Casualty EXCLUSIVE: Kirsty Mitchell on Faith Cadogan’s tragic overdose

“Just when you think Faith has hit bottom, she falls further. Faith’s best friend, Dr Stevie Nash [Elinor Lawless], is helping her withdraw from diazepam and ADHD medication, and believes she’s doing the right thing by lowering her dose. But it feels too quick for Faith. She turns up at the hospital and pleads with Stevie to give her something else to get her through. Stevie says ‘No’ and sends her home, but Faith spots an open, unattended ambulance…”

“Yes, and there are more coming up. As she’s having a nosey around the ambulance, her ex-partner, paramedic Iain Dean [Michael Stevenson] appears. His disappointment is just too much and she can’t handle it. 

“Faith believes everything is over – her kids have gone to her mum’s, she’s probably going to lose her job, and she’s lost her man. She’s at her worst and she thinks there’s no point, so she orders drugs from her dealer. Later, she’s wheeled into the hospital and has obviously overdosed. She goes into convulsions, has a shocking and violent fit, and you don’t know if she’s going to make it.”

“You have to go to some dark and emotional places. It’s important to seclude yourself and get into that space. But there’s a weird satisfaction when you’ve emptied all your emotional boxes and done it. Elinor and Michael are both amazing to work with. On the day we filmed the overdose scenes, I think I surprised them. I’d watched a lot of videos about seizures — we like things to be as real as possible — and they were struggling to hold me down. I think they got a fright!”

“The fans’ response has been mind-blowing. Because they liked Faith so much some were angry or upset or arguing with each other online — and that's what addiction does to family, it absolutely rips people apart. 

“But everyone wants her to get better, which is really lovely. Having these storylines is a big responsibility. It’s important that we show this can happen to anybody and it’s heartbreaking. I get lovely letters and messages from people who share their stories with me and I'm so honoured they’ve reached out to me. This is a disease that can take away the people you love so quickly.”

“If Faith lives, that she finds herself again and that she can fight the demons and enjoy her family, friends, work and life. But sometimes addicts get better and sometimes they don’t…”

“I am, we watch Casualty every Saturday in my house! We all sit on the sofa and do this funny little dance when the theme music comes on – it’s now a ritual! I love seeing everyone else’s work. 

“And, when it comes to TV shows, I’m really bad at waiting [for the next episode] so, for me, this double-bill is perfect! It’s a nice treat to get two episodes at once, especially when there’s so much going on. They’ve chosen really good episodes to put together.”

“Yes, we’re all supporting Nigel — we all want to go to the live shows to see him!”