9/9/88 – 4/11/88
Episode Listing
- S3 E1 (9 Sep 88) : Welcome to Casualty by David Ashton
- S3 E2 (16 Sep 88) : Desperate Odds by Ginnie Hole
- S3 E3 (23 Sep 88) : Drake’s Drum by Keith Dewhurst
- S3 E4 (30 Sep 88) : Absolution by Wally K Daly
- S3 E5 (7 Oct 88) : Burn Out by Jeremy Brock
- S3 E6 (14 Oct 88) : A Quiet Night by David Ashton
- S3 E7 (19 Aug 89) : A Wing and a Prayer by Ginnie Hole
- S3 E8 (21 Oct 88) : Living Memories by Sam Snape
- S3 E9 (28 Oct 88) : Inferno by Ginnie Hole
- S3 E10 (4 Nov 88) : Caring by Jeremy Brock
History
A new serious-mindedness was descending on Holby’s A&E department in the series which began in 1988, although it wasn’t all pain, death and duty. Cyril and Charlie had the chance to play hockey in the corridor atleast once.
In it’s new Friday night slot, there were a few new faces again. Boyish David Rowe replaced Mary Tomlinson as SHO, and Valerie Sinclair arrived as the Outpatients’ Services manager to do battle with Ewart Plimmer. Elizabeth Straker, we learned had left to work in America. Although her job was to implement cut-backs, Valerie was humane and caring, and there was a mutual attraction when she got to know Charlie. Receptionist Susie had also left. In her place was tough Sadie Tomkins. The new student nurses were Scot Alison Mcgrellis and Kiran Joghill, and a medical registrar played by Brian Capron, appeared frequently, usually to perform a spectacular operation in crash with David.
The patient’s problems continued to be serious and painful for some viewers. A pretty blond motor mechanic, paralysed from the neck down when a vehicle fell on her, was one chilling cautionary tale. There were several victims of violence; a security guard who’d been assaulted; a school teacher friend of Megan’s who was slashed in the face by a gang of school kids and was now suffering septicaemia after undergoing plastic surgery; a social worker thrashed by a child abuser; and an elderly man injured by a hit and run driver. There was a cot death, a teenage girl produced her baby in the ambulance, a Catholic woman slit her wrists after becoming pregnant by her brother-in-law, and a small boy caught his penis in his trouser zip.
At a pinch the team were able to cope. But their lives were tough, as ever. Duffy visited by the sister of her boyfriend Peter. The news was bad. Peter had died – though not from Aids. He had been involved in a road accident. Duffy tried to hide her grief until Charlie reprimanded her one day for sloppy work and the truth poured out. Cyril celebrated his success in exams by sporting new blue-rimmed specs, and Kuba made earnest efforts to improve his English only to fins himself made redundant in the cut-backs.
Megan had stopped wondering about giving up nursing eventhough continuing in Holby meant she must live on her own now that husband Ted worked in Cheltenham. In this series we watched her suffer from stress which made her physically ill – at one point she feared her cancer had returned. It also made her angry that as a relatively low-graded ‘greenie’ she was ineligible for promotion to Sister, given the worst jobs, and to compound matters she could not work in her homeland Ireland.
Mind you, after Megan poured out those bitter feelings to Ewart, her enduring strength was underlined. He left her to visit the observation ward he’d fought to stop being closed as an economy. There he had a second heart attack and despite the efforts of the team to revive him, he died.
But by far the greatest tragedy to occur during this series was suffered by Roy Kinnear, the roly-poly comedy actor. While filming a movie in Spain in September, he fell from a horse and later died. His family demanded an investigation into the medical care he received there. At that time, he had already recorded scenes for Casualty’s episode 7, ‘A Wing and a Prayer’. He played a 50 year old, Brian McCarthy, brought in with a suspected coronary, who luckily got the last bed available in Holby. It meant an 80 year old stroke victim had to lose out. Out of sympathy with Roy’s widow and children the episode was postponed. It was finally shown in August 1989.
Joining Cast
- S3 E1 Valerie Sinclair – Adminstrator
- S3 E1 David Rowe – Senior House Officer
- S3 E1 Alison McGrellis – Student Nurse
- S3 E1 Kiran Joghill – Student Nurse
- S3 E1 Sadie Tomkins – Receptionist
Regular Cast
- Charlie Fairhead – Charge Nurse
- Megan Roach – State Enrolled Nurse
- Duffy – Staff Nurse
- Cyril James – Staff Nurse
- Keith Cotterill – Paramedic
Exiting Cast
- S3 E5 Ewart Plimmer – Consultant
- S3 E10 David Rowe – Senior House Officer
- S3 E10 Alison McGrellis – Student Nurse
- S3 E10 Kiran Joghill – Student Nurse
- S3 E10 Shirley Franklin – Paramedic
- S3 E10 Sadie Tomkins – Receptionist
- S3 E10 Kuba Trzcinski – Porter
Notable Guest Stars
- S3 E3/8 Brian Capron – as Peter
- S3 E4 Gabrielle Glaister – as Beverly Jason\
- S3 E7 Roy Kinnear – as Brian McCarthy
- S3 E8 John Challis – as Harry
- S3 E8 Pauline Quirke – as Mary Taylor
- S3 E9 Sadie Frost – as Natasha
Casualty/ Holby City Guest Appearances
- S3 E9 George Irving – as Paul
- S3 E10 Clive Mantle – as Robert Forbes
