Casualty review: This long-running show won’t be the same without Charlie Fairhead, Holby City’s great survivor, writes ROLAND WHITE
Victim
Until Saturday evening there were only three things certain in life: death, taxes and Charlie Fairhead at the center of events at Holby City Hospital.
He has been a solid, reliable presence – the Chief Inspector Barnaby of the wards – since the very first episode of Casualty (BBC1) in 1986.
At the time, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, Berlin was still divided and Britain and France announced an exciting project to build a tunnel under the Channel.
Over the years he has been shot in the chest and survived. He was hit by an ambulance on his wedding day and survived. He suffered a heart attack after saving Dr. Hanna from drowning in icy water, and survived.
You’d think the screenwriters were trying to get rid of him, but somehow he always managed to get out: until Saturday, when he officially said goodbye.
Until Saturday evening there were only three things certain in life: death, taxes and Charlie Fairhead in the center of Holby City Hospital, but the lovable character has finally retired
He was stabbed in last week’s episode after resembling Charlie and confronting an angry teenager with a large knife.
As is supposedly traditional at such times, Charlie’s life flashed before us and we got to see his early days at work (if he hadn’t gone into nursing he could have been Tony Blair’s stunt double)
As this was a Casualty it was not a traditional pension. He spent most of it on a hospital cart, unconscious after a knife wound in the stomach.
He was stabbed in last week’s episode after resembling Charlie and confronting an angry teenager with a large knife. You’d think he would have learned it by now.
If he had been a regular Casualty viewer he would have demanded a transfer to another hospital. As he hovered between life and death, his colleagues bickered over his treatment. Doctor Stevie had a crisis of confidence and left the treatment room, threatening to hang up her stethoscope.
Elsewhere, Mel Sinclair was also at risk of being deregistered. She lay seriously injured in her car after being pushed off the road by her husband Harry. And wouldn’t you know it, Stevie was the only emergency doctor available to help. Her crisis continued at the scene of the accident.
As is supposedly traditional at such times, Charlie’s life flashed before us and we got to see his early years at work (if he hadn’t gone into nursing he could have been a Tony Blair stunt double).
It turns out that early in his career he comforted a young girl whose parents were involved in a bombing. As he led her by the hand through the busy hospital, there wasn’t a single viewer who didn’t see the captivated look on her face and think, “Wait a minute, this little girl is going to be Doctor Stevie, isn’t she?” ‘
Actor Derek Thompson, who played Charlie, says his final two episodes were among the best of his career. It’s hard not to agree
He eventually left the hospital in a bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle – just as he arrived all those years ago. The accident will never be the same again
And so it turned out.
It was a smart move, and how fitting that it was Stevie who saw Charlie needing an emergency procedure when no one else was available. She took action with her scalpel and saved both his life and her career.
Actor Derek Thompson, who played Charlie, says his final two episodes were among the best of his career. It’s hard not to agree.
He eventually left the hospital in a bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle – just as he arrived all those years ago. The accident will never be the same again.