S Club 7 singer Hannah Spearritt joins the cast of Casualty

(Image credit: Dan Wooller/REX/Shutterstock)

Hannah Spearritt is set for a new role as a regular character, Mercedes Christie, in the long-running BBC One medical drama Casualty.

S Club 7 singer Hannah will make her Casualty debut on Saturday, January 23.

She said: “I’m so happy to be part of such an amazing and established show playing Mercedes Christie – I can’t say too much at this stage, but it’s going to be explosive stuff! I’m a huge fan of the show which makes it even more exciting!”

I'm so happy to say i've joined the BBC Casualty as Mercedes Christie...very excited! @BBCCasualty

— Hannah Spearritt (@hannahspearritt) December 18, 2015

Hannah's no stranger to the small screen. Many will remember her in the hit ITV sci-fi series Primeval, while her film credits include Seed Of Chucky and Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, The Goob, Utopia and Gorytime.

Hannah also has extensive theatre experience, including the stage hit One Man, Two Guv’nors for the National Theatre.

Watch the Casualty Christmas and New Year trailer:

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.