It's a huge episode for Little Al in The Smoke this Thursday, when his colleagues from White Watch turn up to see the young fireman in a cage fight.
Despite the all the blood and brutality, former Shameless star Gerard Kearns relished the chance to act out the realistic fighting scenes.
"I'm quite fit anyway as I do boxing and football, but I had to train hard for those cage-fighting scenes. I was shown the moves and stuff for about three days solid. They hardly used a stunt man in all the cage-fighting scenes so it was just as well.
"It was incredible and exciting to film the fight. It won't ever become a sideline to my acting - it would never do to have a mashed up nose and face all the time, I wouldn't get the jobs!"
There are further tense moments for Little Al later on in the same episode of The Smoke when he has to abseil down a skyscraper. It was another scary scene Gerard loved being involved in.
"It was at the top of the very high the Heron Tower in Docklands, and I was on a harness. I loved being up there and I suppose it couldn't have been too dangerous or they wouldn't have let any of us mere actors do it.
"I didn't worry and just got on with it. But I admit the first time up there was terrifying. I got used to the height after about 10 minutes anyway which was lucky because we were up there filming three days! I was only allowed in the harness 10 minutes at a time.
"In this part of the story, there's a guy who's gone up the skyscraper to make a dramatic marriage proposal to his girlfriend. But it goes wrong in the worst way possible and he's left dangling from the side of the building. Little Al is part of the team rescuing him, and plays a vital part in the rescue."
The Smoke screens at 9pm on Sky1.
