Reproduced from The Herald 4 November, 1998

The Glasgow-born star, 26, was cast in the series after progressing through a London stage school, which he joined at the age of nine.

He studied there alongside EastEnders' Patsy Palmer and Sid Owen and was given his first taste of TV in an ITV sitcom called Now and Then.

Alford then landed the role of classroom rebel Robbie Wright in Grange Hill and at the age of 11 quickly became a star.

But the fame which he gained came with a heavy price. He later admitted that he had been drinking since the age of 13 and said "it took a hospital professor to stop me."

He added: "When I got ill I went to see somebody.

"They looked at my liver and told me to stop, which my mum had been telling me for years."

After leaving Grange Hill when he was 17 he admitted blowing £80,000 on drinking and gambling.

Alford reportedly confessed to drinking up to 18 bottles of beer and nine shots of spirits a night as well as slipping out of the Grange Hill studios to place bets of up to 50.

"Even at 15 I would get drunk on my own," he told the Sun in October 1994.

He claimed that his girlfriend Tina Mahon, whom he met on the Grange Hill set, played a part in helping him to quit his excessive drinking.

The actor says he has been teetotal for the last six months.

By 1993, Alford had progressed onto ITV's London's Burning show to play the character of Billy Ray.

The show was already a ratings success and he quickly became a household name as part of the Blue Watch team.

His role in the programme led to the release of a record in early in 1996 and performances on Top of the Pops with his top 20 hit, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.

He also stripped off to appear in the December 1995 issue of the magazine For Women.

He later said: "My agent set me up for a photo shoot for a women's magazine and I arrived there and suddenly realised it was a soft-porn mag.

"I had to strip naked and pose and I was too embarrassed to admit I had made a gross mistake."

Alford, who suffers from a rare blood disorder called Gilbert's Disease, collapsed and was taken to a hospital in Newcastle in December 1996 just days before he was due to appear in pantomime at the Sunderland Empire.

Worse was to follow for Alford when he was axed from London's Burning following his arrest for cocaine dealing in August last year.

He was initially suspended but in January this year he was sacked by London Weekend.