| "I'll Make You Pay" |
Written by Hilary Kingsley
Photographs: Julian Barton, Granada
Greg Kelly Will Stop at Nothing to Get Even With Street Rival Mike Baldwin.....
It may have been phony sales rep Julia Stone who lured Mike Baldwin into bed. But, as Mike has discovered, she was just the bait in a blackmail plot. Pulling her strings is a man much meaner, moodier and far more dangerous than Mike--ex-employee Greg Kelly.
"Greg is determined to hurt Mike," explains Stephen Billington, the 31-year-old actor who plays him. "In Greg's eyes, Mike is the main architect of his downfall and he's going to make him pay."
Greg is highly unstable. Two weeks ago, he lashed out and set his ex-lover's van on fire because he was upset at her market stall's success. Greg is feeling dangerously jealous and this week resorts to spying on Sally when he sees her chatting with stall-holder Danny."
As Greg goes about collecting his blackmail money this week, he starts to suspect that Mike has set him up. He can't bear to be out-manoeuvred by his rival and , as the saga moves towards its nailbiting climax, the drastic action he takes catches Sally and her two daughters in the crossfire.
Preston-born Stephen is convinced that the root of Greg's bitter, vengeful behaviour lies in his troubled childhood.
"Greg's not wicked, he's just a damaged person", he says. "He has led a life with very little love--none from his mother, none from his step-father, and nothing from his real father, Les Battersby.
"Greg needs to make his mark. When he thought he'd proved himself as a businessman, he felt that Mike and Sally snatched it all from him.
For good-looking Stephen, Greg Kelly's explosive return has brought mixed reaction from Street fans.
"Generally, people seem to like Greg. That could be because I try not to play him as an out-and-out baddie. However evil he seems, he's still a human being. But a couple of old ladies have bashed me with brollies," he laughs.
After this week's dramatic showdown, Stephen might do well to prepare himself for a nasty outbreak of umbrella-rage.
Greg has never forgiven Mike for sacking him from the Underworld factory, after he poached the businessman's clients. When Mike booted him out in disgrace, it made a massive dent in Greg's pride. Now he's back on the scene and he's after revenge--with a capital R.