... and strife

THIS time next week Tracy-Ann Oberman is going to be famous. After making her first appearance as Dirty Den's secret wife Chrissie tonight, she's set to become a regular face in Albert Square.

That means the 35-year-old North London-born actress is going to experience the massive level of attention that the cast of BBC1's EastEnders receive.

During the two months she's been filming, she's seen how the other actors get stopped for their autographs on Borehamwood's high street, near where they film the soap. But she's finding it difficult to imagine how her life will change once she's hit the screen.

"I've been working so hard the last couple of months that the attention side of it seems so far away," she says. "All I can concentrate on at the moment is learning my lines for the next ten scenes the next day. It's such hard work.

"But I know I'm going to be a recognisable face next week. I've just been jobbing along for the past 11 years doing theatre and telly with nobody really knowing who I was, so I can't imagine what that's going to be like."

For now, she's protecting the identity of her boyfriend, with whom she lives in north London, because "he's not in the business and I always think it's a bit unfair on them".

That situation won't last long as the media search for stories about the Albert Square newcomer. "Any actor coming into this would be foolish not to think about how it will affect you," she says. "EastEnders actors get a lot of attention and the press are very interested in them.

"I've been told it will change my life. I weighed up the pros and cons and figured it was a great acting challenge. I'm really looking forward to that." Before moving into Walford, Oberman was been a comedy regular on TV, appearing in Big Train and The Lenny Henry Show as well as working with the likes of Paul Kaye and Martin Freeman. The Big Impression star Ronni Ancona is also a close friend.

She also played acerbic celebrity booker Beverley in the Michael Barrymore sitcom Bob Martin. "I was so nervous before I started that job," she says. "I knew I was the unknown quantity among so many stars. But Michael was more nervous than anyone."

The producers are keen for Chrissie, who's followed Dirty Den from Spain, to become an integral part of Walford life. "She brings a bit of European glamour and flare to the place," she says.

"I was in Spain when I got the job, which was a bit eerie, and I looked around and saw that lots of women out there, particularly the ex-pats, dress up quite a lot. So we've made Chrissie quite colourful. She's the Sarah Jessica Parker of the Square."

Getting the role as Chrissie all happened so fast that she didn't even have time to get starstruck by Dirty Den. "By the time I hit the set everything had happened so quickly and I didn't have a chance to take it all in," she says.

"I got the job, went for a wardrobe shop, did a make up test, met Leslie Grantham quickly and then next thing I knew I was in a scene with him. Then a couple weeks after I started it hit me that I was playing Dirty Den's wife. What an icon, Den is. I remember those Christmas specials with Den and Angie where he served her with the divorce papers. That was classic television, so it's very exciting."

Den and his children are shocked to see her, particularly Sharon, Dennis and Vicki who didn't even know she existed. She and Den had a bar together in Spain. When she caught him snogging a tourist guide, she stormed off and left him for a few weeks.

"By the time she came back, he'd sold the bar and done a runner with £40,000 of her money that was invested in it. She vaguely remembered the words Walford and Queen Vic so she tracks him down and arrives on the opening night at Angie's Den," explains the actress.

It's a bit of an embarrassment for Den. As well as not having told his children about his wife, he hasn't told her about them. "After initial hostility Vicki takes to her. I think she's looking for a mother figure and she likes Chrissie because she can stand up for herself and stands up to Den.

"Dennis is just happy that his dad's happy and he's got other fish to fry anyway. But Sharon's the one who's got the problem, mainly because Chrissie is the same age as her. And it's another example of daddy lying to Sharon."

But Chrissie is more than a match for the wily Watts ways. Having grown up in a family of brother, she understands men and the tricks they can pull on women. "She knows every game in the book. Dirty Den has absolutely met his match," says Oberman.

"Unlike Angie, who would always reach for the bottle in times of stress and get hysterical, Chrissie's a much cooler customer and bides her time. But when she blows she really blows.''

* EastEnders: BBC1, 7.30pm, tonight

Published: 29/04/2004