Casualty Current Episode Discussion

[Katy]

yeah i loved that!! he sped off yet somehow she got there before him!

[Abigail]

I have decided I must apologise to Abigail. It was wrong to take out all my frustrations on one person.

The reason my apology is delayed is that I have had a major scalding incident. Another "Warren Incident", people just do not understand !

No apology necessary

[taungfox]

iwhat on earth has the woman who was playing warrens mum been in? its bneen bugging me all night!

She is Mary Jo Randle. She played Jo Morgan in The Bill from 1993 to 1995 and she played Bernie Quinlan in The Lakes. Also in Wire in the blood, Heartbeat, Dalziel and Pascoe
and two other episodes of Casuaalty (albeit as different characters).

[taungfox]

......the condition of Muscular Dydtrophy which has completely been lost in the populist theme of wife-beating... .

I am pleased to say my pessimism has been unfounded on the Warren / Muscular Dystrophy storyline. Suddnely in this episode the writers are exploring all
sorts of aspects and coming up with great drama I might add.
The introduction of Warren's mother (played by superb Mary Jo Randle) is perfect to put forward Warren's case and as so often happens "muddy the waters"
with misunderstanding and confusion. Shr does drop a bombshell which most people will not have picked up. Warren's father Jimmy we are told was a
very strict disciplinarian. This is vital information. What I forgot to say is that warren's MD is an inherited condition from one of his parents. Now we are
being told almost certainly it came from his father. All people deal with disabiliy differently, we see Warren lashes out and the liklehood is that his father did too
from Mrs Clements comments. Indeed the probability is that Warren faced violence as a child and as has been widely documented children suffering from
abuse in childhood often perpetuate that violence and can also be classed as victims. Warren's father just like my mother would have gone his whole
life undiagnosed, so there is no understanding and coping or accepting of the MD condition.
I am not taking away from the fact that Kisty being hit is completely wrong. Just trying to take a balanced view and highlight the very difficult position Warren is in. That is
rather than the simple one dimensional view that Warren is a despicable wfie beater. Even is this episode he wakes from a coma to hear the wife saying sweet nothings/ dreams
with Adam, wirnesses his daughter rejecting him for Adam and then is told by his mother (albeit a confused mother) of infidelity. He is at the extrem edge
of existence and sadly lashes out again. In hia despair and paranoia he even accuses Kirsty of trying to kill him. As in my earlier post the fall would have
been caused by Warren's MD symptom of Myotonia which the writers made very clear. Once again in this episode we were shown twice the very substancial
bannisters that any able bodied person without Myotonia would have simply arrested their fall. Muscular Dystrophy killed Warren not Kirsty.
Warren was healthy committed firemen with a lovely famiuly but gradually the condition he inherited from his father took everything away from him
in the worst and cruel way possible. It seems he also inherited the wrong way of dealing with his problem and this took away any sympathy and
gradually his wife and family. A tragic story. MD killed Warren. Well done BBC, great drama.

[Katy]

it was a great story.... i thought especially as i wasnt expecting it, i just assumed it would be the usual wife beater domestic abuse and the MD proved a great twist with brilliant acting that made sure it wasnt a let down,

Ah thank you Bernie Quinlan, of course she was! that has been doing my head in for ages!!!

[Perdita]

Stephen Lord has revealed that he has experienced a mixed reaction to his Casualty character Warren Clements.

Warren has been at the centre of a domestic violence storyline on the BBC medical drama in recent months, tormenting his wife Kirsty (Lucy Gaskell).

However, in an interview with The People, Lord explained that Warren's poor health has earned him some sympathy from fans despite his abusive ways.

The actor explained: "I would never defend what he did to Kirsty, not in a million years. But the fact he has muscular dystrophy and that he's been sat at home while she's been out flirting with her colleague Adam means it's not been absolutely black and white.

"I was over in Ireland when he first started getting violent. On the ferry going back to England, a woman said to me, 'I think your character is a real b**tard but I also feel for him because of his illness', and I do think people have a degree of sympathy for him."

He continued: "I rather like that the audience is in two minds about the story because I never wanted to play Warren as some kind of pantomime villain. Although, taken in isolation, I hope the domestic violence will prompt the right response from viewers.

"One in four people in this country suffer domestic violence; 25% of all recorded crime is domestic abuse. So if our storyline leads to just one person picking up the phone and seeking help when they need it, then it will have been worth showing - however hard it has been to watch sometimes."

Casualty continues on Saturday at 9.10pm on BBC One.

DS

[taungfox]

Stephen Lord has revealed that he has experienced a mixed reaction to his Casualty character Warren Clements.

Warren has been at the centre of a domestic violence storyline on the BBC medical drama in recent months, tormenting his wife Kirsty (Lucy Gaskell).

However, in an interview with The People, Lord explained that Warren's poor health has earned him some sympathy from fans despite his abusive ways.

The actor explained: "I would never defend what he did to Kirsty, not in a million years. But the fact he has muscular dystrophy and that he's been sat at home while she's been out flirting with her colleague Adam means it's not been absolutely black and white.

