Casualty spoilers follow.
Casualty favourite Dylan Keogh has been thrown into the centre of a big, new storyline which has seen him vow to expose the ED's latest Clinical Lead Patrick Onley.
The story will be taking several twists and turns over the coming weeks, as it becomes clear that Dylan has every right to be suspicious.
Digital Spy recently caught up with Will Beck, who plays Dylan, for an exclusive about the juicy plot, cast exits, recent show changes – and much more.
Dylan is obviously back in the ED after a few weeks away. How is he feeling about everything that's happened?
"I think it's funny because when I'm filming it, it might feel like one thing and then what I see, it tends to be something a little bit different. You're not quite sure from the other side how it's coming across, but he looks pretty indifferent by the day.
"I was watching the episode when it went out last Saturday and it's really nice to see Dylan fired up. I think it's fair to say that Patrick really has touched a raw nerve with this kind of implicit criticism that Dylan wasn't up to the job. Dylan is determined to get to the bottom of, apart from everything else, why this guy seems to have it in for him.
"Patrick has only just arrived and he has zeroed in on Dylan as being the target for his frustrations. I think we will probably discover that Patrick is maybe projecting a few things onto a few different people."
We see in today's episode (May 5) that Dylan is right as Patrick is posing a dangerous threat to patients. What made Dylan so convinced of this in the first place?
"With the penicillin allergy case, Dylan felt especially aware that Patrick had cast the blame onto somebody else, and I think Dylan was conscious that there was something inexplicable in what had happened.
"And then when that documentary went to air, Dylan suddenly became aware that Patrick had had some contact with that patient. He knows, given the way that Patrick vilified him at the mortality meeting that followed the death, that Patrick knew something that he wasn't letting on.
"It is just this wonderful morsel of information that, to Dylan, becomes something that he just cannot move on until he's explained it.
How far will Dylan go to expose Patrick? Are there more twists to come with this story?
"When it comes out, I think it surprises even Patrick. That is really key to the story and it goes in a slightly different direction than the one it might appear at first. Dylan will always go to the point where he thinks he's got the answer, and then, rather frustratingly, he'll stop and go looking for the next unresolved question.
"When he left, he meant it, and when he came back, he meant it. Since he's back, he's already gone to one extreme and I think he's now pretty dogged in this pursuit of Patrick. He's very much aided and abetted by Stevie as well."
Him and Stevie become a bit of a detective duo – has that been fun to play?
"It's been really lovely to play. Stevie has been in the show for a couple of years, but in reality, we've had very few scenes together. I do think they make an entertaining combination. Those storylines are good fun to play. Detective work is something that we see on screen all the time and we are trying to do it in different way and in the context of our show, which is great fun. "
This story has also touched on Dylan's neurodivergence. What are your thoughts on this? And is it something you think they should be exploring with Dylan?
"It is something that we have talked about since the start. From the earlier days when Dylan was on screen, which was over 10 years ago now, it was something that people were speaking about and I do really think it's important to address these things.
"I do think they have to be addressed with sensitivity though – not only those people who know themselves to be of a certain diversity, but for those people who perhaps either don't wish to or haven't had the opportunity to give their own individuality a name.
"I think that the really interesting thing about the way that the writers chose to tackle this with Dylan was that they went straight in on the accusation from Patrick, and they gave it a name.
"Dylan was then left to ask himself the question very directly and I think it was an opportunity for him to explore a question that he'd denied himself the opportunity of exploring. My instinct is that it's not an uncommon situation to be in.
"One knows that they are somehow differently talented, differently sighted, and sometimes, someone's psychological pathways seem to be different from other people's. In exploring that, what one finds is their individuality rather than a diagnosis.
"But even in that diagnosis, there can be company and support. There are increasing opportunities for an understanding that these things are something to be celebrated as much as they may be rather disarming things to deal with at first."
Sadly, Patrick brought this up in quite an accusatory way. How has that impacted Dylan?
"He did and the unfortunate truth is for anybody with a divergence in that way is that there will be people who will zero in on it and use it against them. It seems so prominent to Patrick and, because of that, the criticism was shocking and insulting and personal.
"I think it is important to recognise that people can be unpleasant about those things, and ultimately, Patrick misunderstands, misconceives and abuses the idea of a diagnosis. But what Dylan then does with it is ultimately to his advantage. I think the exploration of one's psychology in general is something that, as a society, we're learning to celebrate a great deal more."
This latest block 'Breaking Point' has been exploring the mental-health struggles of not only patients but the staff at Holby. Is it important that the show can continue to stay relevant in this way?
