The truth of Fletch’s affair with Tess is finally revealed in Alex Walkinshaw’s final, action-packed episode of Casualty (BBC1, Saturday, June 28).
Here Alex says a fond farewell to Fletch’s time on Casualty, before he joins BBC’s sister medical drama Holby City…
How does it feel to be leaving Casualty after more than two years on the show?
“It’s really sad. It’s been a great place to work hard, with a lot of banter and a really strong cast. I’ll really miss them all.”
Who will you stay in touch with?
“Matt Bardock and Charlie Dale (paramedics Jeff and Mac) are really close mates. Charlie’s been teaching me guitar and I need him to pester me to practise my chords. While me and Matt will hit the golf course!”
You go out with a bang, with Fletch rescuing Tess from a train crash and then Fletch’s wife Nat finally realising Tess is the woman he had an affair with! What more can you reveal?
“There are a lot of hard realisations in my final scenes, and a lot of conclusions. Fletch is left with one choice, which he makes gallantly. He does the right thing. Tess and Fletch have tried really hard to act as ‘just’ friends, as it’s been easier than dealing with their emotions, but it was never going to end well!”
Fletch resigns from the emergency department, doesn’t he? How do his colleagues react?
“They draw their own conclusions! Fletch has a healthy relationship with everyone he works with and has been a friend and confidante for a lot of them. But he’s only moving upstairs, so with time things will be the same between them.”
Looking back, what are your favourite storylines?
“I’ve enjoyed the light-hearted, energetic stuff. But I’ve also had some nice, agonising things to play too! The story when Fletch says goodbye to his children in the car just before Christmas was quite hard to do! I’ve children myself and would never want to be in that situation, so found that tough. It affected me quite a lot.”
You’ve also had some cracking stunt scenes…
“I’ve been very lucky! Nurses don’t tend to leave the ED very often, but Fletch has several times. The stunt where the roof collapses on Fletch’s daughter looked and sounded great. The train crash is big, with weird and wonderful stuff – it was good fun.”
What does the future hold for Fletch when you move to sister show Holby City?
“On Holby Fletch is new and finding his feet. There are a couple of blasts from the past. He has to deal with what he got up to with these people and figure out new working relationships with them. There’s lots of bickering and banter!”
