The stars of Holby City might be used to saving people's lives on screen, but there's a new kind of rescue on the cards as the show's cast reunites for a very special documentary.
We caught up with Holby legend Rosie Marcel (Jac Naylor) to hear about her new project which will see her heading to Romania with former castmates Guy Henry (Henrik Hanssen), Bob Barrett (Sacha Levy) and Sarah-Jane Potts (Nurse Eddi McKee) to rescue stray dogs and cats for animal welfare charity, The Pack Project.
Here Rosie talks exclusively about reuniting with her Holby friends, what important work The Pack Project does, and why the charity is a cause very close to her heart...
Hi Rosie, can you tell us a little bit about The Pack Project and what the charity does?
"The Pack Project is a charity based in the UK but partners up with a charity in Romania called Care for Dogs. We take unwanted stray dogs and cats off the streets in Romania, we house them, treat them and get them better. Then we find loving homes for them in the UK, Germany and other countries.
"It's like Battersea Dogs Home, but smaller, and next month I'm going to Romania to make a documentary with some of my Holby castmates to raise awareness for the cause."
How did you get involved with the charity?
"I'd had offers to be an ambassador for other charities, but I wanted to do something a bit smaller and closer to home, a charity that needed the help. Small charities like The Pact Project don't get any funding and they're good, normal, decent people who don't get many charitable donations. I feel lucky to be part of the charity and it's my pleasure to try and help them."
Can you tell us what you will be filming in Romania?
We really want to highlight what goes on over there because it is a very dissimilar culture to ours. The four of us always got on so well at Holby and we are hoping to get some incredible stuff. I think it will be funny, heartbreaking and dramatic, and I think we'll probably argue and get all of it on camera! My feeling is that the footage we'll get will be so incredible that someone will pick it up, but if not then we'll put it on our YouTube channel as that reaches just as many people these days."
Why is it that Romania has so many stray dogs?
"Basically they don't have an adoption culture, and they don't really have neutering programmes either. Most of the animals there aren't pets, they are guard dogs and when they are sick or they are no longer useful, they will kick those animals out onto the street where they will be run over or become stray.
"The animals will then be picked up by the pounds who are paid per dog. It's stupid the amount of money they get paid when they could be funnelling it into a neutering programme. And then they're put in the pound and they're given three weeks to be adopted, and then they are euthanized."
Are you excited about the Holby reunion?
"Definitely! I'm going to have my own sort of little private reunion the night before because Guy and Bob are staying with me so we can travel to the airport the next day. It's going to be hilarious and amazing but trying to get Guy to move fast in the morning is an absolute nightmare! He used to sometimes stay with me when we were filming Holby and I remember waking him up is hell. I'm going to have to change all the clocks in the house for an hour earlier and just not tell him!
"Getting to the airport and meeting up with everybody from the charity will be great and we are going to film it all. We have got a big team going out there this year and it's going to be marvellous."
It sounds like it is going to be a tough trip...
"It really is. Bob's going to cry a lot! We will go to the pounds where we will have to heartbreakingly pick the dogs that we think we can rehome and who aren't already so mentally ruined. We leave the rest behind and it's absolutely heartbreaking."
You must just want to bring them all home with you!
"All of them. They all deserve a home. Every dog and every cat deserves a home. You can adopt from wherever you want to adopt from but I'm going to support a charity where we save the animals from getting killed."
Have you have you adopted from the charity yourself?
"I have and she's lovely. She was supposed to be a foster but that did not work out - it was a foster fail! She's a wonderful, strange-looking creature and I have no idea what bread she's made up of. But she's terribly loyal and is amazing with our other dogs. She's also amazing with the cats, the chickens, the guinea fowl!
"We've got our eye on another one out there at the moment and I will see her when we're there in April and then make a decision. Then she will need to be tested with children, cats and dogs. When we adopt out we go above and beyond all the requirements to come to the UK with our vaccines and testing. We're properly accredited."
Do people still ask you about Holby?
"All the time! Mostly people ask when they're going to see me on the telly again but everybody's just so wonderful about the show. Unfortunately, my husband was very unwell and in hospital at Christmas and while I was visiting him there were moments when I was walking the corridors and people were asking me why I was there - like I was Jac! That was quite funny but people are very sweet. And I'm just so delighted that Holby had the reach it had and that people still love Jac."
We can't wait to watch the documentary. How can people support The pack Project in the meantime?
"We're looking for patrons and we would love people to adopt more animals if they can. We're going to do a fundraiser raffle and I have lots of Holby memorabilia from my own personal collection that I'm absolutely willing to give up for the charity.
"If we could get everyone to donate a pound, that would be the dream. I don't want £50, I don't even want £5, but if we could get the readers to each donate a pound it would make a huge difference to us - it's not even the price of a coffee.
"And we'd love people to follow The Pack Project on Instagram. You'll see all the dogs and cats on there. If you want some love in your life, and you want an animal who will be incredibly grateful to have a bed and a solid meal, then that's where you should go."
For more information on The Pack Project UK and how you can get involved, visit their website or check out their Instagram page for dogs @thepackprojectuk and for cats @thepackprojectukcats, or visit their YouTube channel.