"I was over in Ireland when he first started getting violent. On the ferry going back to England, a woman said to me, 'I think your character is a real b**tard but I also feel for him because of his illness', and I do think people have a degree of sympathy for him."

He continued: "I rather like that the audience is in two minds about the story because I never wanted to play Warren as some kind of pantomime villain. Although, taken in isolation, I hope the domestic violence will prompt the right response from viewers.

"One in four people in this country suffer domestic violence; 25% of all recorded crime is domestic abuse. So if our storyline leads to just one person picking up the phone and seeking help when they need it, then it will have been worth showing - however hard it has been to watch sometimes."

Casualty continues on Saturday at 9.10pm on BBC One.

DS

This does reflect the way the scriptwriters morphed the storyline from the Muscular Dystrophy scenario into the more
populist and "blood and guts" issue of Wife Beating which would always get more ratings. Indeed the last two episodes
the name of Warren's condition was not even mentioned.
Not complaining though, at the Muscular Dydtrophy Campaign we think the diagnosis episode was brilliantly done and went a
long way to publicising a much misunderstood disease. Time constraints in such prime time TV mean none of their
stories get developed as much as they could be. Warren's MD could have filled a series all on it's own if they explored the issues fully. For instance the fact that Warren had inherited the MD from his abusive father Jimmy. That once diagnosed the first thing to do would be to DNA test daughter Nita who will have a 50 % chance of having the disease. Just not the time to do it justice. Glad they put their efforts into the diagnosis episode which was chillingly accuruate.
Well Done BBC.

[taungfox]

I do know how a serious, non-visible disability affects people and their families; my sister has fibromyalgia which affects the muscles and joints. Because people can't actually see the pain in the muscles they think she's putting it on. My mother tells her to pull herself together but that's a whole other story.

This is a very valid and understanding response. Thank you. Right on the point of non-visible disability. Indeed five years ago I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia before the
Muscular Dystrophy symptoms "kicked in".
Our main point on the Warren storyline is that on balance the BBC did a valuable job in publicising the very misunderstood disease of Muscular Dystrophy and how
very difficult it is to diagnose. They just did not have time in a prime time show such as this to explore it further. I note many of their stories are infuriatingly truncated.
If they had continued to explore the story of Warren Clements they could have followed up the bombshell that the disease was inherited from from his abusive
father Jimmy and how much of a victim Warren is due to that. Also not mentioned is that there is a 50 % chance that daughter Nita has inherited the disease. What
terrible stress for affected families. The lilehood is that she would be an adult onset case and only find out at about the age of 40 by which time she would have children
of her own of whom 50 % would also have MD (and 50 % of their children of course).
It is an evil insidious disease, Thanks to the BBC.

[taungfox]

A Happy Ending to the Warren Clements Saga.

Actor Steven Lord who plays Muscular Dystrophy sufferer
Warren Clements has become greatly involved in helping
the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign fight the disease. We
enclose an article from our publication "Target MD" where
he relates how carefully he reseached his role.
This is the reason that we are pleased that he was able
to so accurately display this misunterstood disease.

"STEPHEN LORD DOESN’T play the nicest
characters on TV, but he has strongly voiced his
support for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign
after his character on Casualty was diagnosed
with muscular dystrophy last month.
“Throughout the autumn, BBC One viewers
saw Warren Clements at home, struggling with
what he thought was ME,” says Stephen. “Now
that he has a diagnosis of limb girdle muscular
dystrophy, I feel a huge responsibility to help
– and also make clear that Warren’s abusive
behaviour is not related to muscle disease.”
Stephen has already attended one Microscope
Ball and is becoming very personally involved
with the charity.
Stephen joined Casualty after EastEnders,
where for two years he played Dawn Swann’s
boyfriend Jase Dyer, who was dramatically
killed off the show in a mob-style murder.
Stephen says he was surprised to learn that his
Casualty character was to be diagnosed with
muscular dystrophy, but took the opportunity
to carefully research the role. BBC medical
advisors introduced him to people living with
muscle disease who told Stephen the hard
facts. “The condition can be so debilitating
that I wanted to support the charity that is
searching for a cure. It’s a small contribution
on my part to the lives of people who have
helped me play the role truthfully.” Stephen
especially wants to highlight the emotional
side of living with muscle disease. “People see
what the illness can do when they are made
aware of its physical effects, but the emotional
turmoil of living with it can engulf some. It
highlights the importance of having fully
integrated care and support."

Watching the Warren's Death episode for the fourth
time I had missed that Warren's mother definately related
that her husband beat her. It seems likely Warren was
more of a sad case and victim than we thought. As the
actor tells us above "the emotional turmoil of living with
it can engulf some".

[JustJodi]

I see no one is keeping up with Casulty?? Polly is dead, Jay is cancer free... no one seems to be watching this show any more ??? LOL I was shocked that Nick was not upset getting the clinical lead...he was quite nice about it :-O This new doctor is a bit creepy !!!!!!!!!