"Definitely. I think, regrettably, when we talk about these things, they tend to sound political. I don't mean it in any political way whatsoever but it is about the observation that Covid and the economic difficulty has had an impact that so many people are feeling. If you ask a person now how they are feeling, they will share with you their stories in ways that just weren't there 10 or 15 years ago.
"I think mental-health pressures, and especially in an environment like the NHS and the frontline of care, have become, unfortunately, very much the norm. I would say that the value in exploring it is that it's offering people the opportunity to understand that they're not alone, and an emergency medicine consultant, as much as one of their patients, can be going through something very similar."
There's loads of speculation on who the whistleblower is, do you think fans will be surprised?
"I can say that I was surprised [by the outcome]. Of course, there will be people who have guessed or did know, but I was surprised.
"It has been nice that it was kept a secret internally as well. It will be a surprise to everybody. And I am not ruling myself out by the way! I personally think it's Connie…[laughs]"
Speaking of Connie, would you like to see her back?
"There have been so many brilliant characters that I have been fortunate enough to be part of the show with, and frankly, there are moments where I'd welcome the return of all of them. But I also think it's really important to move the show forward. It's a particularly funny thing about continuing drama that doesn't feel very progressive one week to the next.
"The evolution of the show visually and dramatically, in terms of the writing, or in our case particularly with something like the incidental music now, can feel like a glacial progression. And yet, when you go back and watch episodes from 10 years ago, they do seem so different.
"The era of the show in which Connie belonged, and prior to that, Nick Jordan, Zoe, and so on, feels very different now. It's funny that the consistency at that point was certainly Charlie, and the show has had to move into a whole different era since.
"It is liberating and freeing at the moment and it's exciting to be bedding in new characters. But yes, let's have Connie back. We had Zoe back recently too. They are all brilliant characters and it is such fun working with those people."
There have been a lot of changes to the show in the past year or so with the box set style episodes and early iPlayer releases. Do you have any thoughts on that?
"Like all shows at the moment, we are working in a rapidly changing industry. I think everybody is trying to best cater to what it seems their audience demands, and at the same time, also trying to attract other audiences.
"A box set to me brings the idea of binge-watching and I am not sure Casualty massively lends itself to that. But I think the idea is to have a package of episodes that you can watch back if you want, rather than trying to get started on a continuing drama and not knowing how far to watch back from in order to see how the storyline started.
"It sounds like a small adjustment but I think it's been a very good way for people to see a series arc, as much as an episode arc, and more of the characters that they are particularly fond of, or haven't really known too well in the past.
"That is really important to us. In terms of the early releases, you watch early because something has motivated you to watch it early and it doesn't happen by accident. I'm as impatient as anybody else and if I want to watch something at 10 o'clock on a Saturday morning, I think that is to be celebrated."
There's been a handful of big cast exits in recent months, including Charlie. What has that been like and is it always sad to say goodbye?
"When Derek [Thompson] left, it was surreal. For me, it was just an absolute privilege to be there. I said a few words on Derek's last day, and it was only in saying it, that I really appreciated that for everybody that was there at that time. We are talking comfortably of three figures of people who came together and each of those people owed their good fortune in being there to Derek.
"Without Derek, Casualty would never have been the show that it has become and the opportunity to mark that and to celebrate it and to celebrate a unique achievement of being the lead in a continuing drama for that length of time, is a one off. To be there and to be present, and to acknowledge that, was such a privilege that in a sense that I haven't even had time to miss it yet.
"Saying goodbye to someone like Nigel [Harman, who played Max] who came and went in a flash was a different kind of regret, because there's always the hope that he could come back.
"It is the same with the others, there's always the hope these people can come back. The show just goes on and new characters come in, and before you've had time to think about it, you're watching those same actors in their next jobs.
"That's exciting, too. I'm very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with so many people, and as much as I miss them, I just look back very fondly on all those times of working with so many different people."
Finally, is it true that you once actually trained to be a real-life doctor?
"Yes I did. I say it with a slight tinge of embarrassment because at the time, I thought I needed to apply and do a proper job. At the age of 18, life looked very different in prospect than the way it does now looking back. I went to medical school in London and it's fair to say that I did not last the duration of the entire course.
"I went straight from medical school to drama school, and the fact that I've pretended to be a doctor for so long now, the irony isn't lost on me. It's a peculiar one because I come from a medical family – my dad is a doctor –and so I have grown up with medicine around and about and I suppose I must have always known that I would have something to do with it.
"This is not the specialty that I would have anticipated but I'm absolutely delighted and I I think the medical profession would probably celebrate that I made the decision I did."
Casualty airs on Saturday nights on BBC One. The show is now releasing episodes early on BBC iPlayer at 6am on the day of transmission.
Read more Casualty spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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