Casualty Jan turns drug dealer!
CASUALTY STAR DI BOTCHER TELLS US WHY HER CHARACTER IS ABOUT TO TURN DRUG DEALER…
Paramedic Jan puts everything on the line this week, as she smuggles drugs into prison to stop a violent gang from attacking her jailbird son, Ross! It’s a turn of events that’s sure to leave viewers shocked – and Casualty star Di Botcher, who plays the conflicted mum, tells us that she was more than a bit gobsmacked when the story was first pitched to her…
“I just thought, ‘Nah, she’s not going to do that!’” the star tells us, as she joins us for a catch-up on her day off. “I put myself in Jan’s shoes and thought, ‘Well, I’d never do that!’ But it’s about her love for her son, and she genuinely believes that his life is at risk. Nobody else is going to help him, so Jan realises she’s the last resort. However, she’s about to go to hell and back…”
After Ross ended up in the ED last week, he revealed to his mum the nightmare he was enduring in prison – then explained how the violent drugs gang that’s been terrorising him has discovered that Jan’s a paramedic, and wants her to smuggle pills into the jail! Jan reluctantly agreed to help, yet she’s a bundle of nerves as she anxiously waits for word that the drop is on.
“Jan feels sick to her stomach,” reveals Di. “Every time the phone goes, she’s frightened to death of who it might be. So when the call does come, it’s awful – the set-up is that a prisoner is going to get really seriously hurt to allow her access in there. It’s just horrible.
“When Jan gets to the prison, she ends up offloading the patient to Leon, who’s very eager, but not terribly experienced – it’s so unprofessional of her,” she adds. “She’s just scouting around for where she can plant these drugs. Jan has to distract Leon with something he has to really concentrate on so that she can hide the pills under a bed.”
However, while Jan believes that once the job is done, that will be the end of matters, little does she realise that her nightmare is only just beginning! And worse still, she can’t even confide in wife Ffion about what’s going on.
“Well, we have to remember that Ffion is a police officer, so her moral code would guide her – even if Jan’s moral
code has collapsed!” explains Di. “And also Ffion has never liked Ross, even when he was younger, so that would cause tension between them. As soon as Jan mentioned Ross, the eyebrows would be up, and Ffion wouldn’t be very sympathetic to listening!”
Jan’s actions are sure to have huge ramifications for her marriage, and Di tells us that her character is set to be pushed to breaking point…
“It’s really a question of how far Jan will go before she cracks,” ponders the star. “Her mind starts to go a bit, because she’s so paranoid about everything. There’s such a lot of drama to come – and Jan just doesn’t need it in her life!”