Dr Charles Savage (Andrew Greenough)

[Perdita]

Hollyoaks bosses have cast two new faces for Dee Valley Hospital.

Daisy Wood-Davis has signed up for the role of Lindsey Butterfield's younger sister Kim, while Andrew Greenough has landed the part of Dr Charles S'avage - who is Dirk's brother and Dennis's father.

Daisy Wood-Davis as Kim Butterfield in Hollyoaks
© Lime Pictures
Daisy Wood-Davis as Kim Butterfield

Both characters will be introduced on screen early next month as part of a dramatic week which sees gangster Big Bob create a hostage situation at the hospital.

Kim and Dr S'avage have both recently started work at Dee Valley when they find themselves caught up in Big Bob's latest scheme.

The shock plot, which was first teased in Hollyoaks' autumn trailer last week, sees Big Bob team up with Freddie Roscoe to steal drugs from the hospital.

When their plan starts to go wrong, Bob produces a gun and holds a number of the local residents hostage inside the building - with Kim and Dr S'avage among those in danger.

Andrew Greenough as Doctor Charles S'avage in Hollyoaks
© Lime Pictures
Andrew Greenough as Doctor Charles S'avage

Kim is billed as a volatile character who will quickly spell trouble for the Roscoe family, while pompous Dr S'avage is estranged from Dennis after leaving him to pursue his medical career and altering his surname to escape from his roots.

Digital Spy understands that there will be an increased focus on the hospital in upcoming Hollyoaks storylines as it becomes a hive of activity in the village, replacing the university element of the show.

Dr S'avage will take charge of a team of young nurses including Kim, newcomer Celine McQueen, existing character Tegan Lomax and some other new arrivals.

Wood-Davis has previously made a brief appearance in EastEnders as Poppy Meadow's sister Tansy. She has also had a number of stage roles.

Greenough has a variety of past TV credits including parts in Judge John Deed, Holby City and children's series Captain Mack.

[Perdita]

Dr S'avage faces another big career crisis on Hollyoaks next week as the 'switched at birth' scandal involving Rose Lomax and Dee Dee Hutchinson is finally exposed, threatening the reputation of Dee Valley Hospital.

Eccentric midwife Mariam was responsible for the mistake after delivering the babies while drunk in October 2013, which proves particularly problematic for S'avage as he already shares a complicated history with her.

Digital Spy recently chatted to Andrew Greenough, who plays S'avage, to hear more about next week's dramatic episodes - and the possibility that his character is the ruthless Gloved Hand Killer...

How do you feel about Dr S'avage being a Gloved Hand suspect?
"It's interesting! I think my instinct is that because he's the first suspect, he's the red herring. I would be very surprised if it was him, because the way I've been playing the character is that he cares about saving lives so much that to take life would be against his nature. He wants to be known as the best doctor around and to have a wing of the hospital named after him! Dr S'avage is all about running a tight ship and looking after his angels."

Are you surprised that so many fans do seem to be suspecting S'avage?
"No, because the evidence against him is very strong - especially when he covered up what had happened to Diane. But the way I'm playing it is that Dr S'avage is covering it up because he doesn't want anyone to know that they're not doing a good job at the hospital!"

One fan theory is that S'avage could be endangering some of the patients for the glory of bringing them back from the brink...
"Oh wow, I'd not thought about that! That's interesting. He may want to make himself look like a good doctor, so he's injecting them, making them ill and then trying to bring them back to life. I like that! I've already played a few serial killers in my time and they're always good characters to play."

As a cast, do you all spend a lot of time speculating about the Gloved Hand mystery?
"Yeah, we do! It's calmed down a bit now, but we did a lot at the beginning. A few of us wanted to know so we'd go upstairs and say 'What's going on?!' My theory was that it could be Nico, because she always seems to be around. Then I thought it could be Celine. The way it's written is really clever because you just don't know who it is and everyone is a suspect."

With so many heavy stories elsewhere in Hollyoaks, have you enjoyed bringing some light relief to the show?
"Yes I have, very much. Although saying that and without giving anything away, I have done some heavy stuff recently. It's new territory for me because I do a lot of comedy anyway, so I found it very challenging.

"Coming into the show, I'd sometimes compare it to Maggie Smith's character in Downton Abbey. In the middle of a scene, there'll just be a little aside where she says something that's really out there! It's that light relief and I do enjoy it because I think that's my character's job in the show, really. It's his job to entertain and to bring calm!"

Do you wish you'd had more of a chance to work with your on-screen son Joe Tracini (Dennis)?
"It would have been nice to have done more with him. I was literally thrown in at the deep end when I did my stuff at the beginning, so I didn't have a chance to get to know Joe that well before he left. He's obviously an adorable guy and it's sad that he's gone.

"I think it could have been a good double act but who knows, he might come back! I think there was a lot of mileage there that didn't happen, but that's just the way it goes sometimes."

