Who’s that Sam? Tom Chambers explains Sam’s change of heart…
(Image credit: BBC/Alistair Heap)Is Sam Strachan’s time in Casualty up? He breaks hospital rules this week, testing Connie’s patience…
Heads turn when Sam – the man who was planning to fire a Casualty consultant last week – turns up to Holby ED, ready to muck in as a medic. Naturally, he gets a frosty reception, but will clinical lead Connie Beauchamp (Amanda Mealing) seize her opportunity to fire Sam when he seriously oversteps the mark?
Holby City and Casualty star Tom Chambers reveals why Sam’s first day on the ED may well be his last…
Sam Strachan seems a changed man. Do you think he’s very different in Casualty to how he was in Holby City? "He’s not the Sam we remember. Being medical director is a tough, unpleasant job, but he took it on to be closer to his daughter Grace. After his time as a consultant in New York, it was the only suitable position for him. It’s not really in Sam’s nature to be the hard-nosed medical director."
And yet he seems to have given it a good go? "Oh my word, he’s really trying hard to fight his corner! People keep saying to me: where’s the old Sam gone? It’s a tricky job and something of a crisis for him. That’s why he’s handed in his resignation. Sam’s drawn a line in the sand and said enough is enough. He wants to feel like his old self and save lives."
This week Sam shocks when he turns up to work as an ED doctor. Do you prefer Sam’s suits or medical scrubs? "Scrubs every time! They’re lovely to wear because they’re so light. You feel like you’re wearing pyjamas all day long. A sharp suit is good, but it feels more prim and proper. Scrubs make you feel like you’ve more energy. Sam’s got a more hands-on, energised medical attitude to him now. He’s also got more of a twinkle about him!"
Why has he chosen to go from MD to ED doctor? "With Cal's death and everything else that’s been going on in the hospital, the ED is short of doctors. Sam sees it as an opportunity to get back to being more hands-on with patients and using his life experience. He loves the thrill of the chase and heroics of saving lives."
How shocked are his ED colleagues? Only last week he was about to make someone redundant… "He doesn’t have a lot of allies in the hospital at this moment in time! Everyone is dumbstruck when the boss turns up to work as a doctor. They’re mystified."
Do they spot an opportunity to get their own back? "Yes, they jump on the bandwagon of Sam’s sudden inferiority! He wants to work on exciting cases where the action is. They make him do the more mundane, menial medical tasks. They enjoy treating him like a medical student."
Sam takes matters into his own hands and joins the paramedics on a dangerous case at a train station. What can you reveal? "It’s a life and death situation. Sam parts his way through the crowds at the train station to help this man, whose wife is pregnant. Sam wants to save the patient’s leg rather than amputate… However, Sam’s gone out without proper permission and he’s also taken a gamble trying to save the patient’s leg. Connie could fire him!"
Casualty screens on BBC1 this Saturday at 9pm.
