That was a really, really good episode. I mean, apart from the Faith and Iain stuff, obviously, but the rest was really good. One of the best episodes in a while (not that the show hasn’t been good lately in general, I just thought it was extra fantastic tonight).
The more political Casualty is and the more realistically busy and crowded they make the hospital, the better, if you ask me. This episode reminded me a lot of many of the early episodes of this series, which I also loved.
I felt like recent episodes were drifting away a bit from the current series’ theme (well, it’s basically always a theme of the show, as it should be, but it’s especially been a theme in series 37 I think) of the NHS crisis and falling back too much on interpersonal staff drama - not that plenty of those storylines haven’t been issue-based stories worth telling (e.g. Rash struggling to balance his caring duties to Ashok with his job, or Marcus’s coercive control of Stevie), but I was hoping for the show to get back to the NHS crisis theme eventually and so this episode very much pleased me. (…That was a run-on sentence, lol.) I’m surprised I haven’t seen people whining about the episode being too political yet, that tends to happen with episodes like these. (I don’t know what people who say that stuff expect from Casualty…)
Tonight’s episode was really powerful and impactful. I loved how they showed how the nurses are being affected - Jacob is trying his best and has no other choice because they just don’t have the funding or staff to run the department properly, but the likes of Marty or Robyn are suffering for it too: they’re exhausted, overworked, and don’t have time to care for their patients and help them like they should. (To the point of David having to take his patient into the staff room to give her some peace and quiet.) It’s also thematically sort of setting up for what Jon Sen said the next big story arc will be - a group of new nurses arriving and struggling with working in the current environment of an NHS emergency department.
I wonder if maybe this will be leading to a mental health crisis of some sort for Jacob, as well. Between the Marcus/Stevie/Eloise thing (which must have brought up his trauma from Tina) and all of this, especially if it leads to Robyn dying, I could see him having some sort of crisis or breakdown.
The last scene would have been more impactful if they hadn’t already given away the plot twist in synopses for the next episode. Oh well.
I can’t tell if Robyn’s going to live or die. I feel like they’re building up to her dying, but maybe they’re playing with us and she’ll live?? I can’t figure out which way I’d prefer the story to go, either. I mean, obviously I don’t want poor Charlotte to be orphaned. That would be a tremendously sad watch.
But the description for the next episode says there aren’t enough staff to treat Robyn, and… well, to kill off a main character as a result of the lack of funding and staff would be a very bold move and make a very powerful statement from the show. To go for “Robyn could have lived if we had the resources to treat her”. We’ve seen patients on the show die for those reasons, but I don’t think they’ve ever killed a main character that way (Noel’s death was sort of in a similar vein though, though personally I don’t think they wrote that very well, and the lack of any aftermath made it worse).
The Faith/Iain thing really dragged down an otherwise great episode. I hate Faith and Iain bores me. They have no chemistry and their kiss was cringeworthy. Why is Faith even still on the show? The same show that preaches about calling out abusive relationships with storylines like Jacob/Tina and Stevie/Marcus, doesn’t seem to care about how Faith treated Lev. I want her to be written out already.
Though I don’t like Iain, he still deserves better than Faith. Can you imagine how awful she’d be if she found out about his history of mental health issues? :/
Although it was a small scene, I thought David going in to hug Dylan, Dylan saying no, and David respecting that was really sweet. I love their friendship, I’m gonna miss it so much when David leaves the show.
I also liked Marty’s storyline with the young trans man. I don’t have a lot to say about it, I just thought it was nice.
Next week, we’ll find out what happens to Robyn… and we get Sacha Levy’s guest appearance!! As I predicted, he’s coming down to treat her. I hope in the process he finds a moment to let us know that Henrik left the hospital, is now either retired or in a job where he’s actually happy, and the hospital is now being run by someone far more competent.
Whyyy did Ethan vanish mid episode AGAIN???? Like I said the other week he's only been getting the very bare minimum screen time required for an episode to work! Though last week was the worst, Dylan mentioned him as if he was on shift but he didn't actually appear on screen at all😭
It's definitely making me think that something came up really suddenly at home for George Rainsford and he decided to leave really quickly because of that, because he did say in that HDA interview that his reason for leaving was because he was going back and forth a lot and needed to be around at home more, and that would explain the lack of a proper exit storyline and the lack of screen time, if he was barely there for filming. But then it must have only been something short-term because otherwise he wouldn't have joined a touring production surely??
That (along with the fact that he clearly misses his former castmates lol) gives me hope that he is planning to come back, but my worry is how that would even work? Because although they've said the door has been left open for him to possibly return, if Ethan's reason for leaving is "to make Bodhi a priority in the time he has left", then how would they explain him coming back a few years later?? My only thought is that I suppose he could when Bodhi starts school in 2 and a half ish years (or whatever time depending on how fast or slow they decide to age him lmao)?
