Derek Martin thinks ‘EastEnders’ fans need to remember the soap isn’t real.

The actor – who plays Charlie Slater in the popular BBC programme – was surprised by the show’s controversial baby-swap storyline, but understands why producers made the tragic cot death storyline more dramatic.

He said: “Cot death is a thing that happens, and the swap – can I say cinematic license?

“When I heard the news about the swap it was a surprise to me as anybody because I hadn’t read the rest of the scripts. So it’s, I don’t know, it’s a drama. Don’t forget, ‘EastEnders’ is a drama.”

“I know a lot of people out there think of it as real life, I mean people come up to me and say, ‘Charlie, why is that Kat having a go at you?’ They really believe it.

“I mean they send wreaths in for funerals and children’s clothes in for births. But the cot death is a thing that happens.”

Though Derek can see why people have played down the complaints over the storyline – which saw Ronnie Branning (Samantha Womack) swap her dead baby with Kat Moon’s (Jessie Wallace) tot – he is equally understanding as to why people would object.

He added in an interview on TV show ‘Daybreak’: “You see it in movies, they go OTT, it’s the way they go. I mean there’s lots of people would say, ‘OK, fine – accept it as a drama’. But then there’s loads of people – everybody’s entitled to their opinion.”