Yeh if we can't have Michael French in Eastenders, I'd happily see him back as Nick in Casualty.
A good episode I thought, lots of things going on as well as lots of new pairings in the staff to shake things up a bit - Tamzin and Jeff, Lily and Cal.
I really want to see Lofty in a big role in an episode though. We've hardly seen him at all since he joined, and when he has been in an episode, it's been in a minor role.
I think Max is a genius role and casting - Jamie plays him brilliantly. For me, he steals every scene he's in even if he only has one line.
I started watching Casualty again when Patrick Robinson was in SCD after a long, long break, and confess I have found it largely vapid. I watched lazily to see if Patrick would dance.
But I have to say this episode was fantastic, full of tension, pace, three strong patient stories, frazzled medics, a capable, caring Charlie, and moments of genuine drama.
It helps that most of the guest actors were strong, especially the tall lad's father. Good work from that actor. But this is the first genuinely involving week (IMO) since I took up the show again. Feels a bit like old times. I hope it continues
There were things I didn't like about that episode: the patient injuries / incidents still feel rather safe and "lame" (save for Anna threatening to throw herself off the roof), Cal and Lily's snogging just felt superfluous and Tamzin grates with me.
On the other hand, I actually enjoyed most of that episode - dare I say it but it even felt a little like Casualty of old. Julie Edwards was spoiling us tonight with 4 separate patient storylines, just like the old days when you would have one or two main focal patient storylines and one other "minor" one. Molly the drunk was excellent - it's these quirky but very "authentic" patients that Casualty has been side-stepping for years in favour of the middle-class twee stereotypes that we see week in, week out. But Molly felt real - and kudos to Julie Edwards for getting "arse" into the script. About time Casualty took a few more risks in its scripting (if the word "arse" can be considered a risk).
Anna Steele was actually very interesting as a patient and it was well played out. The over-bearing father storyline threatened to turn into another one of those typical pushy parent stories you see every few weeks on Casualty when they've run out of ideas - but this was saved by a good performance on the part of the actor who played the dad.
Small touches helped to make that episode superior to what has been the norm during the current series. The way that the patient storylines overlapped with one another was reminiscent of old, as was the actual use of cubicles and the staff making use of the cubicle curtains. How I miss seeing the cubicle areas in this show. The father and daughter in reception also felt like a good, realistic touch - how good to see reception being used for dramatic purposes rather than solely a place for comedy corner with Louise and Noel and gossiping staff. I LOVED the way Charlie spoke to Cal in resus after Anna was brought in after the roof rescue: Charlie as the reassuring true professional and the avuncular figure of the Department is something that has been really missing lately. It was also seen in his talk with Zoe. The only niggling thing about the latter is that the "Department in crisis" idea seems to have come out of the blue. Tonight felt chaotic - and the ED felt like a genuine Department that was fully stretched - but I can't say that has been true of previous episodes when you had the staff milling about, gossiping.
A very good episode. If only the quality was this good every week.
You'd think the amount of people who end up on that hospital roof they'd secure it in some way.
Dxactly what I said. There must be one incident a month (if not more) between Casualty and HC. All joking asie, I can imagine that it is a fire escape, if fire is below you on the stairs you'll have to head up to the roof for rescue - not going to be much use if you can't get out because the door is locked. But, you'd think they could erect some kind of fence on the perimeter just to make it a little more difficult for people to get to the edge. You could still land a helicopter in the middle or firemen could cut through it quickly if the worst did happen and they needed to evacuate off the roof.
The only niggling thing about the latter is that the "Department in crisis" idea seems to have come out of the blue. Tonight felt chaotic - and the ED felt like a genuine Department that was fully stretched - but I can't say that has been true of previous episodes when you had the staff milling about, gossiping.
.
Exactly - this is a plot device to show Zoe's weakening grasp on the department, whereas in the 'Casualty of old' it would have been there more as a commentary on the general chaos and pressure of the A&E environment.
I did enjoy Tracie Bennett's appearance - I know she's been in Casualty a few times before, but she's such a versatile actress that she brings something different to each character (she particularly seemed to channeling Julie Walters in Dinnerladies tonight!). The only bit I didn't like was Cal and Lily - it would have been more interesting if she'd continued to resist him.
I think he's leaving too. He hasn't confirmed or denied it either way on twitter, but your detective work plus the news of Iain's return (as a replacement) and the rather ominous final lines of Holby.tv's interview with Gemma Atkinson suggest that he might be on his way out...
Will miss ' alright princess ?'
