 Tikaram (L) was one of the main characters in the 1990s programme |
Actor Ramon Tikaram has said he was not invited to the comeback of cult TV show This Life because his character - courier Ferdy - is to be killed off. He gained fame in the BBC series - which also starred Jack Davenport and Andrew Lincoln - which is making a return on its 10th anniversary.
"They didn't want me to do it. I wasn't asked," Tikaram, 38, said.
"All I got told was: 'There's a funeral. It's yours. That's why this episode is happening.'"
His appearance in the programme had dominated his career, he told the BBC News website as he promoted his movie Mischief Night at the London Film Festival.
'Big changes'
"It's been a right millstone round my neck.
"I do the Gaddafi show and all people want to talk about is This Life," he added, referring to his recent appearance in the stage show Gaddafi: A Living Myth at the English National Opera.
Last month, it was revealed that filming was to begin on a 90-minute one-off special of This Life, a sexually-explicit series based on the lives of a group of twenty-something lawyers in London.
It would reunite members of the original cast, with creator and chief writer Amy Jenkins promising "big changes in the characters' lives".
However, she did not elaborate on the storyline.