SERIES 7

Summary
Characters
Episodes


Summary

Series 7 was twice as long as all the earlier series of Casualty and this allowed for series storylines to develop more. The hospital's new Trust status soon began to cause problems for the staff as Charlie in particular was overloaded with paperwork. The main staff storyline of the series was Julian's affair with staff nurse Sandra Nicholl. After singing 'A Hard Day's Night' together at the staff karaoke Julian and Sandra's feelings towards each other were obvious. They were the talking point of the evening for their brilliant duet and were soon the target of hospital gossip when they began going out.
New SHO Rob Khalefa, who was rather arrogant but made mistakes, soon came into conflict with Julian after he was embroiled in a negligence case with Sandra. Rob had left Sandra to give a penicilin injection he had already prepared to a patient who was allergic to the drug. The patient suffered a bad allergic reaction and it was Sandra, not Rob who was blamed in the subsequent inquiry that followed.
On the management front new A&E line manager Kate Miller was soon sacked for not being tough enough by General Manager Simon Eastman, who took over the running of the department's budget himself. His smarmy, false manner soon began to irritate staff and his miserly approach to spending money meant Charlie was overloaded with work because Eastman wouldn't provide him with a secretary. Julian was so angered by Eastman's running of the department that he resigned just minutes after the two had had a row. Julian told the press that he was fed up with the state of the department and attitude of Eastman and when one reporter asked what he intended to do he said he intended to resign. Though said in the heat of the moment Julian decided that he had made the right choice and left the department that day (Eastman wouldn't let him work out his notice). Sandra was devastated by Julian's departure.
The new locum consultant was Duffy's former boyfriend and father of her son Peter, Andrew Bower. It was not long before the two had rekindled their romance and it seemed that Andrew had matured and was less self centered since his last stint at Holby A&E. Though Andrew didn't get the consultant's job the two continued their romance and planned to marry. The new consultant was gentle giant Mike Barratt.
Norma's inefficiencies continued. She sent home a diabetic bodybuilder because she thought he was wasting her time. The man subsequently died. She began caring for her mother, who had alzheimers. This left her looking rather vacant at work as her mind was clearly not on her job.
Ash, too had problems in his personal life. His girlfriend Nikki had an abortion after overeacting to Ash's suggestion that they should 'consider all the options'. The two split up soon after.
After being overworked and feeling that his private life was non existent Charlie finally snapped and broke down in front of Duffy. He was mentally exhausted and tired of the way his life was going. He was beginning to look as if he needed to see a psychiatrist.
In the final episode of the series, a gang of youths set fire to the hospital and left staff and patients in a state of panic as they tried to escape. Rob, on his last day at the hospital having finished his time at Holby, was trapped in the burning hospital and was in a critical condition as he was dragged from the debris. (This episode caused much controversy and criticism for its violent content but was actually one of Casualty's most dramatic and well produced episodes.) As the episode ended a distraught Duffy said, "We're finished, Charlie", convinced that the burning down of the hospital would mean the end of Holby Casualty for good. Charlie, though, still had hope and told her that the damage would be repaired.
Written by Christopher Watson


Characters

Charlie Fairhead (Clinical nursing manager)
Lisa Duffin (Sister)
Martin Ashford (Staff nurse)
Sandra Nicholl (Staff nurse)
Maxine Price (Health Care Assistant)

Julian Chapman (Consultant)
Andrew Bower (Locum consultant)
Mike Barratt (Consultant)
Robert Khalefa (SHO)

Josh Griffiths (Paramedic)
Jane Scott (Paramedic)

Norma Sullivan (Receptionist)
Kate Miller (Manager)
Simon Eastman (Manager)


Episodes

1. Rates of Exchange
2. Cry Wolf
3. Body Politic
4. Will You Still Love Me?
5. Cherish
6. Profit and Loss
7. One Step Forward
8. Body and Soul
9. Tender Loving Care
10. Money Talks
11. Making Waves
12. If it isn't Hurting
13. Act of Faith
14. Point of Principle
15. Silent Night
16. The Ties That Bind
17. Life in the Fast Lane
18. Everybody Needs Somebody
19. Getting Involved
20. Divided Loyalties
21. Family Matters
22. Child's Play
23. No Cause for Concern
24. Boiling Point


Summary
Characters
Episodes

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