On his 65th birthday, Holby consultant Ric Griffin gets a visit from a face from his past, who voices concerns for his health, reveals Hugh Quarshie...
As Holby City celebrates 20 years this year, it's longest-serving character Ric Griffin has been thrust into the spotlight and, next week, concerns grow for the consultant's health.
It’s consultant Ric Griffin’s 65th birthday but he’s in no mood to celebrate. He hasn’t been himself for weeks and now he seems more irritable than ever.
"It hasn’t escaped my notice that the producers are making quite a few references to Ric’s age and whether or not he’s going to stay or retire," says Hugh Quarshie, who has played the role of Ric off-and-on for 18 years.
Ric’s perked up, however, by the return of the Tan twins, the conjoined babies he performed life-changing separation surgery on 11 years ago.
Ric promises their mother, Mrs Tan, he’ll look after young Mi-Hi, who needs surgery to repair a hernia, but he keeps forgetting things and making mistakes.
Registrar Xavier Duvall (Marcus Griffiths), in particular, knows there's something up with Ric and he's furious that the respected consultant is potentially putting patients lives in jeopardy because he refuses to admit there's something wrong with him.
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Mrs Tan tells Ric he doesn’t seem like the man she once knew – but he refuses to admit anything’s wrong. Does the doctor need to see a medic?
Hugh is in no doubt as to why he's remained with the show for so long.
"The interesting and appealing thing for me is there has been some development of character of Ric," says Hugh. "It’s not just the surgeons being heroic all the time. Ric has been shown to have his flaws."
Holby City continues on Tuesdays at 8pm on BBC1.
