Casualty’s school shooting episode Wednesday’s Child saw two armed intruders enter Holby’s Carsbury Park Highschool and inflict unimaginable death and destruction.
PLEASE NOTE: SIGNIFICANT SPOILERS FOR CASUALTY EPISODE WEDNESDAY'S CHILD, WHICH AIRED ON SATURDAY, JUNE 18 2022, BEYOND THIS POINT.
In the episode that aired on Saturday, June 18 2022 viewers witnessed panic and pandemonium, as the terrible events unfolded at the secondary school.
Meanwhile, at the ED, the team led by clinical lead Dylan Keogh (William Beck) readied themselves for an influx of casualties. It was an unprecedented situation for all involved, and especially traumatic for nurse manager David Hide (Jason Durr) and advanced clinical practitioner Faith Cadogan (Kirsty Mitchell), as their children Ollie (Harry Collett) and Natalia (Zoe Brough) were at the school.
At this point it was believed that a single perpetrator was at large, but scenes from the school revealed the awful truth - Ollie and his friend Rob (Noah Valentine) were killing their classmates and teachers.
In chilling scenes the pair, who had made a suicide pact, swept the classrooms one last time before the police arrived. While Rob was in another room, Ollie locked eyes with Natalia, who was hiding under a desk, but decided to spare his childhood friend's life and told Rob that the room was clear.
Shortly afterwards, terrified Natalia tried to escape, but ran into Ollie, who tearfully begged her to take his gun. Rob appeared and fired. Injured Natalia fled, while Rob and a wounded Ollie fought, before Ollie plummeted over a balcony…
Moments later armed police burst into the school and a shootout with Rob ensued. Yet this wasn’t the end of the horrific ordeal. All three teenagers were brought into the ED where the truth agonisingly unfolded.
Rob died of his injuries, while Ffion Morgan (Stirling Gallacher) arrested Ollie and sent a team to the Hide’s home as an investigation was launched. But there was more to come - Ollie succumbed to his injuries and died, and David, supported by Dylan, was led out of the ED, as his stunned friends and co-workers silently looked on. Outside, David fell to his knees and broke down. Leaving viewers with dozens of questions…
In future episodes, there is much more to come. An investigation is launched, David’s life unravels, and dozens of teenagers and their families cope with devastating loss, life-changing injuries, disbelief, anger and grief.
We talked to Kirsty Mitchell, who plays Faith Cadogan and is central to future episodes, to find out what lies in store…
Please note: This interview was conducted prior to the tragic events at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and Casualty episode Wednesday’s Child being moved in the schedules.
Kirsty, thanks for joining us to talk about the Casualty school shooting episode. After watching, we were shocked. Were you shocked when reading the scripts?
Kirsty Mitchell: "Yes - and there are all sorts of repercussions that happen after too. It’s really heartfelt, and the way Jason [Durr, who plays David] plays it, is as well. You don’t love your children any less because they did something awful. It must be horrendous for him."
While filming was there a big effort to keep the details secret?
KM: "They did a great job of keeping it under wraps, as there was a sinkhole at the school where they filmed. An actual sinkhole under the school. Shooting was going great until that. Also, the fact that we had a lot of brilliant supporting artists that were kids and they were all covered in [fake] bruises."
You mention repercussions - can you tease what’s next?
KM: "The disasters don’t stop; it continues. The repercussions of what happens to the parents and kids after this - there’s a lot more coming up on the show…"
David and Faith have been close friends until this point. Given Ollie was one of the perpetrators and Natalia was caught up in the horrific events, will this tear them apart?
KM: "There are definitely head-to-heads that happen! What Jason and I tried to do is keep it real, in a sense. We had a big conversation about it. Faith starts jumping to conclusions. David and Faith are friends and colleagues, but there’s a part of her that thinks, ‘How did you not know?’ But that gets revealed, why he didn’t know…"
It’s a difficult situation all round…
KM: "Yes, and there are all these stages that you go through - grief for the kids this has happened to, then anger sets in. And in true drama style we have a reflection of what’s going on in Faith’s life. There are quite big things she doesn't know, that are going on with her own daughter. So how can she judge David on that?"
How would you describe Faith’s emotions during Wednesday’s Child?
KM: "She just wants to find out if her daughter is okay. But it’s a hard one. When you’re a nurse at work and your child comes into the hospital, you’re trying to decide between how panicked you are as a parent and how much of the ACP stays in control. Having the medical knowledge that Faith has can put her at ease or make her understand that there's more peril.
"I can’t imagine [what it's like] for parents who have gone through this. It’s horrendous. The pain of your child being so scared when you weren’t there is, I think, the worst part."
And finally, we know there are going to be major repercussions for David, but will Faith and her family also be in the spotlight?
KM: "The impact that it has emotionally on Faith’s family and her daughter Natalia - there's a lot going on. Natalia is not fine - she’s crying in a corner. But she’s fine in comparison to a kid in a coma. Faith is trying to balance all these things at work as well as at home. There’s some really interesting stuff coming up."
This episode of Casualty is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
