by Accidental damage follow.
How do you say goodbye to a character who is at the heart of a show?
That’s the question fans have been asking since Casualty confirmed news of Charlie Fairhead’s departure last year. Appearing in the long-running drama since it began 38 years ago, Charlie, played by Derek Thompson, is part of the Casualty cast, and has seen or experienced very little. He has survived gunpoint, two heart attacks and the catastrophic death of his colleague Duffy to name but a few. He had been the cat for nine lives – until now, it seemed.
This is also not the first time Charlie has bowed out of the show (he took breaks in 2004 and 2005) but the BBC has made it clear that this will be his last exit.
So when he got stabbed, in what we know was going to be the penultimate episode, it seemed like the writing was on the wall. Surely there was only one way this was going to go?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Indeed, Charlie ended up bowing out, grateful, graceful – and most importantly – fit and well, in Saturday’s (March 16) much-anticipated episode, in which he survived the shock attack he suffered he last week at the eleventh hour.
Stevie regained her confidence in time to notice that Charlie had internal bleeding that had been missed in the previous scan and this was the missing piece of the puzzle in terms of his recovery.
Flashback scenes alerted us that Stevie and Charlie had crossed paths in another decade, bringing their journey to a poetic end in the ‘History of Violence’ mini-series.
The interwoven flashbacks of the 80s haunt a much younger Charlie, as he remembers an important day at the beginning of his career while fighting for his life in the present.
Here, we also met Shirley (played by former EastEnders star Annette Badland), who was a charge nurse at Charlie’s former job before he joined Holby.
Encouragingly, this allowed us to see that Charlie wasn’t always the indispensable, reliable diplomat we’ve come to know and love. As a young man, he was erratic, carefree and job-hungry, and Shirley was not impressed with him. However, she noticed his ability and therefore did not accept Charlie’s attempts to quit when a patient they had tried so hard to help tragically died.
Shirley told Charlie that being upset was a testament to how much he really cared, in fruitful words that he felt later when he said the same thing to Stevie.
Shirley also explained to Charlie that she was retiring because she finally felt she had done enough, urging him to wait until he felt the same. In a tragic turn of events, which gave viewers a tangible glimpse of where this story was ultimately going (if we hadn’t already guessed by this point), Charlie later found out that Shirley had died quiet in the staff room, which he had never been able to find. the retirement she was so looking forward to.
And just like that, Charlie’s past with Shirley had a significant impact on his future.
Back in the present, Charlie, now miraculously fully recovered, told Stevie that he was going to quit – soon and on his own terms. It was ready. The ED was ready. And maybe we were ready now too.
Weeks of speculation that he was about to meet the same ugly fate as so many famous characters before him ended with the death of Charlie, yet again, as he rode off into the proverbial sunset in his yellow beetle (another nod to his weather).
It’s almost become the status quo with a hyped event, and the return of former friends Charlie Zoe and Josh for his swan song seemed to support that (“I don’t want to spoil it for the fans”, said Sunetra Sarker on Zoe’s return. “I’m happy and proud to be a part of her emotional final story.”)
In retrospect, maybe the clues really were there. If we cast our minds back to the initial announcement that Charlie was leaving, it was implied that Derek would end himself. This didn’t quite fit the narrative of his sweet alter ego being killed off in such a gruesome way.
Despite the storylines being intertwined at the last minute, the latest block of episodes was mainly Stevie’s. Charlie’s role in this only came to light a few weeks ago and we’d be lying if we said it didn’t often feel like a frenzied race to the finish line.
But ultimately, Charlie wanted to prove that there was goodness in the world – that’s what he believed, and that’s the legacy he will leave us. Death by violence would be contrary to all that.
Actually, we don’t need to worry at all. Charlie was never going to die, and all it took was clever tips to create buzz online and get people talking, in a way that he probably wouldn’t have received prior confirmation of his retirement.
“When I first read the script, I didn’t have to think about it at all, because it’s just great storytelling”, said Derek himself. ” The way Michelle Lipton wrote this episode comes across as if she has written eight plays, taken from so many points of view. I don’t think there is another writer who could have done it. My career.”
They were. And more importantly, we left nostalgic and happy and hopeful about the episodes, as opposed to emotionally miserable as we were when Holby City killed off its own linchpin Jac Naylor.
Elinor Lawless, who plays Stevie, agreed.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, She said: “It was the right way out. Something that Derek wanted to show over the course of that arc that we’ve seen is how Charlie’s work has changed for him and how the nature of the workplace has changed for him.
“He’s under pressure. He’s got a harder fight. I think you get this idea of a natural retirement for someone who’s ready. I’m really happy he got that.”
But what does Casualty World look like without Charlie now?
“The NHS is at the heart of the show and we are uniquely placed to tell the story of a national health service that is completely unique here”, said Elinor. “That’s what Derek wants for the show, too.
“I think Charlie’s legacy is that he has heart and care, and I think that’s something they’ll continue to try to preserve. But someone like Charlie – they’re not forgotten and they’re gone.”
She is right. He won’t. But while Charlie will forever remain in the fabric of the world he created in Casualty, the joyous nature of his departure showed how the show can and will go on without him.
Casualty said Saturday nights on BBC One. The show is being released now early episode on BBC iPlayer at 6am on the day of broadcast.
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