Playing a regular character in Brookside's heyday (alongside Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston, and working with writers such as Jimmy McGovern), he made himself memorable with his portrayal of a man beyond breaking point, which culminated with him ranting at neighbours and churning up their lawns as he drove his car around in circles.
McArdle was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2003 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel on the set of Merseybeat.
[citation needed] In 2006, McArdle portrayed Frank Taylor in an episode of BBC TV's Surviving Disaster that concerned the Munich air disaster of 1958, which Taylor was the only newspaper reporter to survive.
From 2016 to 2017, he appeared in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as regular character Ronnie Hale.
Then in March 2023, he portrayed Phil Griffiths in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors.