Tonight’s Casualty was undeniably explosive in every sense of the word — Jodie Whyte resigned, due to rumours circulating that she's in a romantic relationship with her secret father, clinical lead Max Cristie.
The nurse then organised a leaving party at a local pub, where she discovered that on-off lover Ryan Firth (Eddie-Joe Robinson) was the cause of the rumours and open hostility at the hospital.
In this game-changing episode, everything was revealed following an explosion at the bar!
Spoilers for Casualty episode Burning Bridges beyond this point!
When news reached the hospital of the major incident Max (Nigel Harman) raced to the scene to rescue Jodie — putting himself in grave danger in the process.
Jodie (Anna Chell) had actually wandered off for food to soak up the booze, and was horrified when she returned to the pub as Max stumbled out of the smoke-filled building and collapsed.
Max was then rushed to the ED for urgent treatment, where consultant Dylan Keogh (William Beck) and nurse manager Donna Jackson (Jaye Jackson) pulled out all the stops to save their colleague. They managed to stabilise him, but not before Dylan noticed a scar on his abdomen…
Meanwhile, panicked Jodie was by Max’s side, which raised eyebrows among the staff and a few scathing remarks to boot.
Deciding it was time to put paid to the rumours, Dylan revealed that Jodie was in fact Max’s daughter, to shocked faces all round!
With this bag of cats firmly opened and running feral around the ED, What To Watch caught up with Casualty stars Nigel Harman and Anna Chell, to talk about this pivotal chapter for their characters and find out what lies ahead for the father and daughter…
Are you pleased with Casualty fans’ reaction to your characters and storylines?
Nigel Harman: “Someone recently showed me a TikTok video of me and Anna pulling faces in scenes set to music. I was actually quite moved that someone had spent some time on it and put it together. It was really sweet. You can never be sure how anything’s working but that made me think Jodie and Max must be having an impact somewhere…”
Anna Chell: “I think people are enjoying the story and looking forward to seeing where it goes, because the audience has known the truth about Max and Jodie, but no one in the hospital did [until now!].
“I was buying Welsh cakes the other day and a woman told me she absolutely loves the Max and Jodie storyline and is really invested in it.”
Nigel: “Did you get any free cakes?” [Laughter]
What was your experience of filming these pivotal scenes?
Nigel: “Max is at work when there’s a call to the red phone — whenever the red bat phone goes, you know that bad things are going to happen and us actors have to get into our red phone faces! When he hears there’s been an explosion at the pub he runs to the scene…
“Luckily we only filmed the last 40 yards of that run, otherwise I’d have been wheezing! Once there, he enters the building to find and save Jodie. It's that animal instinct. When love takes over it’s a powerful emotion.”
Did you perform any stunt work?
Nigel: “Just my running! I also had to collapse, which was just me basically falling on concrete. I actually forgot to pull myself in and banged my head… It didn’t help that it was raining as well.
“There was also a load of rubble that fell, so myself and Sarah [Seggari, who plays nurse Rida Amaan] had to do a bit of that. Me and Sarah were dragging an injured man about, that poor actor! [WPC 56 star Liam Jeavon, who played bar owner Jack Whitlow]. It wasn’t too stunt-y… Just a standard day on Casualty!
“And it was alright for Jodie, wasn’t it Anna, as it turns out she wasn’t even there because she was getting a kebab!” [Both laughing]
Until this point Max and Jodie’s relationship has been pretty barbed. Is that fun to play?
Nigel: “The two of them are quite similar. They're both really good at their jobs, they're both smart, and they’re both stubborn. So there's an element for Max of ‘You've met your match there.’ Everything in the hospital Max can run quite well apart from Jodie. He's completely lost when it comes to her.”
Anna: “Yes, there have been a few comments between them where Jodie’s said something to Max thinking ‘I'm going to be on the front foot here,’ and he just comes back with a comment that leaves her with nothing to say. She thinks she’s had him, but then she doesn’t — and similarly, the other way round for him.”
Nigel: “Yeah, you’re right, Jodie has a lot more leeway than the other characters when it comes to Max.”
In terms of what's next for your characters, what does the future hold now the truth is now out?
Nigel: “After the explosion it’s not good for Max, physically. He’s quite sick which is why Jodie comes and sits with him, and the word reaches everyone that they are father and daughter. But as a result of this, I have a bit of news that comes into my life that’s very serious, and it’s something that I can't tell Jodie. So, just as we're finding each other and coming towards something, another big barrier is born, which challenges Max in the hospital. That’s what we’re in the middle of filming now.”
Anna: “Yes, it’s new territory they’ve to get through. After the explosion you see Jodie’s love and her need to make sure her dad is okay, which is nice. She thinks ‘Okay, now we can start building our relationship’. But Max is very distant due to his big secret and she doesn’t know what’s happening. There is also a new love interest for her…
Nigel: What?! I do not approve! Who is it?
Anna: “It’s not Ryan… And you’re not going to approve!”
The medical drama returns in two week's time. Stay up-to-date with all our Casualty news, interviews and spoilers via our Casualty page.
