Following a tragic turn of events at Holby City, dependable director of nursing Adrian ‘Fletch’ Fletcher has to deal with the aftermath next week while his daughter Evie undergoes surgery after being stabbed by the drugs gang her boyfriend Andrei has been on the run from.
Fletch watches on in despair as Evie (Phoebe French) develops complications in theatre and, at one point, it looks like she won’t make it - but skilled surgeon Chloe Godard (Amy Lennox) saves her. As Evie recovers, Fletch blames himself for the devastation around him…
"Life isn’t always sweetness and light, sometimes it’s just rubbish and people go through one catastrophic event after another," says Alex Walkinshaw, who plays Fletch.
Andrei’s recently out of surgery, too, and when Evie comes round from surgery, he’s the first person she wants to see. But Fletch puts his foot down and tells Andrei he’s going to help set him up with a new life away from the gang… and without Evie.
When Evie finds out her dad wants to stop her seeing Andrei, she's furious!
"When Fletch is confronted with the reminder of Evie being his little girl, and his little girl is hurt, in that moment he’s just a dad and he responds how he responds because he’s her dad," reveals Alex. "They always say don’t tell your children who they can’t go out with because they’ll just do it to spite you. Fletch basically tells Evie: 'I’m your dad and you’ll do what I say'. He handles things really badly."
Later, Fletch's new flame, director of funding Jeni Sinclair (Debra Stephenson), tries to reassure Evie she'll meet other boys.
Evie, however, loves Andrei and tells her dad she will NEVER forgive him for what he's done. Will Fletch ever have a stress-free life? Alex doesn't think so…
"Fletch will never NOT have a stressful life," he says. "People like Fletch because he's a joker and has a real upward energy - but it’s nice to show he can also be quite dark and angry, too."
Holby City continues Tuesdays at 8.20pm on BBC1.
