As far as Casualty characters go, clinical lead Patrick Onley has achieved the near impossible - he’s united fans everywhere against him!
When Jamie Glover (Waterloo Road, The Crown, Agatha Raisin) was first introduced as the new Holby ED boss, viewers were still adjusting to the departure of show original Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson) and, at first glance, Patrick seemed like a steady hand to steer the floundering emergency department.
Yet it soon became clear that not only was Patrick a nasty conniving sort, he was also grossly incompetent.
In the final instalment of the Breaking Point 12-parter, The Last Post (Saturday 08 June, 2024 - now on BBC iPlayer) the shady surgeon entirely lost the confidence of his colleagues, and was prevented from moving onto pastures new by consultant Dylan Keogh (William Beck), who placed a strategic phone call to a Scottish Hospital in a bid to stop him from practising medicine elsewhere.
Love him or loathe him, however, there’s no denying that seasoned actor Jamie has been excellent in portraying a complex and chilling character with a touch of pathos.
But is this truly the end of Patrick? For the staff of the fictional hospital, we hope so, yet in terms of viewing enjoyment, the departure of Patrick feels like a loss.
When What To Watch caught up with Jamie for an exclusive interview prior to transmission of The Last Post, we held back some of the material in order not to disclose spoilers. Here’s the second part of that lovely and very interesting chat!
Exclusive Casualty interview with Jamie Glover
Casualty spoilers beyond this point
Jamie, can you tells us about the twists and turns involved in portraying Casualty's Patrick Onley?
“I have to say that I was quite keen, and the production team was in agreement with me, that I didn't want him to be that sort of pantomime villain. He felt realistic - essentially what Patrick has done is maintain his position by bullying and that has been great fun to play.”
Well played - he fooled us all initially!
“There is that, but we weren't supposed to know about his incompetence. Early on he did look like he absolutely knew what he was doing and as somebody completely in control and dominating a room. That meant I had to make it look like I knew what I was doing… A lot of good editing and help from the medical consultant helped!”
Of all his misdeeds, did you have any favourites that you particularly enjoyed filming?
“The operation that goes wrong in Red-Handed. I haven't actually seen it yet, but it was great fun to film. There was a lot of blood and it was a great moment where all the other characters realised that he’s as incompetent as Dylan Keogh had said.”
Those were shocking scenes, and a terrific ensemble piece too…
“Yes, they really were and having Sammy Dobson [who plays junior doctor Nicole Piper] and her disbelief that it was happening with somebody who really should have known what he was doing, was great. I have to say it has been great fun all the way along to play someone who fronts out their mistakes and puts the blame on others. But, all joking aside, people like this, who have been over-promoted, lash out and bully others, do exist in real workforces.”
That’s the turning point, which eventually led to his downfall. What was in your mind when you were filming your last two pivotal episodes?
“A decision I made halfway through, is that he's terrified because he knows he's out of his depth. He thinks that by having all of this bombast and in making sure that people are doing things as he thinks ‘correctly’ and his way, that he's actually doing something worthwhile. But there's a moment in a scene where Dylan confronts him and says all of a sudden, ‘You're a danger.’ I used that word as a trigger for Patrick’s defences to come down.”
In retrospect that fear very much was seen on screen, talk us through your thought process and approach…
“If he's actually accused of being a danger, then he's got nothing. If he actually is harming people, that's frightening for him. I don't think he's a sociopath, you know, I don't think he's somebody who doesn't have any empathy. I think the legs of the serene swan are going like the clappers under the water! He does care, but he doesn't know how to deal with that - except by pinning the blame on other people, because he’s not capable of taking responsibility for himself.”
With that in mind, Dylan must have seemed like a wild card to Patrick…
“I think that's right and he is a wild card Dylan, isn't he? He's a wonderful character and he's sort-of - I wouldn’t call him a maverick, but he's an unusual character and Patrick tried to put him in his place with the autism accusations and all of that. He thought, ‘If I can put him in a box, I can keep him down underneath me.’ But people don't work like that, so he just didn't know how to handle Dylan, who was basically too smart and too empathetic for him.”
With your time on Casualty at an end - at least for now! - can you tell us what’s next for you?
“I’m doing a play called A Child of Science, at the Bristol Old Vic theatre, but other than that, I’ve nothing else planned. You know, an actor’s life and all that! It’s always nice to go onto something else, so it’s just head down for the play at the moment, which takes me up to the middle of July.”
Do you know if there are any plans for you to return to Waterloo Road?
“Never say never, but I don’t think so. I popped up in one scene in the last series to walk off into the sunset with Angela Griffin, so they tied it up, and I don't think there are any plans with Waterloo Road at the moment.”
With Patrick’s departure from Holby ED, have you had any thoughts on which Casualty character would make a good replacement clinical lead?
“I think Dylan Keogh and Stevie Nash (played by William Beck and Elinor Lawless) are the natural fit, and they were sort-of doing Patrick's job for him! But I don't know - who do you think?”
A job share between them sounds like a good idea. The clinical lead position tends to bring most characters to breaking point, so perhaps it should be a two-person role!
“That’s true, it’s definitely a poisoned chalice. If Stevie and Dylan get together they could run the department, like they did to take Patrick down!”
Full disclosure, we actually know who the replacement clinical lead is [What To Watch tells Jamie off the record]...
“Oh wow! That’s interesting and I love [actor name redacted], they are amazing! Excuse my ignorance but I didn't know someone from [information deleted] could do that…”
Neither did we! Finally, before we let you go, are you hoping to stay in touch with the Casualty cast?
“I do hope so, they are a lovely bunch and we all got close quite quickly. I think Anna [Chell] and Elinor [Lawless] might bring a charabanc down to see the play, because it’s only about an hour on the motorway from Cardiff to Bristol, so hopefully they can come and see it.”
Sending our best wishes to @garethfarr50 for the opening night of this exciting new play about the story of IVF at @BristolOldVic pic.twitter.com/SVz8s9K34DJune 5, 2024
A Child of Science at Bristol Old Vic
Jamie Glover stars as Patrick Steptoe in Gareth Farr’s new play, A Child of Science, telling the story of how he, Robert Edwards, and Jean Purdy changed the world as we know it - although most people don’t know their names…
“The play is about a real person called Patrick Steptoe, one of the pioneers of IVF, and the medicine that led to the first ‘test-tube baby’,” explains Jamie. “Tom Felton, who starred as Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, and Meg Bellamy, who played Kate Middleton in Netflix’s The Crown, are both in it as well. I have to say, it’s pretty special and I hope people come to see it.”
For more information visit https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/a-child-of-science
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