Lol if he is leaving...
Yes I think she is still loyal to Zoe. She asked Charlie for another copy of the papers he sent to Zoe (she left them at home) and Zoe has always been a good friend to Tess.
There were things I didn't like about that episode: the patient injuries / incidents still feel rather safe and "lame" (save for Anna threatening to throw herself off the roof), Cal and Lily's snogging just felt superfluous and Tamzin grates with me.
On the other hand, I actually enjoyed most of that episode - dare I say it but it even felt a little like Casualty of old. Julie Edwards was spoiling us tonight with 4 separate patient storylines, just like the old days when you would have one or two main focal patient storylines and one other "minor" one. Molly the drunk was excellent - it's these quirky but very "authentic" patients that Casualty has been side-stepping for years in favour of the middle-class twee stereotypes that we see week in, week out. But Molly felt real - and kudos to Julie Edwards for getting "arse" into the script. About time Casualty took a few more risks in its scripting (if the word "arse" can be considered a risk).
Anna Steele was actually very interesting as a patient and it was well played out. The over-bearing father storyline threatened to turn into another one of those typical pushy parent stories you see every few weeks on Casualty when they've run out of ideas - but this was saved by a good performance on the part of the actor who played the dad.
Small touches helped to make that episode superior to what has been the norm during the current series. The way that the patient storylines overlapped with one another was reminiscent of old, as was the actual use of cubicles and the staff making use of the cubicle curtains. How I miss seeing the cubicle areas in this show. The father and daughter in reception also felt like a good, realistic touch - how good to see reception being used for dramatic purposes rather than solely a place for comedy corner with Louise and Noel and gossiping staff. I LOVED the way Charlie spoke to Cal in resus after Anna was brought in after the roof rescue: Charlie as the reassuring true professional and the avuncular figure of the Department is something that has been really missing lately. It was also seen in his talk with Zoe. The only niggling thing about the latter is that the "Department in crisis" idea seems to have come out of the blue. Tonight felt chaotic - and the ED felt like a genuine Department that was fully stretched - but I can't say that has been true of previous episodes when you had the staff milling about, gossiping.
A very good episode. If only the quality was this good every week.
Great review, I agree with everything you've written, especially BIB. The chaos seems to have sprung this week as a plot device for Zoe being toppled as clinical lead and continues next week going by spoiler clip as a device for Connie to use to her advantage. A&Es as you say are usually packed with loads of patients waiting, so to use this as a way to get rid of Zoe as clinical lead is slightly strange.
In know they might be doing this judging by the clips, but I'd rather they just have a major incident and lose Zoe as clinical lead that way, rather than trying to topple her by using the normal chaos that's seen in an A&E department
As Zoe said tonight, the ED department need to work as a team. As much as I like Connie, you'd hardly call her a teamplayer.
Tonight felt chaotic - and the ED felt like a genuine Department that was fully stretched - but I can't say that has been true of previous episodes when you had the staff milling about, gossiping.
A very good episode. If only the quality was this good every week.
Or playing some strange version of "its a knock out"!
I also find this "Zoe can't run an ED" storyline all a little too convenient. I know she wasn't always the most organised but they seem to be just railroading her character so Connie can justifiably take over.
I hope Zoe isn't going to be leaving at the end of the series.
Or playing some strange version of "its a knock out"!
I also find this "Zoe can't run an ED" storyline all a little too convenient. I know she wasn't always the most organised but they seem to be just railroading her character so Connie can justifiably take over.
I hope Zoe isn't going to be leaving at the end of the series.
I hope she isn't leaving either. She was running the ED perfectly well for the year before Connie arrived and conveniently, it has all started to crumble,
Or playing some strange version of "its a knock out"!
I also find this "Zoe can't run an ED" storyline all a little too convenient. I know she wasn't always the most organised but they seem to be just railroading her character so Connie can justifiably take over.
I hope Zoe isn't going to be leaving at the end of the series.
Ha! How silly of me to forget that - yes, the whole team assembled in the basement to run trolleys into one another. Wasn't that only two or three weeks ago?
Yep. The ED has long been "in crisis" and pushed to the limit. Not!
It makes you wonder... are Oliver Kent and Erika Hossington just making this programme up as it goes along?
Dxactly what I said. There must be one incident a month (if not more) between Casualty and HC. All joking asie, I can imagine that it is a fire escape, if fire is below you on the stairs you'll have to head up to the roof for rescue - not going to be much use if you can't get out because the door is locked. But, you'd think they could erect some kind of fence on the perimeter just to make it a little more difficult for people to get to the edge. You could still land a helicopter in the middle or firemen could cut through it quickly if the worst did happen and they needed to evacuate off the roof.
