https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/cas...spoilers-2022/

The New Year is now upon us and the drama will be ramping up in Casualty when it returns to our screens next week.

The BBC medical drama has taken a short break for the festive season, but will be back on Saturday, January 8 with new faces, new stories and some possible new romance, too.

Here are seven brand new spoilers for this month:

1. Meet Paige!

A new year means new faces, and fans will be introduced to flamboyant F1 Paige in Casualty's first episode of 2022.

Paige, played by Shalisha James-Davis, will first be introduced to us when she is working in a bar, dressed as a police officer. There, she bonds with a man called Heath, but when she spots him stealing money, things take a turn.

Somewhat unfortunately, this leads to Paige being brought into the ED handcuffed to a criminal, where she is forced to admit to the team that she's due to start work there any day. Talk about making an impression!

2. Faith decides to move on

Faith's looking to the future at the start of 2022, as she decides it's time to move on in the wake of Lev's tragic death and her ill-fated fling with Dylan.

On a night out, Stevie tries to encourage her friend to have some fun but Faith insists she's busy with the kids. However, when she's approached by a man in the bar, Faith decides it's time to have her first-ever one-night stand.

3. Ethan reconsiders his future

Ethan will reflect on his previous decision to give up Bodhi in the New Year.

After seeing how much Ethan is missing Bodhi, Rash encourages him to consider letting his son back into his life, but what will Ethan do?

4. Paige clashes with Dylan

Paige's unfortunate introduction to the ED leaves her future colleagues questioning her suitability to be a doctor. When Heath appeals to Paige's empathetic nature and confides in her that there's no one else who cares about him, she becomes determined to help him and takes matters into her own hands.

Sadly, but not wholly surprising, this backfires monumentally and Paige is left humiliated when a furious Dylan warns her not to be so naive in future.

Dylan firmly warns Paige not to get involved, but she ignores his advice and proves her medical skills when she finds Heath in a perilous situation. Paige is overwhelmed with relief when she is able to save his life, but Dylan is still not impressed and they have a tense showdown.

5. Paula returns

Looking further ahead, Casualty will be revisiting Dylan's story with Paula (Rosie Jones), when she is brought back into the ED midway through January.

A heavily pregnant Paula has a nasty fall from her balcony at home on the day of her hearing, where social services will be making their decision about whether her baby should be taken into care.

To make matters more complicated, the ED team grow concerned that Paula has tried to harm herself on purpose, but Dylan quickly realises that this is not the case and vows to fight her corner.

6. Dylan fights for justice

Haunted by his own childhood growing up in care, Dylan will involve himself in fighting for justice for Paula and accompanies her to the hearing.

Although Dylan is shocked to hear Adi reveal the full extent of the neglect suffered by Paula's first child, Maisie, he repeatedly insists that she shouldn't be judged on something that happened ten years ago.

An emotional Paula insists that she is a different person now, and deserves a second chance, but can Dylan help her fight for the outcome she wants?

7. Stevie turns ruthless again

She's never been one to take any prisoners, but fans are about to find out that Stevie hasn't thawed all that much in the wake of her near-miss with Ethan.

When an embarrassed Paige returns to the ED, determined to prove herself, she is put under Stevie's wing and struggles to keep up with her never-ending demands.

It quickly becomes apparent that Paige is very much a people person, who has a natural ability to put patients at ease, but Stevie remains unimpressed with unintentional emotional involvement.

At the end of her first shift, Stevie berates Paige for making repeated mistakes, but can Paige turn things around? Or is her rotation in the ED set to be short-lived?

8. Adi and Marty grow closer

Adi's retrospective connection with Marty was explored in the two-part Christmas special, as we saw how they came to meet in December 2020.

Although we didn't see Adi in real-time again until last month, his friendship with Marty will still be going strong in the New Year.

Marty will be the first person Adi turns to in the wake of an upsetting decision regarding Paula but is romance on the cards?

Casualty returns on Saturday, January 8 on BBC One.