| Josh Griffiths | |||||||||
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| Casualty character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Ian Bleasdale | ||||||||
| Duration | 1989-2006, 2007 | ||||||||
| First appearance | 8 December 1989 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 3 November 2007 | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Occupation | Paramedic | ||||||||
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Josh Griffiths was one of the longest-serving fictional characters in the popular BBC drama Casualty, played by Ian Bleasdale from 1989 until 2007, when the character left the series. He worked for the fictional Holby Ambulance Service.
Josh is a paramedic, who, over the last seventeen years has saved countless lives, risked his own life on many occasions and endured endless personal trauma.
Josh's deepest personal trauma was when a fire ripped through his house in January 1997. His daughter was the only person rescued from the wreckage; his wife Helen and son Ashley (a Cystic fibrosis sufferer) died at the scene, whilst his daughter Sarah later died in hospital afterwards despite frantic attempts of the hospital staff to save her life. Josh returned to work within two weeks of the tragedy, but later developed a gambling and drinking addiction which took two years to overcome. [1]
Josh has since struggled to find love. He married Collette but his marriage collapsed after discovering she was pregnant with a child that had been conceived during an illicit affair. His most recent date proved a disaster as he prepared a meal of duck for a vegetarian and had his overflowing bath fall through the ceiling and collapse on him.
Josh commands a lot of respect from the forever-changing staff of Holby City hospital. The paramedic he had the closest friendship with was Finlay "Fin" Newton (who was murdered). Their friendly banter proved so popular they were granted their own special episode which focused on their shift. Josh nearly died in a landslide in season 15. Prior to this he has been stabbed and strangled, shot at, taken hostage and trapped in quicksand. He has also received a long-service medal from the Queen.
At the end of "Killing Me Softly," (episode 15 from Season 21) Josh was stabbed in the left hand side of his neck in the back of an ambulance. He was still bleeding and his attacker closed the door on him when the episode ended. The attacker was a woman named Laura who appeared to be having a mental breakdown and seemed to believe that her child was sick. Josh was tending to a man who had just jumped out of a window on one of the upper floors of the ED when he saw Laura walking away with an unconscious Rosie in a wheelchair. Laura sought shelter in an unlocked ambulance but when Josh entered she thought that he was trying to take her daughter, Rosie, away from her, so she stabbed him. The ending was a cliffhanger with Josh bleeding heavily. However, in the next part of the story, a badly bleeding Josh was found in the ambulance by Nathan. He shouted for help and Charlie and the rest of the team came out, rushing him straight into resus.
The week after, Josh was seen recovering in another ward of the hospital. Due to recent events, he had become depressed and couldn't see a future for himself. After a heart-to-heart with his longest and best friend Charlie, Josh realised there was so much he wanted to see in the world. After saying his goodbyes to Charlie, Josh left the series at the end of 2006 and set off on his travels to see cricket and culture around the world.
Josh returned in the episode "Aliens", when on a flight returning from Pakistan, a man jumped out of the stationary plane, injuring himself and then jumped in causing a terrorist alert. On his return Josh, decided to step down as Duty Officer, giving the job to Dixie.
His Indian visitors Devika and Sajini (who was in need of an operation, which Josh paid for) came to visit. When Josh realised his true feelings for Devika, he proposed saying it was for her visa. She refused, thinking that the proposal would be because Josh loved her. He left the show on 3 November 2007 after 18 years. The last time we see Josh is with Devika and Sajani at the airport together. The closing scene is an aeroplane flying across the orange sky.
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