That's what we said about a fence around, or even an alarm on the door which would alert security if it was open. We used to have doors like that in college. But it's literally just an open ledge at Holby:o
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The Zoe thing is weird. True, she hasn't had the same strengths as some of the past clinical leads of the ED, but has she really been so incompetent as she has been recently? Like someone has already said, this is probably so Connie can take over easily from her with no backlash. I do wonder what Connie is up to though. Is it really as simple as her wanting to run the ED? Is she there on some secret mission on behalf of someone higher up? As Nick Jordan emailed to Zoe a few weeks back, Connie doesn't do anything unless there is something in it for her.
Does anyone know if Dixie has gone now then? Or will she be back after the suspension?
Are we heading for a Connie takeover? Charlie finally pointing out how incompetent Zoe's management skills are as clinical lead.
Zoe has been clinical lead for a good long time, and in my opinion she does it very well. Things have been a bit chaotic lately, but I think every hospital is with Government cuts etc. Whenever things go wrong, Zoe handles them fairly and professionally in my opinion (with the possible exception of Lily's complaint against Ash, where I felt she was too biased in Ash's favour, but given that they are very close colleagues and friends and Lily had been quite a controversial character, I can see where Zoe was coming from even though I didn't really agree with her position). I also think that she strikes a very good balance of management role and doctor role. She is so much better than Nick Jordan; he was aggressive, made decisions based around the hospital's reputation and not what was best for the patients and was difficult to communicate with, whereas Zoe is empathetic, approachable and kind. She is a little disorganised, I'll admit, but generally she tends to get things done - after all, she did read Charlie's report even if she had to read bits in between treating patients. In fact, I don't think I've been this happy with the way that the department is managed since the days of Harry Harper.
If anything, I thought it came across as though the chaos was more Connie's doing than Zoe's. Charlie said, 'It's been going on for weeks!' Note weeks, not years which is how long Zoe has done the job. The only thing that has changed in the last few weeks is Connie joining the team. Of course that could just be circumstantial, but given the way that she plays Zoe and Ash off each other it seems as though she wants to wrestle control, and I would imagine that if anything has changed in Zoe's management, a lot of it is down to stress caused by Connie's constant sniping at her. If things had been chaotic for the whole time that Zoe had been on the job, I'd see the point about it leading to her stepping down. As it is, she has done a very good job and it is only recently that things have gone downhill, so logically I don't see how this can be leading in that direction.
Yes I think she is still loyal to Zoe. She asked Charlie for another copy of the papers he sent to Zoe (she left them at home) and Zoe has always been a good friend to Tess.
Yes I think Tess is still loyal to Zoe, Zoe was the one who she told about Fletch and the abortion so she clearly has a lot of trust in her. I think Tess will be on her side to the end to be honest, which after tonight looks like it's coming soon. I really like Zoe so I'd be gutted to see her leave but I have a feeling that she will, I can't see her wanting to stay on at the hospital if she does resign from her position or she's demoted,
I wouldn't be surprised to see Michael French come back in now that he's left Eastenders. Connie could see Zoe go and think that the job is hers then all of a sudden Mr Jordan comes back and steals her thunder. I'd love to see them go head to head. Though in all honesty if anyone had to go I would prefer it to be Ash who's been disappointing on his return.
I think maybe the Zoe/Max thing can justify her losing control of the department - it's the only thing that's changed in the last few months and could show her being a bit all over the place - she's seeing Max in secret and having to sneak around after Robyn sees her shoes etc etc. I always try and find things that make it as though storylines haven't just been made up without prior planning
I wouldn't be surprised to see Michael French come back in now that he's left Eastenders. Connie could see Zoe go and think that the job is hers then all of a sudden Mr Jordan comes back and steals her thunder. I'd love to see them go head to head. Though in all honesty if anyone had to go I would prefer it to be Ash who's been disappointing on his return.
The problem is though that Nick Jordan doesn't have long left to live. He was coping well with his condition up until the last time that we saw him, but the brain operation he had in Series 24 was only supposed to give him a few more years. He still seems to be functioning well enough to send Zoe emails about Connie, and of course people defy doctors' mortality predictions all the time (Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, for example, is still alive after being given 3-6 months in late 2012, so it does happen) but Jordan will surely die from his condition eventually, and it can't be that far in the future. So if he did come back, it would presumably only be for a short time. Still, the producers aren't averse to having hospital staff members with potentially terminal conditions - they have done it on Holby City with Tara.
