Derek Thompson: Casualty's Charlie Fairhead leaves after 37 years

Derek Thompson is to permission BBC play Casualty aft 37 years successful the relation of Charlie Fairhead.

He is the aesculapian drama's longest-serving formed subordinate and the lone remaining quality from the archetypal occurrence successful 1986.

Thompson said: "The clip has travel for maine to bent up Charlie's scrubs aft the astir fantastic 37 years. "

The histrion volition beryllium filming until the autumn, and his last scenes arsenic Charlie volition aerial adjacent year.

The quality of Fairhead was inspired by a real-life caregiver - Pete Salt.

In a statement, Thompson said: "Together with the writers and producers, I person tried to bring to Charlie the compassion, kindness, heroism and dependable judgement that we each spot and emotion successful Pete.

"I privation to accidental acknowledgment to Pete and everyone other implicit that clip who has inspired maine successful bringing this quality to life."

Viewers person watched Fairhead acquisition plentifulness of play implicit the years with the patients successful the exigency department, arsenic good arsenic a fewer struggles of his own.

He has been changeable successful the thorax with a handgun by a schizophrenic antheral and held hostage by an equipped antheral and tally implicit by an ambulance connected his wedding day.

The quality has besides had 2 stress-induced bosom attacks and a pulmonary embolism, and was erstwhile seen being driven disconnected a pier.

Viewers watched him accidental a heart-breaking farewell to his beloved chap caregiver Duffy (Cathy Shipton), pursuing a will-they-won't-they narration which spanned 30 years.

Jon Sen, enforcement shaper of Casualty, said they utilized to gag that aft Fairhead's agelong and melodramatic vocation successful the NHS determination was not overmuch that helium hadn't seen.

"It was an astonishing astonishment to maine erstwhile Derek arrived with a superb thought for Charlie's exit arsenic portion of an upcoming storyline, which was excessively bully to walk up," Sen said. "We volition each miss Derek enormously. "

"Over astir 4 decades, Derek has crafted an iconic quality who is woven into the cloth of British TV history. We volition miss his craft, his humour and his on-screen presence. We're besides going to miss a friend, truthful for the adjacent fewer months we're going to person a shot filming Charlie's last chapter."