LIFE as a performer has come full circle for former EastEnders star Neil McDermott.

For one of his first professional roles was in the Sound of Music at the London Palladium when he played Rolf, the Hitler-supporting teenager who wooed Captain von Trapp’s eldest daughter Liesl.

Now Neil is back in the show which comes to Manchester next month taking the lead role of the damaged aristocrat whose heart is melted by the arrival of a new governess.

“I think it has definitely helped having spent a year in the show before - even though it was a while ago now,” said Neil. “With touring shows you sometimes have to get them on their feet quite quickly.

“Lucy (Lucy O’Byrne who plays Maria) has been on tour with the show before and with me having a strong knowledge of the character and the script it was very helpful to get things to an advanced point in rehearsal very quickly.

“That meant we could concentrate on the finer details rather than the broad brush strokes.”

Neil played Ryan Malloy on the top TV soap and during his time in Albert Square he was involved in a love triangle with Stacey and Janine (played by Lacey Turner and Charlie Brooks).

He left EastEnders in 2016 going on to star in Shrek the Musical in the West End.

“I came out of EastEnders and followed Nigel Harman (who played Dennis Rickman) into Shrek so it wasn’t so strange to have someone who had come out of a soap and had experience of musical theatre playing Lord Farquad.

“From there I started playing a series of comedy villains,” he said.

The Sound of Music is a far cry from Shrek and Neil has been surprised at the hold the musical has on an audience.

“People just flock to watch the Sound of Music,” he said. “It’s obviously a real favourite all over the country. Of course the film is so famous but when the show comes to town we regularly have full houses wherever we are. It’s incredible.”

Millions of people have loved the 1965 movie which starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer but Neil believes that the stage show has more depth and a harder edge to it.

“The stage show probably is darker than the film,” he said. “There is more dialogue and two extra songs which are much more political and the political undertones are a bit more obvious on stage.”

Neil said that he is enjoying the challenge of playing Captain von Trapp.

“It is a very emotional role,” he said. “I’ve done quite a lot of physical roles and comedy villains but this is a completely different challenge. It’s got a lot more weight to it.

“At the beginning he is quite depressed having lost his wife and being left with seven children to look after. So he goes into military mode to deal with that and treats them like little soldiers. Then there’s also the looming threat of the Third Reich causing him a lot of stress.

“So when Maria comes into the house she really frees him from his trapped emotional state and releases his personality.”

In the 2006 Palladium production Maria was played by Connie Fisher who won the role through the TV show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? For the current tour, Lucy O’Byrne first came to prominence after finishing runner-up on The Voice.

“Lucy’s lovely,” said Neil. “She has got a lot of qualities that are very similar to a character like Maria. She’s had fantastic, well deserved reviews - she’s just right for the role.”

The Sound of Music ends its UK tour at the Palace Theatre in Manchester bringing to a close Neil’s first experience of a full national tour.

“If it had been a year long tour I probably wouldn’t have done it because of the family - Neil and his wife, actress Michelle Edwards have two young children - but four months is more manageable,” he said.

Now he’s looking for his next challenge.

“I think it’s impossible to try and plan where you will end up,” he said.

“You can end up closing doors on yourself if you do. If it’s a good job and I want to do it whether it’s TV, stage, a musical or anything else and I just try and enjoy it and see where it takes me.”

The Sound of Music, Palace Theatre, Manchester, Tuesday, March 13 to Saturday, March 17. Details from 0844 871 3019 or www.atgtickets.com