Holby City spoilers follow.
With only two Holby City episodes to go now until it finishes forever, we've been getting the lowdown from the cast who have brought the show to life for the past two decades.
Here, Bob Barrett, who plays fan favourite Sacha Levy, reflects on his most memorable moments, teases the final episode and reveals who is most likely to crossover to Casualty...
How did you react to the news Holby City was ending and what was it like filming your final scenes?
"It's like grief. There are seven stages of grief – initially, it was such a shock but as we've gone on, there has been a lot of gallows humour. We cry about it, we get upset about it and we also have a laugh. We really savoured the time we had together before it all finished really. We all get on, we're very close, and it's lovely it's been like that."
How has it been saying goodbye to Sacha after playing him for so long?
"It's hard. I suppose you don't know until you've stopped playing. When we stopped, that is when you think, 'This is so ingrained in me'. I say it's a family – my real daughter played my daughter on screen! I just need to look at Guy [Henry, who plays Hanssen] and I know our entire relationship.
"That's so hard to replace, you can't replace the reality of that. It's so hard because it's all happened in real time. I was saying to Rosie [Marcel, who plays Jac] how we became best friends in real life at the same time we became best friends in the show. We've lived the show in real time. Same with Kaye [Wragg, who played Essie], Guy, everyone. That's very very hard to replace."
What will you miss most about Holby and playing Sacha?
"When I first came in, it was meant to be two episodes, then it was six months and then it just became a thing. Initially, Sacha was very happy in his own skin so therefore he became everyone else's friend and it was all about the other person, which was good because every scene was different.
"But what's been great over the years, and that's testament to the show and the writers, is that you just flesh all that out. I've been lucky with how they've made him very human with flaws, and I think that's been amazing.
"Being able to have his relationships with people play out in real time has been unbelievable as well. His relationship with Chrissie, his relationship with Essie, they have all been in real time and that's unbelievably lucky.
"If you do a Shakespeare play, you go through the whole of someone's life in two and a half hours. Whereas here, you go through the whole of someone's life in 12 years, so you get to do it bit by bit so they become unbelievably real, ridiculously real so you don't even have to think how you would feel about a particular character. They walk in the room and that's it, it all comes out.
"Maybe we will never have that again unless we're in another long-running show. That really was special, having that. And luckily I've got to work with the best people, just amazing people. It's like a family. Guy [Henry] makes me laugh more than anyone else in the world."
What can you tell us about the final storylines?
"Nothing! I can't really say anything. All we can say is that it's been very hard. I feel privileged, I think we all feel privileged that we see this show home. You look at the actors over the years and it's unbelievable how many have been in it and we are the final group who are seeing it home.
"[The final episode] is going to be amazing. I think it's going to be incredible and I think it's a very fitting end to the show."
Do you think there might be a future for the show in and would you want to be involved if there was?
"It's so hard. I think this has been complete in a way now. If it does have another life, it'll be a question of if it will be here or elsewhere? It'll always be in our hearts. And there's also Casualty – there may be some characters who go there. Whether or not they become regulars, I don't know, but it might be a possibility.
"I think Holby is still very popular, though. It's not like it's in its last throes and the audience isn't watching it any more. The audience are so upset that it's leaving.
"We're leaving on a high, we're leaving a popular show. So it would be a risk to do it somewhere else and then it not be as popular. The media has been a part of that and fed the audience's enthusiasm for the show. "
So do you think some characters could cross over to Casualty?
"Alex [Walkinshaw, who plays Fletch] is my best bet. But truly, every time you come through those gates it's just joyous. That's what we'll miss."
Can you give us any last teasers on the finale?
"There's nothing from outside, it's all within and that will make it very emotional. It's why we're so attached to it all."
Holby City will air its penultimate episode on Tuesday, March 23. The final episode will air on Tuesday, March 29.
Read more Holby City spoilers on our dedicated homepage.
Deputy Soaps Editor
Sophie is an award-winning journalist with over a decade of experience as a writer. Previously at BT.com, where she had her own Reality TV column, Sophie joined the Digital Spy soaps team in 2013 and won the Unsung Hero of the Year award at the PPA Awards in 2022.
Over the years, she has written hundreds of articles about the Carters, the Dingles and even Wellard the dog, and has created a number of the site's video franchises. Sophie hosted Digital Spy's first ever podcast 'Soap Scoop' back in 2020, where she spoke to the likes of Alan Fletcher (aka Doctor Karl) and Lisa Riley, has been interviewed on on podcasts and live radio and has represented the company on the panel of the British Soap Awards.