News

Casualty star heads to Holby

And he's not the only familiar face we'll see on the wards.

We love a good Casualty/Holby City crossover and we’ve got another one coming up as former ED nurse Lofty returns to the Holby wards.

Actor Lee Mead is reprising his role as the nurse who left Casualty last year to retrain as a bereavement counsellor in palliative care and head to Australia for a break.

But when he returns, has anything changed? Is he still running away from his problems?

Speaking of his comeback, a thrilled Lee said:

“I’m really excited to be coming back as Lofty, I’ve missed him! I’m looking forward to being in a new part of the Holby hospital and seeing what it has in store for him next.”

Read more: MAJOR Casualty character being killed off

And Lee isn’t the only familiar face we’ll be seeing back in the corridors of Holby as Jaye Jacobs is also returning to reprise her role of nurse Donna Jackson.

Donna originally left in 2011 after she bagged herself a footballer husband and a luxury lifestyle.

She insists her return is purely out of the goodness of her heart – hmm, we don’t think that’s all there is to it…

“Donna and I have unfinished business,” Jaye said of her comeback. “She’s flirty, brash and ballsy. I’ve missed her!”

As if that wasn’t enough of a cast shake-up, two new characters will be signing up. We’ve got tough-but-with-a-heart-of-gold general surgeon Ms Nina Karnik, played by Ayesha Dharker, and boyishly enthusiastic Dr. Damon Ford, played by David Ajao.

Read more: EastEnders star reveals all about dark Holby plot

Acting executive producer for Holby City and Casualty, Simon Harper, is very pleased with all the cast changes and announced his glee in a statement.

“I’m beyond excited to welcome onto the wards two new faces, a returning face and a much loved Casualty character.

“It’s thrilling to bring Jaye back as the sparky, irreverent Donna, one of the most popular and iconic Holby characters ever, and equally so to have Lee make the ‘trip upstairs’ as Lofty.

“Keller Ward is going through some dark times, so Lofty’s trademark warmth and kindness will come at just the right moment.”

He went on to talk about the newbies: “We’ve been trying to tempt the talented Ayesha with the right role for a while, and as Nina, she plays an emotionally compelling character with a mysterious past.

“David is a really exciting new talent who in his brilliant audition brought Damon’s energy and idealism to life.”

Sounds like it’s all go at Holby and we can’t wait!


Carena Crawford
Associate Editor (Soaps)