Donna Jackson weaves a tangled web for herself in Casualty episode Aftermath (BBC One, 9.15pm, Saturday 26 August 2023 — See our TV Guide for listings).
Elsewhere, nurses Jodie Whyte and Rida Amaan go missing during a women's rally that takes a deadly turn and Teddy Gowan has questions for auntie Jan Jenning…
Full Casualty spoilers below…
Donna Jackson - crime and passion!
As Donna Jackson’s life wasn’t complicated enough, this week she gets up close and passionate with Holby ED clinical lead Max Cristie — after agreeing to a dinner date with Dylan Keogh!
Tensions are running high between Donna (Jaye Jacobs) and Max (Nigel Harman) since her shocking confession about causing a catastrophic car crash.
Now, disgraced Donna is anxiously awaiting a court case and anticipating a spell in prison. So she doesn’t appreciate it when Max is openly critical of her at work and tells him so!
The fiery duo call a temporary ceasefire, however, then news comes in that a man is stabbing women at a local rally…
As casualties stream into the ED, Max is on edge - his daughter Jodie Whyte (Anna Chell) is at the event with Rida Amaan (Sarah Seggari).
Frantic with worry, he takes his frustrations out on Donna, even giving her a hard time after Jodie and Rida turn up. Appalled, Dylan Keogh (William Beck) takes Max to task and supportively offers to cook Donna dinner after work.
In the meantime, Donna and Max must pull together, alongside Stevie Nash (Elinor Lawless), as they treat the vile rally killer, Lucas Winpole…
Love triangle alert!
When the full-on shift finally comes to a close, troubled Donna’s emotions are turned up to eleven and she ends up sharing a tender moment with Dylan — where they almost kiss!
But, realising where they are, Dylan leaves to buy dinner ingredients while confused Donna is summoned to Max’s office… There a furious argument turns into a steamy kiss and one thing leads to another!
In the heat of the moment she doesn’t spare a second thought for poor Dylan, who’s left outside clutching his shopping bag wondering where she is.
Will Donna regret this moment of lust?
Jodie and Rida missing, feared dead…
To say everyone is worried about the safety of Jodie and Rida this week is an understatement. But some people are more worried than others… Donna is sick with concern over her junior nurses, friends Cam Micklethwaite (Barney Walsh) and Ryan Firth (Eddie-Joe Robinson) are stricken with fear, Rash Masum (Neet Mohan) starts ringing around Rida’s loved ones, while Max is utterly beside himself — not that he’d admit it.
Jodie is the first to make an appearance at the ED when she turns up covered in blood. The blood isn’t hers, but belongs to injured Shelley Pine (impressive TV newcomer Claire Less Shenfield) who was at the march with her gran Mags Pine (Kate Fahy, A Spy Among Friends) when she was attacked.
Despite Max’s insistence that she goes home, Jodie stands her ground that she’s not leaving her patient — especially as Shelley is in danger of losing her sight after the horrific assault.
Later, there’s a great sense of relief when Rida is also admitted to the ED, injured, but physically okay. Due to the ordeal the young nurse is pretty shaken up, however, which may explain why she explodes at Rash!
Rida becomes uncharacteristically furious when discovers that Rash called her family home, which resulted in her auntie Mariam Ali (Lisa Zahra, Phoenix Rise) coming into the ED. Mariam ended up collapsing while in the hospital — something that Rida blames Rash for.
Unfortunately, Rida hasn’t had time to get all the facts, but once she does she regrets her harsh words towards her hospital pal and ends up doing him a massive favour… in the vein of Dixie and Jeff in Casualty circa 2010!
Meanwhile, Jodie is on a similar emotional rollercoaster. After treating Shelley she is left clutching her bloody scarf unsure of how to clean it. The scarf, which she used to help Shelley, belonged to her late mum and she’s devastated that it’s ruined. Will support come from an unexpected quarter?
Also in Casualty this week…
Disbelieving Donna is taken aback when Ash Morgan (Connor Curren) turns up at the hospital and demands more money from her. Will she comply or refuse? Either way, the nurse manager should probably take care…
Teddy Gowan demands answers from Jan Jenning! This week through Teddy (Milo Clarke) we learn that Jan (Di Botcher) has taken drastic action. After finding out about wife Ffion Morgan’s (Stirling Gallacher) plans with her ex-husband Gethin West (Robert Pugh), the paramedic boss has kicked them both out of her life.
With Gethin now in a home, Teddy has stepped in as his main support, as he’s keen to forge a relationship with his uncle. But with neither Jan or Gethin revealing the cause of the fall out, the concerned medic wants answers.
After Jan shows compassion for patient Eliza Shaw (Ella Stockton), Teddy appeals to her to reconsider her relationship with Gethin. Will Jan share the unvarnished truth with her nephew?
Scene of the week: Misogynist murder Lucas (played by a terrifyingly excellent Felix Edwards) is admitted to the ED, where Max, Donna and Stevie step in to treat the hate-filled killer in tense and chilling scenes.
Casualty episode Aftermath airs on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 9.15pm on BBC One. It will be available on BBC iPlayer after transmission.
