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Post by amber jade on Aug 30, 2015 16:09:47 GMT
Thanks kitkat1971 I wonder how long she'll be in it for
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Post by kitkat1971 on Aug 30, 2015 16:52:07 GMT
Shipton is playing it quite cool, it seems only a couple episodes and she won't be drawn on a possible return, i think because it will give the plot away. Which actually makes me wonder if, the veteran death we've been teased will actually be Duffy due to the fang violence storyline next week, whilst Charlie recovers.
I shall tell you more of Duffy later on but the person that really knows her stuff well is Markxist if we can coax him here. I did watch all her early stuff and know it fairly well but haven't watched most of it (except for season 7whgich is my all time fave season) in several years. And i'd pretty much given up on the show during her second stint, although i did see the season ender when her husband, Andrew was killed (Duffy was heavily pregnant with their 3rd child) and the Cambodia episodes about 5 years ago.
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markxist
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Post by markxist on Aug 30, 2015 21:04:06 GMT
Someone mention my name?
I really loved last night's episode and the small Ewart cameo - a stand in seen from the back but actually Bernard Gallagher's voice - made my day. That for me, was just as good if not better than Duffy's return.
The only issue I had is that Paul Unwin has chose to rewrite continuity. He's killed off Charlie's mum when he was a kid, yet he wrote her in S2; she needed a hip op and Charlie went against his socialist principles to use his recent pools win to pay for the op privately. Unwin should know this, he was still the lead on the show alongside co-creator Jeremy Brock throughout that series and beyond into S3. Like Kate says I also disliked the continuity error in suggesting Duffy's youngest, Paul, is now a grown up - he's 13 years old!
Tonight's ep disappointed me. I wanted to see more of the 70s era Charlie and his first experiences in nursing. I felt the 99/00 flashbacks with his father in home, though sweet, offered little because his father had never been mentioned before now. I also found it all a bit too sentimental and twee - the Let It Be finale and virtually every character going teary eyed at each patient that came through the doors.
Now, Duffy - Duffy is a very multilayered character. Daffy in the first series, she was raped which naturally stripped her of some of her innocence and sweet nature. As the years went on and promotion to Sister occurred she seemed more and more determined to prove herself and to whip new and younger staff members into shape. She even occasionally seemed to resent characters like Charlie and Megan who knew her of old and were more predisposed to go easy on some people. This came to a real head in my favourite Casualty storyline, the suicide of student nurse Kelly Liddle in S6, a young woman who Duffy routinely pushed and gave no quarter to.
Aah I miss old Casualty. You really couldn't beat it from S1 right the way through to S8, with S6/7 and 8 being of consistently high quality. I should point out I stopped watching the show around 18 months ago because it was irritating me again (I've drifted away a few times over the years) so watching last night and tonight's was a rare thing for me and I only did so because of the Charlie/Duffy stuff and Paul Unwin's writing and directing
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Post by Holey on Aug 30, 2015 21:46:31 GMT
Oh wow, a Duffy virgin!!!! She's a little up and down. She can be lovely (started off lovely and somewhat dippy) but grew up a lot as a result of being raped and having her boyfriend die of AIDS. She then became quite work focused, gained promotion and actually became quite know it all and a bit of a bitch at times. She's basically a good egg though. A little confused as to how her boys could have all flown the nest when the youngest is only about 12?! Liked the episode. A few minor niggles (one of which being that charlie's Mum was stated to still be alive in 1987) but nicely done. And i loved Ewart turning up at the end of the 70s flashback. Yes I thought that was very clever. I loved the opening sequence in Sundays episode. My main niggle with the 2 episodes were, there was far too much going on, even for Casualty, the story with the gun and gangs was not needed and could have been saved for another episode. In the end I was a bit disappointed sadly. Glad nobody died, some great performances from all the cast, especially Lee Mead.
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Post by kitkat1971 on Aug 30, 2015 23:46:39 GMT
Just watched the opening. Loved it.
Ideally, if they were really blending old and new, They should have recreated the opening titles with current medical cast (Inc paramedics) and Charlie as the disorientated patient being brought into A+E. That's how i would have done it.
It was still nice though, so lovely to see those credits, hear that music somewhere other than my video collections and Ewarr!!! God i love Ewart. Back when Casualty was good, must see drama and not an over the top soap.
Oooh, flashed nack to my O level year then, which is where i was (year 10 i think it is called now) when Cas stated.