Is there more to come between S'avage and his brother Dirk?
"I think they will explore our background more - how S'avage left Dennis with Dirk, then went off and did his thing. That's all going to be explored and Dr S'avage feels like he owes Dirk, really! We've done a fair bit together and I enjoyed the recent Holmes and Watson-style stuff with the blackmail - I thought that worked well.

"David [Kennedy, who plays Dirk] and I are from the same era in the acting world and we share stories. Although we're very different on screen, I think it works very well."

When the baby swap secret is revealed next week, is S'avage worried about how it will affect the hospital's reputation?
"Initially Dr S'avage tries to brush it under the carpet, but that isn't possible! Tony and Diane find out, they discover where Mariam lives and it's kind of unstoppable after that. He tries to calm it down to begin with, and then he has to help Mariam because she warns that she'll reveal some secrets about him if he doesn't!

"When I read any scripts, the way to do it is to take your character out of the script totally and then ask yourself what is missing as a result. With my character, it's always about sorting things out, calming things down and being light relief. So his role is to be a helping hand and to be an anchor."

We've heard there could be an interesting dynamic ahead for Dr S'avage and Sienna?
"Well, Mariam is eventually admitted to a psychiatric unit next week and Sienna is still there too. Sienna finds out Dr S'avage's deep secret from Mariam, so Sienna uses this as an opportunity to be discharged. She says that she'll reveal his secret if he doesn't get her out!

"S'avage manages to do that, but then Sienna knows that if she reveals his secret, it'll be her downfall again so she has to be on his side after that! Because of it, we become very emotionally attached to each other and it becomes a bit of a double act in the end. It also gets a bit heated!"

How do you get along with the girls who play the nurses and junior doctors?
"They're all very similar in real life to how they are on set. It's very natural, we get on very well and it feels like family both on and off screen. I couldn't hope for a better team, really, and they make me laugh a lot, as I do them! They're lovely and it's very relaxed - I've never had a job before which has been so relaxed."

How does the soap world compare to your previous work?
"I've done nothing like this, really! It's a very different genre to the work I've done in the past. One similarity is that all the work I've done has been character-based, which this character is too. I'm not playing me, so it's quite a slow process. You get the scripts, you start to layer it, you learn the lines and then you learn the performance.

"I've found it quite difficult to adapt to that, because soap is so quick. You have to be on it straight away and it's so fast, whereas on TV and film it's a lot slower and you have more time to think about it. It's a discipline but it's about retraining that part of your brain, especially with all of the medical stuff to learn too!"

Would you like S'avage to be a long-term character?
"Helen Lederer said to me on set once that my character is becoming like the male version of the Vicar of Dibley! He's in all of the scenes and he's becoming a doctor-stroke-vicar!

"I think there is potential for him to be long-running, but then if he's the killer it could be short-lived. I'd certainly like to think that he's going to be around for a while because he's a great character to play. Whenever there's a disaster, murder or gunshots, he's there saving lives. I think it's important that he's there because there isn't another character like him in the show. He provides a good contrast to the other characters!"

[tammyy2j]

Hollyoaks has delivered another surprising storyline twist, revealing that show regular Charles S'avage is a fraud.

The truth was disclosed to viewers in Thursday's E4 first look episode (May 7), as Sienna Blake discovered that Charles isn't a real doctor.
Charles's ex-wife Mariam Andrews was responsible for exposing the bombshell secret, acting out of jealousy after spotting Sienna growing close to Charles (Andrew Greenough).

Sienna (Anna Passey) was grateful to Charles as he had just treated her daughter Nico when she was struck down with a kidney infection, but her mood changed once she learned that the unwell teen was in less-than-capable hands.

Storming back to the hospital, Sienna asked a speechless Charles: "Do you even know what you're doing? Where did you train again? Pass all your exams, did you? People's lives are in your hands. My little girl is relying on you. It's true, isn't it? You're a fraud. You're not a real doctor at all."

Sienna's discovery now has the potential to wreck S'avage's career, so Friday's E4 episode will see him act quickly to protect himself by desperately sharing his side of the story with her.

Viewers will then see scheming Sienna torn between S'avage and Mariam, keeping us all guessing about where her loyalties really lie.

A Hollyoaks insider told Digital Spy: "Dr S'avage was a cat's whisker away from qualifying, but tragic events led him into the predicament of practising unqualified. It was so long ago and medicine has been his life's work, so he would do anything to stop it coming out."

Thursday's E4 episode also cast new suspicion on S'avage as the Gloved Hand Killer, as he insisted on injecting Nico with antibiotics to help her get back to full health.

Nico declined the treatment but S'avage prepared to proceed regardless, only stopping when Sienna suddenly burst into the room.


S'avage looked suspiciously like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't - did he come dangerously close to giving Nico one of the Gloved Hand's lethal injections?