Casualty spoilers from episode Take the Strain (Saturday, February 3, 2024) beyond this point
Tonight’s visit to Holby ED was a particularly strong and affecting paramedic affair with Iain Dean left drained by a devastating shift, before his day from hell was sealed with an unwanted kiss from his ex’s teenage daughter.
It was an equally trying one for Iain’s paramedic pals, Jacob Masters, Jan Jenning and Teddy Gowan, both professionally and personally - something that’s beautifully illustrated in a shiver-inducing sequence overlaid by Massive Attack track Teardrop. The sad truth is, they can’t save everyone, but they don’t half try to every single time…
During emotive scenes, viewers witnessed Iain’s (played by Michael Stevenson) reactions as he realised that his semi-coherent drug addicted patient Alice McDonald (Yasmin Steadman, Coronation Street) had a daughter and that she was somewhere in her dealer Jimo Armstrong’s (Jack Gouldbourne, Masters of the Air)) filthy flat.
While Jacob (Charles Venn) took a bleeding and deathly ill Alice to the ambulance, Iain raced back to the apartment where he began frantically searching for the young girl. Eventually he found her locked in a cupboard, thankfully still alive.
Meanwhile at the ED, Teddy (Milo Clarke) and Jan (Di Botcher) were urgently admitting patient Megan Wish (Gabrielle Green, Wolfblood) when the older paramedic clocked the animosity between her nephew and his fiancée, doctor Paige Allcott - or should we say ex-fiancée?
Teddy and Paige (Shalisha James-Davis) have called it quits, and yet, somehow, he’s failed to mention his one-night stand with nurse Jodie Whyte (Anna Chell)!
All in all it was a powerful choice of song from Casualty’s creative team. Well played!
Massive Attack were formed in Bristol in 1988, Teardrop features on their third studio album, Mezzanine, with vocals performed by Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser.
Casualty exclusive: Michael Stevenson on Iain and Natalia’s kiss
