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Entertainment
Grace Morris

Doctors legend Ian Midlane says emotional goodbye to much-loved role

Doctors spoilers, Al Haskey.

Doctors star Ian Midlane has bid an emotional farewell to his character Dr Al Haskey as the soap comes to an end after 23 years.

Ian played Dr Al Haskey for 11 years on Doctors, which was axed due to cost-cutting measures.

With the Mill Health Centre now closed for good after the soap wrapped filming on March 1, Ian paid tribute to his "life-changing" Doctors role.

He posted a picture of Al's iconic glasses on Twitter with the caption: "So ridiculously, embarrassingly proud to have played Al for over eleven years on the most lovely and life changing of jobs. My heart is full of love for the people of that show and the joyful, creative environment we forged and worked our butts off in…….

"It will never be the same again. But we walk on with hope in our hearts and smiles on our cheeks. The proudest boast in TV today is ………I worked on Doctors. @BBCDoctors."

This news comes after Doctors star Chris Walker revealed that he had finished filming his final scenes as police officer Rob Hollins.

Chris confirmed on his Facebook page that he had filmed his final scenes as the Letherbridge copper and his Doctor's journey had come to an end after 15 years.

Ian made his first appearance as Al in 2012 and has been involved in a number of dramatic storylines ever since, including stalking fellow doctor Jas Khella (Vineeta Rishi), his friendship with colleague Jimmi Clay (Adrian Lewis Morgan) and dealing with his mother's dementia.

Ian Midlane as Al Haskey in Doctors. (Image credit: BBC)

In 2023, Al was at the centre of a hard-hitting storyline where he was attacked by a patient. The storyline saw all of the Mill colleagues raise questions about the staff's welfare and how they could protect the staff from further aggressive behaviour.

In upcoming scenes, Al investigates a possible supernatural medical mystery after launching his own podcast, The Doctective and heads off to explore a haunted house with surgery receptionist Scarlett Kiernan (Kia Pegg).

Doctors currently airs Monday to Thursday at 1:45pm on BBC One. 

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