Day of truth
It’s Fletcit’sit’satensetimeforessieandfletcha tense time for Essie and Fletch as they discover whether their cancer treatments have been successful...
Holby’s Essie Di Lucca and Adrian ‘Fletch’ Fletcher have grown united in their battle against cancer. And, this week, in scenes playing out over a threeweek period, we learn if they’re winning in their fight.
Fletch hopes that, following two surgeries, his prostate cancer ordeal is over. Meanwhile, Essie (Kaye Wragg) is on the first day of a new treatment for pancreatic cancer and tells Fletch she’s feeling herself again as they gather in the cancer suite to support Jasper, a teen patient with bowel cancer.
Bond
‘With people of all ages in the cancer suite, it’s where unlikely relationships are formed,’ says Alex Walkinshaw, who plays Fletch. ‘There’s a bond that nobody else will understand.’
Jasper urges Essie and Fletch to ‘play the cancer card’ more as he uses his condition to blag ‘free stuff’. Fletch joins in the fun at first but then, convinced he’s awaiting bad news, gets angry with Jasper for being so blasé about it when he’s worried about dying and leaving his kids without a dad.
‘Fletch and Jasper are on different parts of the journey,’ says Alex. ‘It shows how some people are fine with it while others are learning to process it.’
Later, Fletch discovers Jasper is about to undergo major surgery, and the teen admits to Fletch that all his bravado is to remind himself life gets better. In reality, he, too, is petrified of dying.
Fortunately, Jasper’s surgery is a success and Fletch delights in telling the boy his cancer hasn’t spread. As Fletch and Essie go to see their own oncologist, will they also be given good news?