ritchie stringer was 10/3 at ladbrokes bookmakers as the culprit in the "who shot phil?" storyline, despite not being one of the named suspects. when the bbc announced that actor gareth hunt was appearing in "eastenders", there was a massive betting flurry on ritchie being the culprit. bookmakers william hill even "closed the book". william hill spokesman graham sharpe commented that there were "dozens of calls" within half an hour of a 16/1 price being quoted and the bookmakers had nearly been "knocked over in the rush of punters wanting to place bets of hundreds of pounds on the actor". william hill decided to reopen the book later in the week after "information from unofficial bbc sources had convinced them that [gareth hunt's] character [was] not the killer."