George Rainsford gives a behind-the-scenes insight into Scott’s death in Casualty. Be warned, contains spoilers!
In Casualty tonight doctor Ethan Hardly had an almighty wrestle with his conscience. Continually torn between saving Scott Ellisson’s life and ending it, for a while it looked like Ethan was staying firmly on the moral high ground and indeed he did initially…
Everything changed when unrepentant Scott started bragging to Ethan about brutally murdering Ethan’s brother Cal Knight and goading Ethan for saving him. Shortly afterwards, when injured Scott’s condition suddenly went downhill Ethan had a split second decision to make – help Scott or not. But with Scott’s vicious words ringing in his ears, Ethan chose to do nothing and Scott died as a result.
We talked to Casualty star George Rainsford, who plays Ethan, about Scott’s intense final scenes, and what it means for his character in the future…
Scott’s dead! Can you reveal what was going through Ethan’s mind in that terrible moment? "Because Ethan’s so shocked by Scott’s final words he’s almost paralysed when Scott takes a turn for the worse. Scott punishes Ethan further by telling him about Cal’s final moments and Ethan’s numbed as he relives his brother’s death. So when Scott (Will Austin) takes a turn for the worse, Ethan doesn’t know what to do and tries to leave. Scott tries to stop him and there’s just the briefest amount of time for Ethan to consider choosing to intervene or not. Before he’s even settles on what to do, it’s over for Scott."
Was there a lot of discussion about how the scene should play out? "That was really interesting to film. We weren’t totally sure how it should play out – should it be a conscious moment where Ethan lets this guy suffer because he deserves to? Ultimately I think we did it in the right way. Ethan hasn’t intervened but not in an evil or Scott-deserves-this way."
What was the atmosphere like when you filmed those final scenes? "It was really powerful! Some of the things we film are too graphic to show on screen - it was really gruesome to watch first hand Scott choking and blood spurting out of his mouth. Will Austin, who plays Scott, then went so still and his eyes glazed over. He performed it three times brilliantly and got a round of applause every time. It is the best death I’ve seen acted!"
Can you hint at what lies ahead for Ethan? "He’s going to have to live with that moment in subsequent episodes. When we pick up post-Scott there’s a lot more to deal with. We’re not going to see Ethan moving on. There are some really interesting and challenging scenes coming up. Ethan’s a changed man since Cal’s death. Ironically the thing Ethan and Scott had in common is that their family came first for them…"
Saturday’s shocking episode is available to watch on iPlayer. Next week viewers get a glimpse into how Ethan’s coping on Casualty’s special one-shot episode.
