Casualty
Sat 26 May, 8.25pm BBC1 Drama
Alicia Munroe gets her hopes up this week when the air begins to clear between her and former lover Ethan Hardy. At the end of their shift, however, Ethan brushes Alicia off to see current girlfriend Leigh-Anne. Alicia hides her disappointment and heads to the pub with the junior doctors. After one too many, things get flirty with new doctor Eddie, but a terrible ordeal lies ahead…
CASUALTY Saturday, 8.25pm BBC1 Drama
Connie Beauchamp seems her old self following the cancer ordeal that nearly killed her. She’s back as clinical lead in Holby ED and running the department like a well-oiled machine. But when Connie’s friends, elderly husband and wife Maggie and Ray Coomes, are admitted to the hospital, Connie’s left reeling…
heartbreak
‘Maggie was on the oncology ward with Connie. When she’s admitted to the ED, it triggers Connie’s survivor’s guilt because she’s been able to get better,’ explains Amanda Mealing, who plays Connie, and who’s survived breast cancer in real life. ‘Connie’s very anxious because Maggie is someone she’s been through treatment with. I know what that’s like. How can you go through so much and someone else go through something similar yet be worse off?’
Maggie (EastEnders’ Lin Blakley) is admitted with a head wound, confused, upset, and can’t recognise Connie. Later, Maggie’s husband Ray (Gary Lilburn) arrives after seeming to have taken an overdose. As their heartbreaking situation unravels, Connie is tested to her limits. On the surface she is coping, but underneath she’s distressed, and Charlie notices all is not well. Can he ease Connie’s anxiety?
‘Connie gets paranoid about her health, constantly checking herself on heart monitors,’ reveals Amanda. ‘When the day-to-day fight with cancer has finished, it isn’t over for the patient; it’s only the starting point. Recovery is complex and post-traumatic stress is a very real thing.’