Melanie Hill (Siobhan) chats about the 40th Anniversary two-parter ..
Siobhan is often the person keeping the Emergency Department functioning when chaos threatens to overwhelm it. What sort of pressure is she under during the anniversary episodes?
In the 40th anniversary episodes, they’ve upped the ante because there’s a huge explosion in Holby, and it’s the neighbouring hospital, St James, that’s blown up. It is a heightened situation for them all. She’s under high pressure, but one thing about Siobhan is that she’s been round the block a bit. She’s there to support the doctors and consultants. It’s Rash’s first day as a consultant, so she’s there to support all the staff.
These episodes show the hospital at breaking point. How does Siobhan balance caring for patients with looking after her team?
I think she’s reached a good balance now. She basically lives for work, because her private life is not very good. So, she’s kind of the lynchpin. She’s managing the palliative care, but she’s also aware that, as well as the injuries from the explosion, there are patients who have been treated at St James also coming in. So, it’s utter chaos.
Siobhan has always been fiercely protective of the people she works alongside. What does this story reveal about her as a leader?
She’s a good leader. Her work life is everything to her. She doesn’t panic easily, she has seen a few of these situations before and she’s good at coordinating everything.
During a major incident, difficult decisions have to be made quickly. What challenges does Siobhan face when trying to prioritise patients, resources and staff?
It’s the challenge of the number of patients that are coming through the door. The writing on these two episodes is so good. The guest artists so well-written and well-placed. There are so many beautiful stories that come in that might only have three scenes, but they’re placed so well that you care about these people. It’s life and death situations for people you might never have seen in Casualty, but they’re really touching stories.
It’s life and death for various members of the actual team too, so everyone’s hitting walls at various stages, and Siobhan’s there to support everyone in the process.
These episodes feature extraordinary events, but Siobhan’s story is rooted in the everyday realities of frontline healthcare. Why was that important to preserve?
Because the consultants save the lives, but it’s the nursing team that do the actual palliative care. They hand-hold, they encourage the patients and they monitor them. That comes across in this episode because it’s a really important part of saving lives in the NHS. There’s a system put in place when a massive emergency like this happens, and the nurses are there to support that framework and to monitor the patients in between everything else.
What has it been like being part of Casualty during such a landmark year for the programme?
It’s an honour and a privilege. I, like everyone else, had the attitude that we all know what Casualty is; we’ve seen it before, we used to watch it when we were younger. They don’t know what Casualty is like now because it’s a completely different show. It’s filmic, it’s epic. We’ve never attempted anything as big as this before.
There are also a few lovely surprises in the episodes that viewers will be excited to see. We’ve got a fantastic guest cast too. Pippa Haywood has joined as a surgeon, and Kent Riley has also come into it. I worked with Kent on Cilla, so it was nice to see him again.
Casualty is known for reflecting the challenges facing the NHS. Why do you think the show continues to resonate with audiences after 40 years?
It’s mainly because, as well as all the epic stunts and big set pieces in these 40th anniversary episodes, Casualty tells stories of normal people on the worst days of their lives. The patients that come through the door mirror the stories going on in the staff’s lives. They’re just normal people trying to help everyone. That’s what Casualty does really well. It tells stories about people that we all know, in abnormal situations.
