aidan brosnan, played by sean maguire, appears between january and december 1993. a popular character, aidan is involved in storylines about homelessness, drug-abuse and suicide. his relationship with the character mandy salter (nicola stapleton) is a dominant storyline in the serial throughout 1993. the character of aidan was introduced on-screen in january 1993 by executive producer, leonard lewis. the role was cast to actor sean maguire. having been a familiar face on children's television for many years, maguire was previously most famous for playing tegs in bbc's school drama, "grange hill". at his audition, maguire had to show off his football skills and talk in a convincing irish accent. although the character's duration was relatively short – he appeared in only 63 episodes of the soap – aidan became "a very popular" character, particularly with the young audience. "eastenders" scriptwriter colin brake has suggested that by the end of his stint in the soap, sean maguire's status as a teen pin-up "put him in the take that league". sean maguire's departure upset his fans, though the actor attempted to develop his appeal towards the young audience by becoming a television presenter and a pop singer.