It's the end of the road for firefighter Recall in this week's episode of London's Burning. And it could be too for the actor who plays him. Ben Onwukwe, who has been in the show since 1991, is seriously thinking of quitting acting to become a teacher.
'I've become a bit disillusional with acting,' admits Ben, 42. 'I'm certainly not being offered many TV roles, now that I've left London's Burning. That may have something to do with both my age and the fact that I am familiar to cast directors for one particular character.
'Teaching would be a way of putting more back into society. Education is one of the most noble professions on the planet. I live in London and there are junior schools in the city with a large number of black and Asian children crying out for black, male teachers who the kids can relate to.'
Ben wasn't desperately happy to discover his character was being written out in the first episode of the new series - and nor were his family.
'I told my wife, Patrice, and my daughter and son, while we were having dinner - just after I'd been told that I was being written out,' explains Ben, who lives in Muswell Hill, north London.
'My kids - Maya, who is 15, and Leo, who's 12 - were very upset. They love the idea of having a dad who's not only on TV but in the fire service too. In their eyes, Recall is a hero.'
The firefighter gets the chance to prove it, in Sunday's episode, when he foils an armed raid on a shop. But Recall has a secret heart problem.
'There are plenty of warning signs for Recall, and his colleagues, that things are not right as regards his health,' says Ben.
'At one point he gets out of breath after running to the top of the fire tower. Although it's put down to the boozy excesses of the night before, deep down he knows he's not well.'
Happily, there's nothing wrong with Ben's health - as he recently found out.
'I went for a Harley Street check - up, before I started filming the episode and was told I was A1,' he says. 'In fact, the specialist who examined me said it was a real leap of the imagination for me to play someone with a dodgy ticker!'