Casualty is the world's longest-running television emergency medical drama,[1] first broadcast in 1986 and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The show's characters are all staff within the fictional Holby City Hospital, composed of doctors, nurses, paramedics, and hospital management. The only current character remaining from the show's conception is nurse Charlie Fairhead, played by Derek Thompson. The following characters appear regularly in the programme as of 2010.[2]
Title: Senior Charge Nurse
Charlie is the longest serving member of the Casualty team, having appeared from 1986–2004, 2005–2007 and 2008 onwards. He is portrayed by Derek Thompson, and is described by the BBC as "the lynchpin of Holby's ED. [...] an indispensable, trustworthy and diplomatic member of the team."[3] Series producer Oliver Kent has described Charlie as "by far our most important character" and "absolutely core to the show's success".[4] Charlie appears in the first episodes of both Casualty spin-offs Holby City and Holby Blue.
He has dated numerous women during the show. The most notable is Barbara "Baz" Wilder - another original character. Baz left Casualty after series 1 but returned nearly a decade later. Unhappily married, she reconciles with Charlie and gets pregnant with their son, Louis. Baz divorces her husband and marries Charlie but they separate when Baz gets a job in Canada. She briefly returns to visit her father but dies after in a road accident so Charlie gets custody of Louis.
Charlie nearly dies on several occasions, following a shooting, a hit and run involving a stolen ambulance, a pulmonary embolism, attempted drowning and a heart attack.
Charlie's son, Louis, sets him up with Maggie Coldwell. They date for a while and he proposes but she refuses, agreeing inside to stay in touch. In series 22, Charlie celebrates thirty-five years in nursing. However, he struggles with childcare issues and the news that he or Tess Bateman will be made redundant. Although Tess volunteers, Charlie is asked to leave after a fight with a patient. He returns several months later, working in the private sector. Charlie becomes a grandfather after Louis's brief relationship with Shona Wark results in a daughter. Shona, unable to cope, leaves her with Charlie and he named her Megan, after his dear friend/colleague, Megan Roach. While searching for his missing granddaughter (taken by a mentally ill patient), Charlie sees Ruth Winters's husband kissing his lover, James. Charlie debates whether to tell Ruth and confesses when comforting her. Hurt and humiliated by his deception, Ruth has Charlie transferred.
Nick Jordan (portrayed by actor Michael French[5] in Casualty in 1998 and then from 2008 onwards) originates in Holby City as a registrar on the show's cardiothoracic ward. He later returns as a general surgical consultant, before transferring to Casualty to run the Emergency Department.[6] Following Nick's 2006 departure from Holby City, the series' official website described him as: "decisive, confident, charismatic and passionate. He was constantly striving for the top and wanted to emulate Meyer."[5] Michael French, discussing his character shortly after the show's 1999 conception, asserted that: "Like most blokes, he sometimes treats women as playthings – if they’re willing. A little bit of hanky panky is part of the human condition, after all!"[7] Of his decision to transfer to Casualty, French explained: "The BBC came up with the idea [...] At first, I wasn't sure about him moving away from heart surgery, but we soon thrashed some ideas around and I realised it would work. It's certainly great to play Nick again and I'm having a fantastic time on the show."[8] Both The Guardian and the Sunday Mirror have likened Nick to George Clooney's ER character Doug Ross - "the one everyone fancies",[9][10] but while Andrew Billen for the New Statesman agrees that Nick is "good-looking",[11] he suggests French's playing another "love rat" character after his EastEnders role as David Wicks to be type casting.[11] More recently, Nick has been involved in a storyline where he was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour, but, with intervention from Zoe Hanna, he then had an operation to remove most of the tumor and then returned to the ED in a part time administrative role. After Jessica's crash on her wedding day, he was appointed Acting Clinical Lead, to take pressure off Adam. Eventually he was made permanent clinical lead again. He occasionally does emergency surgery on patients if a theatre is not available. He has 5 years to live. In Series 26 symptoms of his brain tumor came back. He worried and then had an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan to check. The scan came back negative. He is considered one of the best Consultants in A&E because of his experience and is surgical intervention skills.
Title: Clinical Nurse Manager
Tess Bateman (played by actress Suzanne Packer from 2003), is described by the BBC as "a traditionalist [...] dedicated [and] well-balanced". They expand: "She may be viewed as a kill-joy and inflexible but her immaculate, business-like front masks a wicked, dry, sense of humour. She's a control freak, not to be messed with.".[12] Since Martina Laird, who played Paramedic Comfort Jones, left the show in 2006, Tess is the longest serving female character. Following her husband's paralysis and their subsequent separation, she struggles to come to terms with her son Sam's bi-polar condition, and is reluctant to see him gain his independence. She has a strong friendship with fellow nurse Abs Denham. After budget cuts, Tess considers taking redundancy, leaving Charlie Fairhead to run the department, but these plans are stymied when Charlie temporarily leaves the department after attacking a patient. Over the course of the show, Tess has several near-fatal encounters. In series 20, she is drugged and left for dead by Sam's unstable girlfriend, Fleur. In series 22, she is injected with a paralysis drug by Bank nurse Lewis, and in series 23, she trips in a building site, impaling herself through the abdomen on a metal pole.
