Holby City confirms Elliot Hope return and more big comebacks for 20th anniversary
Holby City is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and the soap has now confirmed a major comeback to mark its 1,000th episode.
The BBC One soap has announced that Paul Bradley will reprise his role as Elliot Hope to mark Holby City's huge milestone, and he's just one of the classic characters who'll be back on the hospital wards again.
Elliot, who was last seen on the soap in 2015, will return for a five-episode guest stint in the milestone episode, visiting the hospital to see his old friend Jac Naylor – but it won't be long before an ulterior motive for Elliot's visit is revealed, and his colleagues discover the truth about his return.
"I'm really looking forward to returning to a programme on which I spent so many happy years," Bradley said in a statement. "Holby has always been a hive of really exciting and imaginative stories and this won't be any different, it's going to be a cracker!"
Patricia Potter will also be reprising her role as Diane Lloyd later this year, 12 years after she left the programme in 2007. She'll feature in a special episode that will "go beyond the realms of the hospital" and head into very different territory for the soap.
"It's lovely to be returning to Holby. I really enjoyed my time there and made fantastic friends as well as meeting my husband," Patricia said.
"Returning after a decade is very weird but it's as friendly as ever and revisiting Diane feels like putting on an old glove! She had a tragic end and this storyline feels like it puts the character to bed with some peace and resolution. It's great."
Along with Elliot and Diane's returns, Holby City will also revisit the Tan twins storyline, which unfolded in 2008 as the conjoined twin babies underwent separation surgery. The soap will pick up with the twins 11 years on as they return to the ward where their life-changing surgery took place.
Previous cast members Patsy Kensit and Luke Roberts have also already been confirmed for a special episode in the autumn, with the pair reprising their popular roles as Faye Morton and Joseph Byrne.
Speaking about the anniversary storylines and returns, Holby City executive producer Simon Harper revealed he "can't wait" for the audience to see what they have planned.
"How could we possibly celebrate Holby's 20th anniversary without a return stint from one of our most beloved characters?" he said.
"I'm so delighted to welcome the glorious Paul Bradley back to his Holby family, and I also know just how hungry the audience have been for this moment, so it’s wonderful to finally see it happen."
As for Patricia Potter's return as Diane, he promised the soap wouldn't pull a Dallas on us, describing her return as "an anniversary homage".
"It's not often we literally bring a character back from the dead, and no, Diane won’t be walking out of the shower and telling her colleagues it was all a decade long dream," he said.
"Her return is in itself an anniversary homage to a time on the show when we experimented quite regularly with genre and style, so the audience can expect something very different indeed in a unique and quirky episode where Ric faces a terrifying and life-changing choice, and the world of the hospital is literally turned upside down."
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Max Walker (Jamie Davis) to guest in Holby City
Casualty's Max Walker will be crossing over to Holby City for a special storyline due to air later in the year.
Jamie Davis has reprised his role as popular porter Max, who bowed out of Casualty in January 2018.
Max will reappear in Holby City for one episode airing in December, although further details regarding what brings him back are currently under wraps.
However, Digital Spy understands that Max's return will just be in Holby City and there are no current plans for him to pop back to Casualty as well.
Max was last seen leaving Holby for a new life in America with his wife Zoe Hanna. Sunetra Sarker had bowed out as Zoe in 2016 but reprised her role for Max's exit, in order to give the on-off couple a happy ending.
Max's Holby comeback is part of new producer Jane Wallbank's commitment to increased crossovers between the shows.
Speaking to Digital Spy recently, Jane said: "The recent Casualty/Holby crossover was a huge achievement and everyone worked so hard. It's probably not viable to do anything on that scale for a few years yet, simply because of logistics.
"But there is increased and more complex character crossover between the two shows on quite a regular basis now."
Prior to his Casualty exit last year, Jamie had played Max since 2013.
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Tanya Burr to guest in Holby City
https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hol...rr-guest-role/
Autumn is soon arriving, which means one thing for Holby City fans – a brand new trailer proving the medical drama will keep the momentum going following an explosive summer.
There's a lot to unpack from the preview clip, with one of the details revealing that digital influencer Tanya Burr will appear as a guest star.
Tanya, 30, rose to fame on Instagram and YouTube, having garnered 3 million and 3.5 million followers respectively on the social media platforms.
Although her storyline is being kept under wraps, we can see she'll be portraying a patient at the Holby hospital.
While being treated by Essie Harrison and Sacha Levy, the new character asks the pair: "How long have you two been together?" to which they chuckle while insisting: "We're not together."
Fans have been gunning for the will-they-won't-they couple to get back together for some time now, with Essie proving to be a lifeline to the doc throughout his battle with depression.
Could Tanya's patient act as a catalyst to Essie and Sacha growing closer once more? Time will tell as the new episodes drop over the coming weeks.
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Elsewhere in the trailer, we're shown a potential explanation as to why Ric hasn't been acting himself recently. Confronting the idea that he might have dementia, a scan is scheduled to set the record straight.
Meanwhile, Jac is seen buckling under pressure, Lofty learns about his baby and the police turn up in search of Cameron.
Holby City to air stillbirth storyline as Helen and Lofty lose their baby
Holby City is set to bring awareness to stillbirths with an upcoming storyline.
Lofty (Lee Mead) is expecting a child with Helen (Verity Marshall), a woman with whom he had a fling on holiday. Her pregnancy was originally kept from Lofty when his husband Dom (David Ames) found out first, but the truth finally came out last month.
An episode airing later this month will see Lofty, Dom and Helen go through the heartbreak of losing their baby, setting off a new storyline for the trio as they process the grief.
Holby City's writing team worked with both bereavement and medical specialists to ensure that the stillbirth and its after-effects on the parents are depicted accurately on-screen.
"Holby City doesn't shy away from covering difficult and sometimes, as in this case, very sad issues which can resonate with the audience," executive producer Simon Harper said today (November 12).
"The loss of the baby is terrible for Helen, and we also felt that the father's perspective is traditionally perhaps overlooked. Lofty and Dom's relationship gives us the chance to explore that. Lee, David and Verity all give beautifully pitched performances in a heart-breaking episode."
Lee Mead added that he is honoured to be bringing awareness to such an important issue, saying: "After knowing people close to me who have sadly been through a similar experience, I think it's really important and brave for Holby City to shine a light on the reality that some families have to face. I'm really proud to have been a part of it.”
Holby City airs on Tuesdays at 8pm on BBC One, with these stillbirth storyline scenes premiering later in November.
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