, Wallace commented on Kat's reunion with Alfie. She said: "She punches him! Alfie has come looking for her and hasn't seen her for months. He keeps saying to her 'You're fat' and she says 'I'm not fat. I'm pregnant!' Then she says, 'Don't worry Alfie, it ain't yours'. She's peed off with him. He's been in prison and she's had to survive on her own pregnant. But she loves him unconditionally. No matter what they do, they will always end up together. She wants stability... a future for the baby and her. She sets him this challenge and he buys it."
Baby swap
Richie revealed in an interview with This Morning that Kat and Alfie would be involved in an ongoing storyline, which he said is "going to be the biggest soap story in probably the history of soaps." At the end of 2010, Kat and Ronnie both give birth on the same day, but Ronnie's baby, James, dies and while Kat is in hospital and her baby, Tommy, is unattended, Ronnie swaps the infants. The storyline received over 6,000 complaints, making it the second most complained about EastEnders storyline. It was then decided to end the storyline earlier than originally planned. It was reported by the Daily Star Sunday that Ronnie experiences a change of heart after visiting relatives in hospital and seeing the midwife who delivered her son. An EastEnders spokesperson said, "We do not comment on future storylines but we have always said Ronnie will do the right thing and Tommy will be reunited with Kat." Wallace revealed that she doesn't regret her involvement of the baby-swap storyline, saying that she was "just doing her job". Wallace told Bang Showbiz: "I stand by it. We're actors at the end of the day, we do our job and then we go home. It's drama, that's it." She also praised Womack's acting and will move on to "bigger and better things" once she departs later this year. She added: "[Samantha is] a fantastic actress who played a brilliant role in a fantastic storyline so I wish her all the best."
Derek Martin said he was surprised by the new baby swap storyline when it was published in the media. Speaking on This Morning, Martin commented: "I'm one of those actors—I don't know how many others do it—but when I get the scripts, I only read my bits. So I looked [and saw], 'Charlie leaves his grandson upstairs, goes downstairs, gets on the drink, gets drunk—the baby's dead'. So that's terrible guilt obviously – because I feel as though it's my fault that he's died. I was surprised when I saw the story come out—because I don't read the others' [lines]—that it was a baby swap." Discussing the surrounding controversy of the plot, Martin added: "Don't forget, there's millions of people—there's 60 odd million here, and they've all got different opinions. Every subject, everything that comes up… everybody will have opinions about that. So therefore you have to accept that's the public—some are for, some are against, and that's the way it is." He continues: "Over the years, don't forget, EastEnders have always had subjects. When [Charlie's] brother had raped Kat and we didn't find out until later on, that was a very strong storyline. And when Little Mo was bashed by her husband Trevor. These stories are all part of real life."
Samantha Womack admitted that she thought the plot was "implausible". She commented: "I thought it was implausible. Most women who lose a child would not go out and abduct one," she told The Mirror. "But Ronnie is a soap character and she is not necessarily representing real life. Soap is based on controversy and sensationalism because bosses are trying to get high ratings and they can't write things like 'Ronnie had a cup of tea'. Otherwise people wouldn't watch it." On 1 August 2011, Ofcom cleared the storyline. The baby swap storyline prompted a huge 1,044 complaints reported to Ofcom. Ofcom also added that many of the complaints were made because the storyline was presented "in an offensive manner" because it "appeared to suggest that a mother who has suddenly and tragically lost a baby through cot death would react by stealing another baby to replace that loss". Kym Marsh supported Ofcom's decision to clear the storyline. Marsh wrote in her magazine section: "Last week, EastEnders was cleared of wrongdoing by Ofcom, the media regulator, over its baby swap storyline, and I think that's the right decision. It's just a storyline, like any other. I understand why people got upset about it, but no-one meant to upset anybody. Soaps are supposed to portray real life to a certain extent, but it's meant to be high drama for entertainment purposes. I mean, how many murders can you have in one square? There's a nod to real life but, for the most part, soaps help take people out of the real world."
Arson On 27 July 2014, it was reported that a fire would engulf the Slater house after being started by an unreported character. The incident leaves one character with "life-threatening injuries". A show insider later confirmed that Kat would be left with burn injuries following the fire, sparking a new story for the character. On 4 September 2014, it was announced that Alfie would set fire to the house in an insurance scam after encountering financial problems. Richie explained that Alfie "resorts to desperate measures" as he feels this is his last option after becoming behind on rent payments. The story was scheduled as part of the show's "dramatic September storylines" and was billed as "classic EastEnders" by executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins. Alfie sets the house alight unaware that Kat is inside, but when he realises, he rushes back home to save her, just as the house explodes. Treadwell-Collins commented, "Bombs that we have been carefully planting over the last few months are about to explode all over the Square as some of our most iconic characters' lives change forever." A trailer was released on the same day to promote the story.