Best paid nurse in the land: star of Casualty earns up to £400,000
DEREK THOMPSON would have been an unlikely contender to be the BBC’S highest-paid actor.
Yet the 69-year-old turns out to be just that for his role in Casualty. Thompson has played nurse Charlie Fairhead since the hospital drama began in 1986. He earns £350,000 to £399,999 per year, putting him ahead of anyone in the Eastenders cast.
The second name on the list is Amanda Mealing, another Casualty star, who is paid £250,000 to £299,999.
They out-earn Peter Capaldi, who was paid £200,000 to £249,999 for
Doctor Who. Other actors in Capaldi’s bracket include Emilia Fox of Silent
Witness, Danny Dyer and Adam Woodyatt of Eastenders, and Sir David Jason for his role in the sitcom Still Open All Hours.
The list does not include stars who appeared in dramas made by independent production companies, such as Tom Hiddleston in The Night Manby
ager. Instead it features cast members from the BBC’S home-grown shows, and is dominated by Casualty, Eastenders and Holby City.
Thompson began his career with roles in The Long Good Friday and the early Eighties television dramas Harry’s Game and The Gentle Touch. But after landing the role of Charlie, he never sought a job elsewhere. “I like it,” he once said. “There’s not one bit of me that wants to wander off.”