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Casualty
Aug 31, 2015 0:10:00 GMT
via mobile
Post by kitkat1971 on Aug 31, 2015 0:10:00 GMT
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Charlie can't die I won't be able to watch it live tonight either so won't find out for hours if he survives or not! Caught up with three episodes last night, thoroughly enjoyed them. Had an 'old feel' to them. Loved the Charlie flash backs - looked more like the 40's than the 70's though but I suppose not everyone's houses were bang up to date! Going to my gran's in the 70's was often like stepping back into a 50's time warp! I went to Beamish and York castle Museum recently. The Beamish (look it up if not from the North east guys) 1913 kitchen had an identical pan to one under my parents oven which i reguarly use when cooking there. I was with dad asked "how old is yhat thing" and he just replied it could easily have come from one of his or Mum's parents (born 1906-1910) amd they might have got it from their parents. York castle Museum :home and hearth exhibition. Loads of stuff in the 80s display is still in my Dad's kitchem. Indeed the kettle is his spare which he lent me last year when mine broke and I wanted to check out the best buys for a new one.
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Post by kitkat1971 on Aug 31, 2015 0:15:41 GMT
I'd say the Ewart clips, flashback and clip in the titles were much better than Duffy's return.
That isn't doing down Duffy or Cathy Shipton but Ewrat is REAL Casualty. For me.
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Post by amber jade on Aug 31, 2015 7:11:12 GMT
Can someone please explain Ewart to me? Thanks
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Post by kitkat1971 on Aug 31, 2015 11:12:33 GMT
Ewart was the Consultant / Clinical Lead at the start. He was constantly battling administrators.
To explain, the original premise of Casualty was that it was a dedicated night shift and Ewart hand picked his staff. For it. So every episode was set at night. The NHS Admin didn't believe it was neceassry to have one and kept trying to close it down which Ewart would fight.
Ewart died of a heart attack mid way through season 3.
They dropped it always been the night shift in Season 4 I think - about the same time they decided to try and make it an anonymous town rather than clearly Bristol with another name.
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Post by Holey on Aug 31, 2015 11:17:48 GMT
He was sort of the Mrs Beauchamp of the 80's. He was a consultant. He was a craggy old thing, but he was passionate and loved the NHS. He stuck up for his staff, but didn't suffer fools. When I think of Ewart I always think of Megan. It was real shame he was not in the show longer. Casualty as I recall was quite political in the 80's.
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markxist
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Post by markxist on Aug 31, 2015 11:38:25 GMT
You could only associate him with Connie in terms of job role. Ewart was FAR better a character than that tottering auton! Ewart was Casualty's first leading man, beautifully played by Bernard Gallagher, he was the heart of the socialist politics the show stood for and the heart of the department itself. An incredibly believable character, wonderfully drawn - it was a sad day indeed when his character was killed off. Charlie essentially, from that moment on, took his mantle.
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Post by kitkat1971 on Aug 31, 2015 11:46:30 GMT
It was very political and Ewart was the flag bearer of that. He was also so dedicated to the job that his marriage collapsed - not because of affairs or anything like that, just he was never home.
His death wasn't dissimilar to how this week's played out. He was just eandering round the observational bit and keeled over Mehan found him and called the crash team who had to work on him on the floor. But Megan had to leave him to fo and comfort an old woman who had seen it happening. So there was that whole "my friend is dying but i have to keep on working, helping the other Patients" feel to it.
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Post by kitkat1971 on Aug 31, 2015 13:22:09 GMT
Yes, i was going to say something similar Mark. Of course charlie was always a good nurse and defender of the NHS but he was more of a jack the lad type character at first. Ewart was the 'soul' of the department and therefore show. Charlie basically grew up and stepped up as the 'rock' for everybody when Ewart died.
Actually, when did it stop being solely the night Shift (the point being it is most medics idea of the shift from he'll - casualty at night with all the drunks, homeless etc) so it is hard to get 'good' staff for it. Was it season 3 or 4?
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markxist
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Post by markxist on Aug 31, 2015 23:50:24 GMT
Yes, i was going to say something similar Mark. Of course charlie was always a good nurse and defender of the NHS but he was more of a jack the lad type character at first. Ewart was the 'soul' of the department and therefore show. Charlie basically grew up and stepped up as the 'rock' for everybody when Ewart died. Actually, when did it stop being solely the night Shift (the point being it is most medics idea of the shift from he'll - casualty at night with all the drunks, homeless etc) so it is hard to get 'good' staff for it. Was it season 3 or 4? Series 4. The opening ep was the big RTC with Hazchems, guest starring Pat Roach and a young Stephen Tompkinson, which happened in the daytime. Our local hospital had a similar battle as the one shown on screen in the early days. The Casualty dept lost its perm night shift altogether in the mid 80 never to return and was open 9 til 5 only until the mid 90s when it was closed for good - a strange example of Labour actually closing down hospital services rather than reopening them at the time. I always felt a bit sad that the show moved on from the night shift, but I think it had to to explore more other opportunities in terms of storytelling. That said, there's still something that little bit special about any story set at night and that has been shown time and time again whenever the show (and Holby too) set a story at night. At least Ewart's dream of a perm night shift remained long after his tragic death.
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Post by amber jade on Sept 1, 2015 9:07:01 GMT
Thanks guys
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