Comments
Ha, yes I forgot about that.
Are we heading for a Connie takeover? Charlie finally pointing out how incompetent Zoe's management skills are as clinical lead.
Maybe Nick Jordan could return now too.
A good episode I thought, lots of things going on as well as lots of new pairings in the staff to shake things up a bit - Tamzin and Jeff, Lily and Cal.
I really want to see Lofty in a big role in an episode though. We've hardly seen him at all since he joined, and when he has been in an episode, it's been in a minor role.
I think Max is a genius role and casting - Jamie plays him brilliantly. For me, he steals every scene he's in even if he only has one line.
He's in it next week, apparently.
I started watching Casualty again when Patrick Robinson was in SCD after a long, long break, and confess I have found it largely vapid. I watched lazily to see if Patrick would dance.
But I have to say this episode was fantastic, full of tension, pace, three strong patient stories, frazzled medics, a capable, caring Charlie, and moments of genuine drama.
It helps that most of the guest actors were strong, especially the tall lad's father. Good work from that actor. But this is the first genuinely involving week (IMO) since I took up the show again. Feels a bit like old times. I hope it continues
On the other hand, I actually enjoyed most of that episode - dare I say it but it even felt a little like Casualty of old. Julie Edwards was spoiling us tonight with 4 separate patient storylines, just like the old days when you would have one or two main focal patient storylines and one other "minor" one. Molly the drunk was excellent - it's these quirky but very "authentic" patients that Casualty has been side-stepping for years in favour of the middle-class twee stereotypes that we see week in, week out. But Molly felt real - and kudos to Julie Edwards for getting "arse" into the script. About time Casualty took a few more risks in its scripting (if the word "arse" can be considered a risk).
Anna Steele was actually very interesting as a patient and it was well played out. The over-bearing father storyline threatened to turn into another one of those typical pushy parent stories you see every few weeks on Casualty when they've run out of ideas - but this was saved by a good performance on the part of the actor who played the dad.
Small touches helped to make that episode superior to what has been the norm during the current series. The way that the patient storylines overlapped with one another was reminiscent of old, as was the actual use of cubicles and the staff making use of the cubicle curtains. How I miss seeing the cubicle areas in this show. The father and daughter in reception also felt like a good, realistic touch - how good to see reception being used for dramatic purposes rather than solely a place for comedy corner with Louise and Noel and gossiping staff. I LOVED the way Charlie spoke to Cal in resus after Anna was brought in after the roof rescue: Charlie as the reassuring true professional and the avuncular figure of the Department is something that has been really missing lately. It was also seen in his talk with Zoe. The only niggling thing about the latter is that the "Department in crisis" idea seems to have come out of the blue. Tonight felt chaotic - and the ED felt like a genuine Department that was fully stretched - but I can't say that has been true of previous episodes when you had the staff milling about, gossiping.
A very good episode. If only the quality was this good every week.
Dxactly what I said. There must be one incident a month (if not more) between Casualty and HC. All joking asie, I can imagine that it is a fire escape, if fire is below you on the stairs you'll have to head up to the roof for rescue - not going to be much use if you can't get out because the door is locked. But, you'd think they could erect some kind of fence on the perimeter just to make it a little more difficult for people to get to the edge. You could still land a helicopter in the middle or firemen could cut through it quickly if the worst did happen and they needed to evacuate off the roof.
Exactly - this is a plot device to show Zoe's weakening grasp on the department, whereas in the 'Casualty of old' it would have been there more as a commentary on the general chaos and pressure of the A&E environment.
I did enjoy Tracie Bennett's appearance - I know she's been in Casualty a few times before, but she's such a versatile actress that she brings something different to each character (she particularly seemed to channeling Julie Walters in Dinnerladies tonight!). The only bit I didn't like was Cal and Lily - it would have been more interesting if she'd continued to resist him.
If not then that raises questions
Will miss ' alright princess ?'
Lol if he is leaving...
Yes I think she is still loyal to Zoe. She asked Charlie for another copy of the papers he sent to Zoe (she left them at home) and Zoe has always been a good friend to Tess.
Great review, I agree with everything you've written, especially BIB. The chaos seems to have sprung this week as a plot device for Zoe being toppled as clinical lead and continues next week going by spoiler clip as a device for Connie to use to her advantage. A&Es as you say are usually packed with loads of patients waiting, so to use this as a way to get rid of Zoe as clinical lead is slightly strange.
