Michael Stevenson reveals fun facts and secrets from filming the Casualty Paramedic Special…
Calling all Casualty fact fans! We talked to Michael Stevenson, who plays heroic paramedic Iain Dean in the long-running medical drama, about what went on behind-the-scenes when filming Casualty’s Paramedic Special. And we liked what we heard!
Here Michael tells us more…
Call of duty!
Like his Casualty alter ego Iain Dean, Michael Stevenson is known for his love of being active and out and about. Recently Michael revealed he didn’t enjoy playing a patient. So just how did he fare while Iain was desk-bound and receiving 999 calls in the Paramedic Special?
Michael reveals: “I wasn’t actually office-bound for the whole two weeks of filming, thankfully!
“All the calls we did were live calls. There’s nothing pre-recorded. Every time I’m talking to someone on the phone there is actually an actor in another room doing that call with me!
“When Iain is talking to police officer Rox and you see it from her perspective, I was sat in a car in a car park down the road doing the call live to Katie West (Rox) while she was on the bridge… So I still managed to get out – I don’t like being indoors for too long!”
A friend in intense scenes, is a friend indeed…
The scenes between Iain and his therapist Claire Wakelins were highly emotive. So how was it filming the therapy sessions with Frances Barber, who guest starred as Claire?
MS: “That was intense to film. We did all those scenes in one or two days. Luckily I had Frankie Barber playing Iain’s therapist. She’s a seasoned and talented actress. To have her working there was really special.
“You always knew she was going to bring it to the table, whatever happened. I struck up a nice friendship with Frankie, and we had a giggle in between scenes!”
Hands up who else loves that Michael calls Frances Barber ‘Frankie’?
Frankie goes from Hollywood to Holby
Frances Barber is a prestigious actor of stage and screen. She has worked on numerous award-winning theatre productions, and been nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award. On the big screen Frances has starred in Still Crazy, Shiner and The Queen and I. Her TV roles include Mapp and Lucia, Silk and Doctor Who. She’s known for constantly working. So you’d be forgiven for thinking Casualty had a tough time securing her for their Paramedic Special, and that it was a one-time-only thing...
MS says: “I think with Frankie it’s often a case of logistics. She works quite a lot so we were very lucky to get her. She’s done some work before with Barbara Machin, who wrote this episode, and I think it was a case of – ‘I’ve written this, will you play the part of Claire?’
“Sometimes I think shows are a little scared to approach people like Frankie. But with Casualty there was no negotiation, she was absolutely in. She definitely would come back, I think!”
Casualty’s Paramedic Special aired on BBC1 on Saturday 27 April. It is currently available on BBC iPlayer.
