Guppy Sandhu
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Gurpreet "Guppy" Sandhu is a character in the British medical drama Casualty. He is a Specialist trainee (formally Senior house officer) at Holby City Hospital Accident and Emergency Department, and has been in the cast since October 2004 (series 19 ep 8).
Initially Guppy found it difficult to settle into the department both professionally and socially, causing him to strongly consider resigning. However, his high level of competance and dedication saw him through, and he withdrew his resignation.
Guppy's father Jas was introduced to the cast as an occasional character in the later half of series 19. There were clearly problems with the father-son relationship from the outset, revealing Guppy's very strict upbringing. Jas undermined Guppy at more or less every appearance, denting the young doctor's confidence. Eventually he stood up to his father.
Towards the end of series 19 Guppy learned that Jas was involved in a dodgy drugs trial, and was wrongly led to believe that his consultant and boss Harry Harper was also involved. After a very big row, Guppy hacked into his father's computer and sent evidence of the trial by email to Harry, who used it to get Jas suspended. When Jas discovered what had happened, Guppy was disowned by his family.
In November of series 20 Guppy had an argument with a racist thug named Lee, who he refused to treat after being verbally abused. Lee later returned with a gang and beat Guppy up outside the department. One of his colleagues, Abs Denham, witnessed the assault but did not intervene. Although he refused to take time off work, Guppy was clearly emotionally badly affected by the assault and the intimidation that followed. When he refused to let the charges drop, Lee's gang beat Jas to a near-death condition.
Shortly before the new year of 2006, Jas learned that he had an incurable brain tumor, and begged Guppy to help him die. Guppy nearly gave into the pressure, but ultimately refused. When Jas committed suicide with a plastic bag, Guppy was devastated and was forced to take compassionnate leave to recover.
After a quiet spell, Guppy underwent a brief period of mild sexual harassment from colleague Kelsey Phillips, who teased him about his virginity and possible romantic attention from Nathan Spencer. After Kelsey persuading a patient's friend to strip in front of him the teasing more or less subsided. At a party shortly after Guppy, normally teetotal, got drunk and thought that he had slept with Kelsey, which he later learned was untrue. More recently he has shown some romantic inclinations towards emergency medical technition Cyd Pyke, although any real reciprocation on her part is yet to be seen. He has also attracted the attention of receptionist Alice Chantrey.
Guppy is played by Elyes Gabel.