As Zoe said tonight, the ED department need to work as a team. As much as I like Connie, you'd hardly call her a teamplayer.
Or playing some strange version of "its a knock out"!
I also find this "Zoe can't run an ED" storyline all a little too convenient. I know she wasn't always the most organised but they seem to be just railroading her character so Connie can justifiably take over.
I hope Zoe isn't going to be leaving at the end of the series.
I hope she isn't leaving either. She was running the ED perfectly well for the year before Connie arrived and conveniently, it has all started to crumble,
Ha! How silly of me to forget that - yes, the whole team assembled in the basement to run trolleys into one another. Wasn't that only two or three weeks ago?
Yep. The ED has long been "in crisis" and pushed to the limit. Not!
It makes you wonder... are Oliver Kent and Erika Hossington just making this programme up as it goes along?
That's what we said about a fence around, or even an alarm on the door which would alert security if it was open. We used to have doors like that in college. But it's literally just an open ledge at Holby:o
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The Zoe thing is weird. True, she hasn't had the same strengths as some of the past clinical leads of the ED, but has she really been so incompetent as she has been recently? Like someone has already said, this is probably so Connie can take over easily from her with no backlash. I do wonder what Connie is up to though. Is it really as simple as her wanting to run the ED? Is she there on some secret mission on behalf of someone higher up? As Nick Jordan emailed to Zoe a few weeks back, Connie doesn't do anything unless there is something in it for her.
Does anyone know if Dixie has gone now then? Or will she be back after the suspension?
Zoe has been clinical lead for a good long time, and in my opinion she does it very well. Things have been a bit chaotic lately, but I think every hospital is with Government cuts etc. Whenever things go wrong, Zoe handles them fairly and professionally in my opinion (with the possible exception of Lily's complaint against Ash, where I felt she was too biased in Ash's favour, but given that they are very close colleagues and friends and Lily had been quite a controversial character, I can see where Zoe was coming from even though I didn't really agree with her position). I also think that she strikes a very good balance of management role and doctor role. She is so much better than Nick Jordan; he was aggressive, made decisions based around the hospital's reputation and not what was best for the patients and was difficult to communicate with, whereas Zoe is empathetic, approachable and kind. She is a little disorganised, I'll admit, but generally she tends to get things done - after all, she did read Charlie's report even if she had to read bits in between treating patients. In fact, I don't think I've been this happy with the way that the department is managed since the days of Harry Harper.
If anything, I thought it came across as though the chaos was more Connie's doing than Zoe's. Charlie said, 'It's been going on for weeks!' Note weeks, not years which is how long Zoe has done the job. The only thing that has changed in the last few weeks is Connie joining the team. Of course that could just be circumstantial, but given the way that she plays Zoe and Ash off each other it seems as though she wants to wrestle control, and I would imagine that if anything has changed in Zoe's management, a lot of it is down to stress caused by Connie's constant sniping at her. If things had been chaotic for the whole time that Zoe had been on the job, I'd see the point about it leading to her stepping down. As it is, she has done a very good job and it is only recently that things have gone downhill, so logically I don't see how this can be leading in that direction.
Yes I think Tess is still loyal to Zoe, Zoe was the one who she told about Fletch and the abortion so she clearly has a lot of trust in her. I think Tess will be on her side to the end to be honest, which after tonight looks like it's coming soon.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Michael French come back in now that he's left Eastenders. Connie could see Zoe go and think that the job is hers then all of a sudden Mr Jordan comes back and steals her thunder. I'd love to see them go head to head. Though in all honesty if anyone had to go I would prefer it to be Ash who's been disappointing on his return.
I really agree.
In my opinion he took advantage of her when she was vunerable, that should of been ethan comforting her not Cal.:(
The problem is though that Nick Jordan doesn't have long left to live. He was coping well with his condition up until the last time that we saw him, but the brain operation he had in Series 24 was only supposed to give him a few more years. He still seems to be functioning well enough to send Zoe emails about Connie, and of course people defy doctors' mortality predictions all the time (Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, for example, is still alive after being given 3-6 months in late 2012, so it does happen) but Jordan will surely die from his condition eventually, and it can't be that far in the future. So if he did come back, it would presumably only be for a short time. Still, the producers aren't averse to having hospital staff members with potentially terminal conditions - they have done it on Holby City with Tara.
Everything is going wrong for Zoe, so convienent for Connie her plan is working.