Holby City Spoilers 14th October 2014 [Archive] - Soap, Drama and Spoiler Forums

Perdita

09-10-2014, 04:50

Holby City airs a big episode next week as Michael Spence makes a dramatic return to the hospital. :wub::D

Michael was last seen on screen in December, when he was forced to take an extended break after breaking the rules when dealing with an organ transplant.
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Hari Dhillon as Michael Spence in Holby City
© BBC
Hari Dhillon

Arriving back at the hospital, Michael and his old friend Fleur are quick to stir up trouble on the wards and it soon becomes apparent that he has big ulterior motive for coming back.

Digital Spy recently caught up with Hari Dhillon, who plays Michael, to hear all about his brief return and whether or not we will see him back again for more stints in the future.

Your last exit from the show surprised many fans - why did you leave?
"We had been talking about it for a while. I had done it for a few years and I was doing a play that they had very graciously allowed me to do while I was still filming in the show. I just thought after five years I needed to do another challenge or project. I could have easily stayed at Holby for a very, very long time and quite happily, to be perfectly honest.

"But the nature of being an actor is that you want to try a few different things and as I was talking about it with the producers, we thought it should be quite fast and hard. Usually when characters leave, it is over a period of a few months where we see it coming in somehow. We thought for Michael that perhaps the best way to do it would be to have him just walk out and thereby leaving the door open for the future. That as the genesis of the idea and in the same way for coming back."

Was it always the plan for you to come back to Holby at this point, or had it all been left open-ended with no specific plan?
"It was always open-ended. You can never plan this sort of stuff as things have to fit in my schedule and their schedule and also their storyline structure. We had talked once or twice about Michael returning before and I think we concluded that it would happen in another year. The door was always open but I don't think anyone really knew how it was going to come together. However, it ended up coming together really quickly, within a couple of weeks just because all of our circumstances came together and I think the most important thing for them was the space to fit it into the structure of the show."

What has Michael been up to whilst he has been away from the hospital?
"He has been back to the States and he has been spending time with his children. His ex-wife has remarried and he finds himself surplus to requirements in his own life. He lands on his feet at a hospital in Chicago which he has been working at and again, trying to fit in and not making waves. Of course, that hasn't quite worked but the hospital runs an exchange programme between Chicago and Holby. The doctor who is going on the exchange programme suffers a heart attack thereby paving the way for Michael to step in and save the day, but as always with Michael, there is another objective... "

What can the fans expect from your return storyline?
"He has changed a little bit in the year he has been away. I think he is trying to show a more professional appearance and a more professional demeanour. There are certain aspects of Michael that will always be the same - I think his fatal flaw has always been a slight degree of not being able to be honest even with himself, never mind those around him. That has always been something that comes back to bite him in the heel.

"I think what fans can expect is an attempt from Michael at yet another reinvention of himself. In terms of what else to expect from his return - he will be speaking the truth inappropriately, there will be some hurt feelings, some anger and also some retribution stuff. You can always expect him to have a roving eye and you can always expect him to try and do the right thing."
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Debbie Chazen
© Getty Images / David M. Benett
Debbie Chazen

Debbie Chazen has been cast in the role of Michael's friend Fleur Fanshawe. What can you tell us about the dynamic between them?
"Fleur is a very old friend of Michael's. She is probably the person who has known Michael the longest, both personally and professionally - they go way back. She knows what he is like, very much. In a certain way, she is the female equivalent to Michael. She has a hot head, she has her own way of doing things and she has a manner that sometimes puts people's backs up. She is a lesbian which has always created a space for them to just be friends, although for Michael, you find out that whilst he is okay with her being a lesbian, if he could find a way to get her into the sack, he would!

"Fleur has a more forgiving attitude and what you start to see between the first episode and the final episode I appear in, is the real human connection between the two of them. She is able to tell him a couple of things very honestly and gently that he is able to hear and hopefully engage in the next stage of his life. It is a really nice relationship."

Do you wish you could come back for longer than six episodes, or was this all you wanted to do?
"It was really all we could fit in. Like I said, I finished doing this film in June and I needed to come out to New York by the very end of August. We kicked around some ideas and there was a very tight little space that we worked out for them and for me. As it happens, it just fitted together perfectly. Also as it was summer, lots of regulars had either taken time off or gone away on vacation and there was a little bit more space to put in the stories we wanted."

The producers have said that Michael's final episode in this stint doesn't tie everything up - would you say there's more to discover in the future?
"Yes, I don't believe that Michael has burned every single bridge and returning again is totally possible. Again, it is one of those things in the future which will depend on whether it's plausible and will it fit with their storylines and my schedule. I've always enjoyed my time at Holby and I work between the States and England a lot but so many things have to come together. Who knows though - the producers are coming out here to see the show I am in on Broadway so maybe we will have a chat then."

Would you ever like to come back to the show permanently?
"I don't know - someone else asked me this recently! I have got the stuff I am doing at the moment which is taking all the air from me right now and I haven't really been thinking in that way. Also, you have to be really careful if the character is going to come back in that way just because you want it to fit in and it has to be plausible for the audience that you would be coming back and how you come back. We have never really talked about it so it is hard for me to answer that question right now. And like I say, I have this giant project that I am tackling currently and I feel like I am in the middle of climbing Everest."

What you consider coming back for another short stint like the one you have just filmed?
"Of course! Definitely. There will always be an open door and like I say, lots of factors have to come together. When this came together before, I just happened to meet up with them with no intentions of them asking me to return. It was just a social chat and catch up, but that meeting was the genesis of Michael's return this time. There was no set plans - we just met up and the idea developed from there."
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Michael Spence (HARI DHILLON), Elliot Hope (PAUL BRADLEY)
© BBC

What have you been up to since leaving?
"I've been doing a film Take Down. Then I came out to New York to do the play I am doing at the moment in Broadway which is called Disgraced."

Do you hear from lots of fans who've been missing Michael?
"Yes and it is really nice how people have responded so warmly and consistently even in the time I have been out of the show. I am always really surprised by it. People are always asking if I am going to come back as well and that's really great and so nice."

Do you think fans will be pleased to see Michael back on screen?
"I certainly hope so! I think people will be pleased to see the old things they recognise in the character but also that he has changed and developed. On one hand, he is the person we still know but he starts moving in a slightly different way. This was our hope and belief and why we came up with the idea. What I have always loved about Michael is that he always bring this energy that fits into the hospital but at the same time he brings something different. So I am hoping everyone likes it but I guess we will find out soon."