Holby City
Essie is visited by her late husband, Rafé
TUESDAY 21 July, 8pm BBC1 Drama
Joe Mcfadden returns as Raf, who appears from beyond the grave to support his cancer-stricken widow, Essie, as she struggles to deal with her fate. Also, a drug-free Kian is back but gets a shock when Bea’s son Phoenix reappears. Knowing the boy is full of anger over his mum’s death,
Kian soon provokes him.
Meanwhile, Ric wrongfully accuses Guy of drinking and gets him suspended from work by Max.
HOLBY CITY
Tuesday, 8pm BBC1 Drama
There’s a bittersweet treat in store for Holby fans, as Raffaello ‘Raf’ Di Lucca returns – as a ghost! Struggling to come to terms with her terminal cancer diagnosis, this week Essie Di Lucca (Kaye Wragg) finds her mind wandering to her late husband…
‘Being asked to play a ghost isn’t something that happens often!’ says Joe Mcfadden, who plays Raf. ‘Raf is a figment of Essie’s imagination. She talks to him in the way people talk to their dead loved ones.’
Raf and Essie’s marriage was cut short in 2017 after he was shot by Henrik Hanssen’s son, Fredrik. Essie is currently planning her wedding to Sacha Levy, but is angry because Sacha’s looking for a cure when there isn’t one. She’s also struggling with her diagnosis and wonders what the point of her life was.
‘Essie is in this sad and desperate situation. There’s no more treatment and she’s basically having palliative care,’ explains Joe. ‘Raf comes to her and offers advice about making everything right with her loved ones.’
Joe says returning to Holby, where he played Raf from 2014 until 2017, was too good an opportunity to miss!
‘It was familiar, but different! It reminded me what a lovely job Holby is,’ says Joe, who won Strictly in 2017. ‘It was great to see Kaye and Alex Walkinshaw [Fletch] again. I had a scene with my friend Dawn Steele, too, but we didn’t speak in it because I’m an apparition!’
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Over the course of the emotional episode, Raf urges Essie not to push people away. Will his reappearance bring pain or peace for the nurse?
‘Raf tells Essie that life is about the people you love,’ reveals Joe. ‘It’s very poignant.’