Life in Soapland can be a risky business. If ratings drop, or the scriptwriters run out of ideas for your character, you could face an untimely death.

MARK Fowler will climb astride his motorbike and ride off into the sunset in BBC1's EastEnders next week. This makes a change from leaving Albert Square in the back of a black cab or a coffin, the usual methods of departure.

It seems only two minutes since he returned from a three-month absence, but this time he won't be back. While he was away, his death warrant was signed. Having made him HIV positive, the producers didn't have to look too far for a means for him to leave Walford. No doubt as we saw his AIDS-affected wife Gill die the day after their wedding, Mark is being denied a lingering death on camera. He'll ride off on one final bike trip across Europe and, presumably, his death will be reported after an appropriate period of time has elapsed.

The actor who plays Mark, Todd Carty, has already signed up in the police force - he's taken a regular role in ITV1's The Bill. It appears the decision to leave was more because the producers wanted the character to go rather than because Carty wanted to explore fresh pastures and new roles, which is the usual reason given when a long-running regular departs.

Mark was a victim of the soap rule that ruthlessly axes characters once they've exhausted their shelf life. The writers simply run out of stories for them. There are only so many times they can marry, divorce, commit adultery, get people pregnant, rob banks or argue with Phil Mitchell. Mark had a good run over the past 12 years before turning into boring Mark who runs a fruit and veg stall on the market. There's only so much drama to be conjured up from bananas and cauliflowers. A case of fresh produce, stale storylines.

In the past he's run away from home at 17, got involved with drugs, been locked up in a detention centre for burglary, married dying Gill and, most recently, married Lisa, intending to bring up Phil Mitchell's child as his own.

Mark isn't the first soap character to be given the boot, and he won't be the last. Another EastEnder regular, Robbie Jackson, is off soon too. Again producers say they can't find any suitable storylines for him. Ironically, his dog Wellard will stay in Walford. According to Inside Soap magazine, the canine star earns £500 a week and receives fan mail from dog lovers all over the country. Clearly, Robbie can't match that and has to go.

Sometimes whole families are slaughtered because of a shortage of ideas for what to do with them. The DiMarcos arrived in the Square, heralded as the family that would rival the Mitchells. The grandparents, Bruno and Luisa, lasted barely a year. And before long, the rest of the family who ran the restaurant with no customers were packing their bags. Whispering Beppe Di Marco was granted a stay of execution, but he was axed eventually. He'd slept with everyone in Walford (except Wellard), been chucked out of the vice squad, and been involved in an unseemly tug-of-love with his ex-wife over their son. There was nothing left for him to do.

Some might blame the Slaters. Jack Ryder, who played Jamie Mitchell, bemoaned in a Sunday newspaper that the producers were only really interested in that family, at the expense of everyone else. They certainly seem to be at the centre of most stories, but as they've done much to boost EastEnders' ratings, no one is going to begrudge them the attention.

Emmerdale has pleaded the "gone as far as we can with the character" excuse as the reason behind the Yorkshire soap's recent clearout. Once husband Sean had run off with Lady Tara, jilted wife Angie was left moping around. So she was sent packing, along with son Marc. Daughter Ollie was allowed to stay, which was good news for Cleveland Campbell, who plays boyfriend Danny Daggert. It was announced that all three Daggerts - Danny, sister Latisha and mother Cynthia - were leaving. Then producers had a change of heart and allowed him to stay to keep Ollie company.

No mercy was shown for the five actors who won roles as an Emmerdale family after appearing in the Soapstars series. A year later, having extracted maximum publicity, the producers dumped them, sending them back to the obscurity from which they'd emerged.

While some sacked actors shrug and claim: "I was getting bored anyway", others take it very personally. Peter Baldwin didn't like the way his character, Derek Wilton, was killed off - he died of a heart attack during a road rage incident in Coronation Street. A violent death was also handed out to actor Stephen Hancock after he complained about pay. Ernie Bishop was shot dead during an armed robbery. If only he'd kept quiet about his wages, he might be alive today.

Sometimes producers are honest about their motives. A whole family was killed off in Family Affairs when a new producer arrived, charged with boosting audiences. Blowing them to kingdom come was a good way of announcing his intentions. When Brookside creator Phil Redmond was recruited by Emmerdale producers to give the farming soap a makeover, he dropped an aircraft on the village. This had the double attraction - the tragedy provided an excuse for getting rid of unwanted characters and for exploiting the episodes for maximum publicity.

Published: 08/02/2003