In Series 25, Henry tried to persuade Tess to take the blame for the death of a young boy. Angry and upset by the unfairness, she resigned from Clinical Nurse Manager and has since worked in the ED as a Staff Nurse and Ward Sister.
Title: Operational Duty Officer
Kathleen "Dixie" Dixon (played by actress Jane Hazlegrove from 2006) arrives in series 21, having transferred from another hospital alongside close friend, Cyd Pyke. When senior paramedic Josh Griffiths takes a six month sabbatical to travel the world, Dixie becomes Operational Duty Officer. She forges a friendship with new recruit Jeff Collier, to whom she admits she is a lesbian. Believing Cyd's life is in danger, following a venomous snake bite, Dixie confesses her love for her friend. When Cyd recovers, their friendship is strained by this and she transfers to another hospital. In series 23, Dixie accidentally runs a girl over whilst driving the ambulance. Hazlegrove assess that this incident "dictates what happens to Dixie over the course of [series 23] - the wheels fall off."[13] Dixie requires counselling after the accident. The victim's family burn her house down in revenge, and she moves in with Jeff. Dixie asks Jeff to marry her, to make her father proud as he is unaware she is a lesbian. Her father, who is on his deathbed, catches Dixie kissing another woman and suffers a heart attack.
Title: Paramedic
Jeff Collier (played by actor Matt Bardock from 2007), is a paramedic. He becomes good friends with Dixie, and when she is told budgetary constraints mean one of her team must be transferred, Jeff volunteers to go. He returns several months later, following the departure of Cyd Pyke. He discovers that fellow paramedic Snezana is stealing hospital equipment to help illegal Serbian immigrants, and reluctantly agrees to keep it a secret when she swears not to do it again. Jeff's wife leaves him and begins seeing another man. He sees his children infrequently, and offers Dixie his spare room when her house is burnt down.
In November 2009, Jeff was struck on the back of the head by Alistair MacCormack, who believed that Polly (who he deludedly regarded as his "girlfriend") was seeing Jeff. Alistair also thought that Jeff had got a restraining order against him, but it was really Polly, who had reported Alistair to the police. Jeff was admitted to the ED. Dixie asks Jeff to marry her, to make her father proud. Her father is unaware that she is a lesbian but catches her kissing another woman and suffers a heart attack. During a call to a College shooting, jeff witnesses the death of a student that leaves him suffering post-traumatic stress and threatened his job. He has since made a recovery.
Title: Porter
Mackenzie "Big Mac" Chalker (played by actor Charles Dale from 2007) is the department porter. The BBC describe him as "lonely" and "vulnerable" stating that he "hates himself" and "spends his days loathing the world and his nights gorging on comfort food, escaping into James Bond films."[14] An episode of series 23 devoted to the character sees him assume a vigilante role on the city's Farmead Estate. Dale states that the episode causes Mac to realise: "it's time he stood up for himself and that he can't run from things that happened in the past all his life."[15] Describing Mac's personality, Dale appraised that Mac is "deeply introverted" and struggles to accept that his colleagues actually like him. He explained that although Mac occasionally acts pompously, this approach is "a mask that he puts on to keep people at distance when he gets afraid or embarrassed". He expanded that Mac has: "been scared to go out and he’s terrified of life. But because of people in the hospital he’s slowly discovering it."[15] Mac is a British Sign Language interpreter, which according to the website is because his mother Vera was profoundly deaf.
Title: Consultant
Zoe Hanna (played by actress Sunetra Sarker from 2007) is a Consultant in the Emergency Department. Prior to appearing in Casualty, Sarker had played a guest role in spin-off show Holby City. Sarker describes Zoe as: "strong, cheeky and rebellious",[16] as well as "very selfish, very righteous, very rude and self-centred".[17] She has an affair with Orthopaedic Consultant Sean Anderson, unaware he is the husband of her colleague and friend, nurse Jessica Harrison. In series 22 episode 29, she is promoted to Clinical Lead of the department, over colleague Maggie Coldwell. When Maggie appears at a tribunal for negligence, hospital manager Marilyn Fox asks Zoe to lie in court, condemning Maggie. She blackmails Zoe, threatening to expose her affair with Sean. Zoe disregards her threat, clears Maggie's name, and admits to the affair herself. Zoe is dismayed when she discovered she cannot have children. She becomes close to Abby, a patient of hers who is being abused by her husband and his father. She takes in Abby and her daughter Sharice, and when Abby and her husband are both killed in a fight, begins fostering Sharice. She takes steps towards adopting her, however comes to realise that she is struggling to balance her work and childcare, and allows Sharice to live with her maternal grandparents.
