Casualty viewers had a surprising reaction to Maddy Hill's very dramatic debut as Ruby

(Image credit: BBC)

Casualty welcomed a new face to the ED on Saturday night as young paramedic Ruby Sparks joined the team. And things didn't exactly go to plan...

Within minutes on the job, poor Ruby — played by former EastEnders star Maddy Hill — was punched straight in the face by an angry drug addict.

Ruby Sparks Casualty

Experienced medic Iain explains the first rule of being a paramedic... (Image credit: BBC / Alistair Heap)

Unfortunately, when the eager learner was then paired up with co-workers Iain Dean [Mike Stevenson] and Charlotte Salt [Sam Nicholls], they didn't exactly show her a lot of support.

And her nightmare first shift when from bad to worst when the team were then called to an old woman's house who had fallen unconscious.

As Iain and Sam warned Ruby not to resuscitate the patient, the newbie completely ignored them and performed CPR anyway which broke one of the woman's bones in the process.

After the patient unfortunately died in hospital later, the senior staff weren't exactly impressed with Ruby.

Ruby Casualty

One bag or two? Ruby's terrified of making another mistake at work... (Image credit: BBC)

But despite rubbing her Holby ED colleagues up the wrong way, it looks like the latest addition to the emergency room impressed viewers at home, who took to Twitter to praise her.

"Absolutely adore ruby already oh my god #Casualty", said one fan.

While another added: "Poor Ruby, she didn’t do anything wrong! #Casualty".

And they weren't the only ones...

See more
See more
See more
See more
See more

This comes after actress Maddy recently opened up to us about swapping pulling pints in the Queen Vic as Danny Dyer's daughter Nancy Cater, to saving lives in Casualty.

Later, Masood tells Tamwar to go travelling with Nancy as planned… and he's coming with them!

Later, Masood tells Tamwar to go travelling with Nancy as planned… and he's coming with them! (Image credit: BBC/Kieron McCarron)

Speaking about her new character, the 28-year-old said: "She’s the polar opposite of Nancy Carter!

"She’s very pedantic and rule-abiding, the kind of character I haven’t really played before. I’ve always wanted to play someone who does everything by the book because I think there’s a hell of a lot of comedy in it."

The actress then added: "Audiences always warm to people who play the hero and trust their instincts, but there’s absolutely none of that with Ruby, so she might really annoy the viewers!”