Well, we got one brilliant episode of Casualty tonight!
I wasn't really sure what it was exactly going to be like when I first read about the concept of it featuring segments with real-life NHS medics, but I was happy to give it a chance because many of my favourite episodes of Casualty (and Holby) have been format-breaking in some way - and I'm glad I did, because as it turns out, it was amazing. Much like the improvised paramedic special a few months ago that I also loved, despite not being sure about the idea at first.
And this episode had two things going for it for me from the off: Faith Cadogan didn't feature, and Eli Ebrahimi was in it. I love Eli.
Seriously, getting Eli back, even if only for this episode, was absolutely wonderful. I didn't realise how much I've missed him! I'd be more than happy for him to stay on Casualty forever, haha. I'm glad he got more to do than I thought he would - when it was about halfway through the episode and he hadn't shown up yet, I was worried we'd only get to see him briefly, so I was so pleased he turned out to have quite a big role to play in the storyline.
I am a bit sad he didn't get scenes with Dylan. I would've loved to see them interact - as someone who firmly believes Eli is autistic, I'd love for him to form a friendship with Dylan. But seeing him get scenes with Stevie was just as good, because I love them both! And besides, he could quite easily come back again sometime and get scenes with Dylan then.
Given Eli was introduced once... well, once Holby felt to me like patient storylines weren't particularly centred or focused on that often... it was wonderful getting to see him being a doctor once again tonight. The scene where Yasmin hugged him for saving Amartya was so sweet.
Eli was one of the Holby characters I most wanted to cross over to Casualty - he hasn't got too much 'storyline baggage', so to speak, with him like many of the long-running characters would (A.K.A, why I'd never want Henrik to appear), and also I just happen to love him as a character and think Davood Ghadami is a great actor. So yeah, I was very happy this happened.
I appreciated the various characters featuring tonight - I'm glad Donna got a lot to do, because she's perfect for this sort of episode. (She was wonderful in Holby's NHS anniversary episode in 2018 as well.) Jaye Jacobs was as fantastic as ever, and I loved Donna's interactions with Yasmin.
Stevie's scenes were wonderful as well. Again, the way she interacted with Yasmin was so lovely - it was great to see Stevie really show her comforting side.
Even characters I normally don't like much, like Iain or Ryan, were excellent tonight! I loved Iain staying by Amartya's side for as long as he could, and Ryan helping his patient Dorothy celebrate.
Dylan and Stevie chatting about movies was fantastic. I've wanted Dylan and Stevie to become friends for a while, because I think they have quite a bit in common, so seeing them get on like this was great for me.
I thought the way the real-life commentary was used was done very well. It wasn't overdone, but there wasn't too little of it either. It was just right! :)
So, yes, I really liked this episode. Yay for Casualty, yay for the NHS, and yay for Eli Ebrahimi! ;)