Sarker commented that although Zoe initially began fostering Sharice out of guilt, as the story progressed, she adapted to the role more easily than she had expected, and: "underneath all the Zoe layers, I think there's quite a decent human being. She's just layered by a lot of selfishness, a lot of righteousness, a lot of pigheadedness, and those traits don't lend them to being a mother very easily. I think that once she's peeled off a few of those layers, she's quite liking being a mum."[18] Having given up Sharice, Zoe then embarks on a relationship with department head Nick Jordan. Sarker explained that Zoe and Nick have a very interesting dynamic" and that: "You can see that they're very similar people which would make them allies or enemies. [...] Zoe's the first female to meet Jordan's professional standards. She's no pussycat and Jordan knows that. He's got a certain amount of respect for her, as she has for him."[19] Characterising the relationship, Sarker explained: "They've both been single for a very long time through their own choices and neither of them feel any pressure or expectations, which is a good combination for something to happen. I think this is the grown-up version of a flirtation. It's a bit more factual with these two; there isn't much softness or gooeyness to them. They are more like steel on steel!"[16]
Title: Consultant Ruth Winters (portrayed by the actress Georgia Taylor)is one of the department's fine doctors. She is very often decsribed by the team as the cold, hardworking one, Ruth has been through alot in her life. To her it's a complete mess, a total failure. Everyday she lives on peoples opinions and what they think of her. In 2008 Doctor Winters tried to commmit suicide due to a mess up at work she felt so low. She retract and summed up everything in her life as her fault, her failure and so she decided to take her life. But was soon rescued by her friends and collegues (Abz and toby) In 2010 ruth was also sectioned to a mental health unit as she had a breakdown at work. When she came back into work she met a collegue (Edward) and soon after started dating and eventually got married. But their marraige soon ended in tears causing ruth so much pain when finding out edward had had an affair and he was gay. Not much happened for ruth then but she soon got with jay and now 2011-2012 they have moved away together to finally live happily ever after!
Title: Receptionist
Noel Garcia (portrayed by actor Tony Marshall from 2008) is the department receptionist. He is described by the BBC as "the practical joker of the bunch",[20] who believes he is only working on the reception as a stop-gap before his big break. Noel is "very much a people person",[20] and "the Laurel to Big Mac's Hardy".[20] Marshall was cast in the role having been out of work for six months, and admitted to being nervous about joining, but commented: "it is such a well run show that on my first day, I felt like I'd always been here." His character Noel knew his father was in a care home but discovers at the end of 2009 that he has serious dementia.[21]
Title: Junior Doctor
Lenny Lyons (played by Steven Miller) was one of eight new Foundation House Officer Year 2 doctors joining the department at the start of Series 24. He was tutored by Nick. He appears insensitive and unsuited to working as a doctor, but deep down he harbours secrets about his past. He grew up in a children's home, which his childhood friend Davey later went back to and torched. Lenny always puts his foot in it, and is constantly getting dismissed from resus after inappropriate behaviour. He grew a close friendship with Yuki and helped Yuki grow a relationship with colleague May. Lenny was a foster child and never knew his father but saw his mother rarely, in series 25 episode 1, Lenny got a memo from his mother but chose to ignore it. But after a massive tragedy he was appointed as the one who spoke to relatives, and realised it was time to see his mother, unfortunately when he rung up he found out the memo was actually from a staff member trying to inform him that his mother had died two weeks earlier in a hospice. He later began a relationship with Chrissie. However it was later revealed that she was working undercover to get some information on Holby, following the recent College shootings. In series 25 it is revealed that Lenny has a younger sister, Helen Lyons, who has Aplastic Anemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. Lenny showed that he has feelings for Nurse Durrani and invited her out on a date, however she stood him up. He then started to ignore her but his feelings grew for her and they were about to kiss. He finds out that Nurse Durrani is going to Pakistan for her brother's wedding and is quite angry. At the end of the episode, he runs out to say goodbye to her but she has already gone and she isn't going to come back for three weeks. Lenny is also seen as upset that 'Mads' Durrani has become engaged at her brother's wedding. He attempts to stop her entering a taxi of which she declines and gets in anyway. She is later attacked by the driver after being diverted to a quiet place, out of sight of the city instead of her home address.
Title: Trust Doctor
Dylan Keogh (Played by William Beck Since 2011) is a shambolic 20-something who joined in 2011 as the trust doctor. It was Miriam Turner who brought him in as she trained both him and Nick Jordan.
Dylan lives on his own with his dog Dervla in a house-boat.
