Saturday 20 November
8.50-9.40pm BBC ONE

Casualty actresses Sunetra Sarker and Suzanne Packer step out of the limelight and behind the camera to co-direct this episode of the long-running medical drama – Guilty Secrets.

Failing to summon the courage to confront Edward over his affair with James, Ruth heads off to the Emergency Department, where it's her first day as Clinical Standards Manager. But the gang give her a frosty reception, showing their displeasure over the treatment of Charlie, with Big Mac, Noel and Mads even going out of their way to play pranks on her.

Meanwhile, a married couple, Neil and Lou, are brought into the ED after Neil attacks Lou with a meat cleaver. Ruth treats Lou, while Neil, who suffers from severe night terrors, is taken to Pysch where he is attended to by Charlie. The arrival of Richard, who is a police officer and Lou's secret lover, complicates matter further. Is Neil aware of the affair and is he trying to use his condition to, literally, get away with murder?

Lenny is pressured into visiting a woman called Helen, but decides against it having left the past behind him. But, he has a change of heart when he treats a young girl who is brought into the ED by her brother. Helen, it transpires, is his sister and she will die unless she receives a bone marrow transplant. Will Lenny give her the chance she needs to save her life?

Meanwhile, Ruth and Charlie remain at loggerheads. Ruth stands by her decision to have him moved out of the ED and she finally plucks up the courage to confront Edward about his homosexuality. Might she be able to turn that situation to her advantage?
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Girls on Film

It's a case of poacher turned gamekeeper in Casualty this week when regular actresses Sunetra Sarker (who plays Zoe) and Suzanne Packer (Tess) get to shout "action" and direct their co-stars in this week's episode, Guilty Secrets.

Suzanne Packer tells Programme Information how it came about:

"One day Sunetra and I were waiting for a scene to start and we started to talk about how we would direct the scene if we were the directors. And the conversations grew from then on. We'd muse about where we would put the cameras and before we knew it we were seriously asking ourselves if we could. And the answer became a resounding yes!

"In retrospect, I enjoyed it a lot though at the time it felt like the hardest thing I had ever done. I felt like an absolute beginner, it was like opening up another part of my brain! I would definitely like to do it again, although I don't think I'll be giving up the day job too soon. Having so much responsibility for the whole show meant it was very different to acting alone. There was never a moment to take a break. If we weren't working on the scene in the moment, we were planning the next one and considering other things that an actor never has to think about, like locations and casting."

So what were the biggest challenges for the rookie directors?

"Of course the biggest challenge was always time. There never seemed to be enough time in the day to shoot the scenes in exactly the way we would like. Knowing the show the way we did as regular artistes we were keen to try something new – shoot a scene in a way that maybe we had never seen it shot before and we would probably have been more experimental if we had had more time. Regarding the other actors, we had nothing but co-operation and exceptional support. They were all behind us and the crew. We couldn't have asked for more."

And what was it like working with co-star Sunetra in this unfamiliar role?

"Working with Sunetra was the biggest triumph of all! We were convinced that some of the cast and crew thought we wouldn't be talking by the end of the shoot but that couldn't have been further from the truth. We got on brilliantly. We worked very well together and brilliantly complemented each other's strengths. When one or other of us was feeling particularly under pressure the other one took the weight of the responsibility, and vice versa, and luckily we were never feeling under stress at the same time."

So with a successful episode of Casualty under her directing belt, will Suzanne be hanging up her nurses' uniform any time soon?

"I would love to be known as a successful director as well as an actor and I still feel I need to stretch myself as an actor. As a director I'd love to direct something in the family entertainment mould and when it comes to actors I would definitely like to direct Derek Thompson again – and of course Sunetra!"

Charlie out of ED?

Fraser, a whip-cracking management advisor (played by Fiona Allen) throws the ED into mutiny; Warren catches onto the tension between Adam and Kirsty; and Ruth continues her colleague-trampling quest to further her career.

Ruth arrives at the ED ready to show the world just how in love she and Edward really are. But she's quickly put on the back foot when her patient flow advisor, Fraser, admits to having previously worked with Edward. Ruth is worried that Fraser knows the truth about Edward's sexuality.

Meanwhile, Kirsty is thrown into panic when she learns that husband Warren and daughter Nita have been involved in a horrific car crash. Adam's quick thinking sees the safe recovery of Nita and she is brought into the ED. But when Nita admits to meeting Adam before, a suspicious Warren realises the colleagues have become a little too close and tries to drive a wedge between them. Adam shies away from intimacy with Kirsty, knowing that their feelings can never amount to anything.

Jay starts a petition against feisty Fraser and her bureaucratic pen-pushing but is horrified to learn that Zoe changed the header from Fraser to Ruth. The petition is now about ousting Ruth, not Fraser. Jay quickly tries to dispose of the evidence, but he is caught red-handed – much to Ruth's hurt and dismay.

A surprisingly sympathetic Fraser recognises ambitious Ruth as a kindred spirit and warns her of the difficulties of leading a double life. Feeling the effects of the day, Ruth confronts Edward and tells him they should come clean about their sham marriage but Edward is adamant that it would end his career. Ruth reluctantly agrees and, watched by a thoughtful Jay, they walk out hand in hand...

I hope she isn't one of the characters who dies at New Year.