In 2003 he won the role of Dennis Rickman in the BBC soap opera EastEnders for which he is now nationally well known. At the time he won the role, Harman was working for British supermarket Sainsbury's as a delivery van driver.
His first episode portraying Dennis immediately attracted the attention of thousands of ladies and gentlemen throughout the country, and he now has many fansites devoted to him all over the Internet. Many people were devoted to his character Dennis falling in love with and marrying his adopted sister Sharon (Letitia Dean).
His character's first notable bustup was with local hard man Phil Mitchell whom he punched in his very first episode making him the first of his many enemies. A few months later, Dennis was beaten up by some heavies who had been sent around by Phil. Then his long-lost father "Dirty" Den Watts (played by Leslie Grantham) famously returned after being presumed dead for over 14 years and together with Dennis framed Phil for armed robbery causing Phil to flee Walford on the run from police.
Harman left EastEnders on 5 November 2005, and his final episode was aired on 30 December 2005 in which Dennis was stabbed to death in the street by one of Johnny Allen's (Billy Murray) henchman (it was later discovered to be Danny Moon, played by Jake Maskall).
During his time on EastEnders he won multiple awards such as the following:
- Wins:
- National Television Awards 2003 Most Popular Newcomer
- British Soap Awards 2004 Sexiest Male and Best Newcomer
- Inside Soap Awards 2004 Sexiest Male and Best Actor
- British Soap Awards 2005 Sexiest Male
- Inside Soap Awards 2005 Sexiest Male and Best Actor
- Nominations:
- British Soap Awards 2005 Best Actor
- National Television Awards 2004 Most Popular Actor
- National Television Awards 2005 Most Popular Actor
- Inside Soap Awards 2005 Best Couple (Shared with Letitia Dean)
Read more about this topic: Nigel Harman