Dylan also blames himself for the death of Ambulance Technician Polly after she was stabbed by a mentally unstable woman who blamed Dylan for the scaring on her face when he had to pull her out of a near igniting bus with a rail stuck in her face.
List includes numorous characters such as sons, husbands, friends and characters who work in the ED and appear from time to time
Louis Fairhead (played by Callum Ray, Liam Hess, Jack Dedman and Gregory Foreman from 1996–1998, 2003–2004, 2006 and 2007 onwards) is the son of Charlie Fairhead and Baz Wilder. Born in 1996, he later joins his mother in Canada after she and Charlie split up. He returns in series 18, along with Baz and her new husband,who she was unhappily married to, but was in the process of divorcing and leaving him for good for Charlie. After Baz dies in a car accident, Charlie wins custody of Louis. In series 21, he accuses Charlie's friend Josh Griffiths of hitting him. When Josh is stabbed at Christmas and is in critical condition, Louis admits that he lied. Louis returns in series 22 played by 19-year-old Gregory Foreman. The rapid ageing of the character was criticised on BBC TV observation show Points of View.[22] He becomes a troublemaker, getting a tattoo and smoking marijuana at school. Charlie is invited to travel the world with love-interest Maggie Coldwell, but declines as Louis still relies on him. Foreman has assessed: "Louis is a typical teenager [...] he gets into a bit of trouble and is a bit of a bad boy - but not that bad when it comes to the crunch."[23] In Series 24, Louis had a brief relationship with Shona Wark, the troubled sister of a patient. After they slept together once in the on-call room, Shona came back a few months later announcing she was pregnant. He has not been seen since.
Title: Consultant Neurosurgeon
Sarah Evans (played by actress Julia St. John from 2006) is a Consultant Neurosurgeon in Holby City Hospital, and Trust Doctor Ruth Winter's boss. She appears occasionally in the Emergency Department as a surgeon. She was the consultant who interviewed Ruth for her ST1 surgical rotation after the completion of her Foundation Training in the Emergency Department. She did not approve of Ruth's relationship with Staff Nurse Jay Faldren and was instrumental in splitting them up, citing that Ruth's attentions "would be divided". She then treated a comatose Jessica after the accident at the lake on her wedding day and later had her life saved by none other than Ruth. It has been revealed that in an upcoming episode, she will meet Ruth in the psychiatric ward, where it will turn out she has OCD.
Title: Surgical Trainee
James Molloy (Played by Travis Oliver from 2010) is Edward Thurlow's surgical trainee and boyfriend who appears from time to time. We first meet him when Edward was caught kissing him in a cupboard by Charlie Fairhead. He introduced himself to Ruth Winters after having beat her to the surgical trainee position much to the slight consternation of Edward. As of yet, it is uncertain how he really feels about Edward's impromptu marriage to Ruth. James is assigned to treat a patient with Ruth and is bullied terribly by her, not only leading to the patient dying, but also to Edward leaving her for him.
Title: Director of Critical Care and Consultant Anaesthetist
Professor Henry Williams (played by Tom Chadbon from 2008) is Holby City's Director of Critical Care and a Consultant Anaesthetist, who is in charge of the hospital's Emergency Department, effectively being Clinical Lead Consultant Adam Trueman's superior. He appointed Adam, though was quite skeptical about his ability to perform as the department's leader. Adam eventually stepped down as Lead Consultant & Clinical Lead in A&E as an Emergency Medicine Doctor and Physician. Henry is known to be not sympathetic as he once forced Adam to work on his wedding day. Not much of him as an anaethesist has been seen.
Robert Ludlow (played by Alec Newman from 2010) is the Hospital's main inspector. Robert started inspecting the Hospital after an incident caused by F2 May Phelps, and ever since has been around. Robert is also looking up on the late drugs cover up involving Lenny Lyons and Yuki Reid.
Title: Clinical Director of Neurosurgery
Edward Thurlow (played by Stephen Billington from 2010) is Holby City's Clinical Director of Neurosurgery. He arrives as the host of a lecture that Ruth was preparing a presentation for which she later messes up. After apologising for his manners, he takes her to dinner. He shortly moves on to become Ruth Winters new husband, although Ruth is disappointed with his lack of affection for her. Charlie has also found Edward in a cupboard kissing another man. It has also transpired that the man he was kissing turned out to be someone called James, Edward's boyfriend. Edward has recently struck a deal with Ruth to stop seeing James in order to preserve his reputation. Finally though, Ruth has enough and suggests they go their separate ways but Edward is terrified of being ridiculed and persuades her to continue with their sham of a marriage. Finally though, after witnessing Ruth harangue James, Edward has enough and finally finds the courage to leave her for him.
Title: Paramedic
Omar Nasri is one of four new staff who started at the start of Series 26 as a new paramedic along with Tamzin Bayle. He made his debut on 13th August 2011.
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