The most recent Casualty outing was a shocker.
High drama came in the form of a car crash, a confession, a break-up AND a life-or-death proposal, leaving viewers grappling with more cliffhangers than a rock climbing convention.
With multiple characters’ storylines taking dramatic twists and turns, What to Watch asks, what’s next for Donna Jackson, Faith Cadogan, Iain Dean, Jan Jenning, Ffion Morgan, Teddy Milo, Sah Brockner, Paige Allcott, Rida Amaan and Max Cristie?
Warning — spoilers for Hooke’s Law, the Casualty episode that aired on Saturday, July 22 2023 at 8.25pm on BBC One, beyond this point...
6 Casualty cliffhangers
1. Donna Jackson’s one-way street to disaster
From the start Hooke’s Law gave an indication of what was to come by opening with a cliffhanger involving Donna Jackson!
The episode saw Donna (Jaye Jacobs) in uniform at the scene of a road traffic accident. Events then jumped back to 16 hours earlier and explained the circumstances leading up to the smash.
It was revealed that overworked Donna fell asleep at the wheel of her car, causing another vehicle to swerve and crash.
The big question now is, has Donna killed or seriously hurt the occupants of the other car? And can she shake off her shock and spring into action to help save them?
2. Faith Cadogan ditches Iain Dean
Faced with a choice between Iain Dean or her continuing (and escalating) drug use, Faith Cadogan decided to ditch her devoted lover for her Diazepam habit.
Breaking point came after Iain (Michael Stevenson) asked Faith (Kirsty Mitchell) to take regular drug tests to ensure that she was no longer addicted.
Faith reluctantly agreed and then sneakily obtained a urine sample from a vulnerable patient to keep Iain off her back. But before the credits rolled, Iain questioned the authenticity of the results and, realising she needed to choose between her relationship and her habit, Faith chose the drugs. In a furious argument she accused the concerned paramedic of not trusting her (!) and told him they were over.
Now, Iain’s bereft, believing he’s lost the love of his life, while Faith has scored herself some temporary space to get high without him questioning her every move and mood.
But none of this is sustainable. The drugs are taking over Faith’s life and Iain knows her secret. Despite his blindspot for the troubled nurse, will Iain report her to acting clinical lead Dylan Keogh?
3. Teddy, Paige and Sah’s major turning point
This episode also saw Teddy Gowan, Paige Allcott and Sah Brockner reach a painful juncture in their close-knit friendship.
Consumed by guilt Sah (Arin Smethurst) confessed to kissing best friend Teddy’s girlfriend, Paige.
Teddy (Milo Clarke) has been left stunned by the betrayal, while Paige (Shalisha James-Davis) is oblivious to Sah’s confession
Something tells us that Teddy's not the secret-keeping kind and that we can expect a major showdown in the very near future!
4. Ffion Morgan makes Gethin West an offer
One of the most leftfield cliffhangers this week involved Ffion Morgan and Gethin West.
During the episode fans were moved when police officer Ffion (Stirling Gallacher) and paramedic Jan Jenning (Di Botcher) got their marriage back on track.
A major part of their reconciliation centred around an intense heart-to-heart about Jan’s secret decision to help her ex-husband Gethin (Bob Pugh) end his life.
Trust restored, they agreed to meet each other back home after work, with Ffion offering to make Jan her favourite meal (anyone else want to know what Jan’s favourite dinner is?).
Then, in an unexpected twist, Ffion secretly met Gethin for a drink! On discovering that he still wanted to end his life on his own terms, she offered to help him travel to a clinic in Switzerland… On one condition…
Jan must never find out.
Whether Gethin, who has advanced MND, decides to accept Ffion’s terms remains unanswered for now… But if we’ve learned anything about Holby-land over the years, secrets have a way of being discovered.
5. Rida Amaan shaken and dejected
During a rollercoaster shift, junior nurse Rida Amaan, was reduced to tears.
The events kicked off when Malik Abdallah (The Swimmers’ Aso Sherabayani) brought his wife Sufia into the ED. With no translators available it was up to Rida (Sarah Seggari) to communicate with Malik using limited Arabic.
Rida, to her credit, managed to discover that Sufia was pregnant and may have had a stroke. Acting on this information, the ED team worked hard to save the mum-to-be and her unborn baby. Tragically Sufia died, but her child was saved. And, once again, it was up to Rida to reveal this awful development to Malik.
This heartbreaking situation has left Rida crushed and disillusioned. It’s also raised a number of questions about the young nurse’s personal, private and working life… Will anyone at the ED recognise her struggles and offer her much-needed support?
6. Where is Max Cristie?
Max Cristie remains off work following the pub explosion in Burning Bridges. In the meantime, Dylan Keogh (William Beck) is holding the fort, while deflecting numerous Max-related questions from curious colleagues.
The news may be out about Max (Nigel Harman) and junior nurse Jodie Whyte (Anna Chell) being father and daughter, but the truth has done nothing to quell questions about the enigmatic medic.
Max will be returning to the ED in the near future. He will also be harbouring a new secret… and we can’t wait!
Casualty continues next Saturday, July 23, 2023 on BBC One. Check our Casualty page for spoilers, news stories and interviews.