Rewatching last weeks episode and in the scene where Robyn is saying Mrs Dolma is looking for somewhere quiet to be because the noise and Dylan saying“I know how she feels”.
To a-lot of people Dylan saying that probably means absolutely nothing but I love when they add in comments like that.
Is it silly of me to expect a Cal reference/mention in Saturday's ep? From the Morning Live interview, they showed a clip with a Fenisha mention (although that's more directly linked with his exit storyline), so maybe there's a chance? 🤔
Also love how he's going to be wearing the same scarf from his first scene in his final one 💖
Why does now feel like a good time to leave Casualty?
One of my big reasons for wanting a break was to spend more time at home. It’s a long commute [to Cardiff, where the series is filmed] and I have a young family. I was also getting that itch to explore other challenges. I turned 40 last year, too, so it all rolled into one package!
Are you pleased that Ethan isn’t being killed off?
Yes, and that was very much part of the conversation when I was toying with the idea of a break. I said, ‘I’d like the door to be left open, please.’ I know there are no guarantees in our industry, but I like that Ethan has gone away, yet there’s loads to explore down the line. In terms of storylines, there was nothing in the immediate vicinity that they wanted me to play out. So it was nice to leave quietly, much like Ethan does in the episode.
Can you reveal anything about his departure?
Ethan is going for his final interview for the Jac Naylor Award, which is a six-month placement abroad. At the same time, he’s treating a young boy who makes him think about his own son, Bodhi. Alongside all this, Fenisha’s parents are in the hospital because her mother has a heart attack. Ethan starts to assess his responsibilities. He’s aware his future is probably going to be shorter than other people’s [having been diagnosed with Huntington’s disease], so he needs to make the most of life. It all comes to a head and he makes his decision. It’s bittersweet. I’m leaving, as [clinical lead] Dylan Keogh says, with an Irish Exit!
Yes, Ethan slips away without saying goodbye to his colleagues! But, offscreen, did you have a leaving party?
Yes, and it was lovely because it coincided with Casualty’s summer break in August, so it was a joint ‘Summer & See You Later, Ethan’ party. The cast made videos, there were a few speeches and William Beck [AKA Dylan] DJ-ed! I went back in October to meet up with a few of them and it was really strange, especially as there were some new faces! The swing doors of Casualty never stay still!
Looking back over the past nine years, what have been your favourite storylines?
The story around Olivia D’Lima leaving; I loved our two wedding episodes [which aired in 2021]. Although if you’d asked me at the time, I probably would have said it was too intense! I also really enjoyed the episodes where Richard Winsor came back in flashbacks [in 2021] and we relived what happened in 2016. And I always love those big, ensemble pieces with the whole cast. Our coronavirus episode was particularly poignant; we were telling a story that meant so much.
What will you miss most – and least! – about the show?
I’ll miss the people; the cast and crew are so talented and fun to be around. But I’m happy not to do those long days in resus for a while! We film them over a couple of days and there’s a lot of tricky medical prosthetics and the medical jargon is like a foreign language.
The next chapter of your career starts with you in the stage adaptation of Peter James’ crime novella Wish You Were Dead, alongside fellow Casualty legend Clive Mantle [AKA doctor Mike Barratt] and I’m a Celebrity… 2020 winner Giovanna Fletcher…
I’m really looking forward to getting back on stage! I’ve wanted to do a play for a while because theatre’s my first love. But I’ve definitely got that feeling of going back to school.
The UK tour begins on Thursday 16 February. What can you tell us about it?
It’s the sixth play by Peter James, and fans of his will know the character Roy Grace, a detective superintendent who lives in Brighton. Most of the stories take place in and around Sussex, but this one’s a little different because Roy, who I play, and his wife, Cleo, played by Giovanna, are on holiday. It starts off light-heartedly as a holiday going wrong, but it soon becomes more sinister – the people who run the hotel aren’t who they say they are!
Did you know any of the cast beforehand?
I remember going on a school trip to see Clive in an adaptation of [John Steinbeck’s novella] Of Mice and Men with my drama GCSE group! We also did a Doctor Who audio together [in 2012] and a Casualty-themed episode of Pointless Celebrities [in 2021], which Clive won while Di Botcher [AKA paramedic Jan Jenning] and I came last!
Have you seen John Simm’s portrayal of Roy Grace in ITV1 crime drama Grace?
Yes, it’s great! I really like the books, too. I’m immersing myself in the back catalogue. I had lunch with Peter James in Brighton and he’s a really interesting guy. He does a lot of research and has been to visit people in prison. He said I can ask him any questions, which I will be taking him up on!
Hopefully, some of your Casualty co-stars will come to see you treading the boards!
Yes, I’m in Cardiff, so they have no excuse! Without being too gushy, Casualty has been completely life-changing. I got to immerse myself in a character and a show, and now I’ve come out 10 years older with all these amazing experiences!
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