*Warning: Contains Spoilers for the last episode of Holby City*
It's the day Holby City fans have been dreading - on Tuesday night the last EVER episode of the BBC1 medical drama aired.
Having been on our screens for 23 years, the series intended to go out with a bang - and that it most certainly did.
As Holby stalwart Jac Naylor (Rosie Marcel) finally succumbed to her brain tumour, there was unlikely to be a dry eye in the house. But the brilliant finale also gave us happiness for Dom and Hanssen and saw the return of a host of Holby favourites from years past.
Here are the Top 5 moments that made the Holby City finale must-see TV...
1. Jac’s BIG decision
If there’s one thing we know about Jac Naylor it’s that SHE always likes being in control. That means calling the shots in death just as she did in life!
Having resigned herself to the fact her brain tumour is inoperable, when Jac summoned pal Adrian ‘Fletch’ Fletcher (Alex Walkinshaw) to get a pen and paper, he thought she wanted to pass the time in her hospital bed with a game of noughts and crosses.
So Fletch was both shocked and angry when Jac declares she wanted an ADRT (an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment) - and for him to be her witness. Jac was adamant: she did NOT want any more medical intervention.
As Fletch asked: ‘Why now?’ Jac replied: ‘Because it’s time. Because I’m tired, Fletch.’
Fletch tried to talk her out of it, but Jac quietly begged: ‘Fletch, do this one thing for me.’
2. Friends to the end…
Unaware that Jac now had an ADRT in place, Elliot Hope (Paul Bradley) ordered a scan and Jac’s best pal Sacha Levy (Bob Barrett) came to take her down for it. As they exchanged some light banter, Sacha said: ‘You love me really’ and when Jac mumbled a reply, he knew something was wrong and raised the alarm.
As Elliot, Sacha and Max McGerry (Jo Martin) tried to revive Jac, Fletch turned up and informed them all about the ADRT and told them to stop. A devastated Sacha begged Max to give Jac medication to keep her alive. When she refused and Fletch and Elliot supported her, Sacha wanted to administer the drugs himself, but Elliot stopped him, gently saying: ‘It’s Jac’s decision, we might not like it, but we have to respect it.’
This entire scene had us reaching for the Kleenex, but the real tear-jerker moment came when, as the others left, Fletch sat by Jac’s bedside (facing away from the camera) and could be heard quietly sobbing over the loss of his dear mate. This was a huge pay-off for fans, who have really invested in Jac and Fletch's friendship.
3. Heart-to-Heart
Meanwhile, it was a big day for ambitious young medic Nicky McKendrick (Belinda Owusu), who had to carry out complex heart surgery… on a beating heart. It was the first time she’d performed such a major procedure and, earlier in the day, excitedly went to tell Jac, the mentor who taught Nicky everything she knows.
When the operation was a huge success, Nicky can’t wait to rush out of theatre to tell Jac the good news - she even cheekily asked clinical lead Eli Ebrahimi (Davood Ghadami) to close up. But when Nicky reached Jac’s room on the ward and learned from Fletch that she had died, Nicky broke down.
4. Let there be life…
Jac spent her whole career saving lives and she had vowed to let others live on after her death. After Reverend Lexy Dunblane (Jenny Howe) received Jac's heart, the process then began of donating Jac's remaining organs to needy recipients, with Holby favourite Mo Effanga (Chizzy Akudolu) returning as transplant co-ordinator.
Jac’s passing is extremely poignant in that, as the character's voiceover is heard revealing the names, ages and occupations of each transplant patient, viewers saw her organs being transported to different hospitals and into the hands of some familiar Holby faces, namely Ric Griffin (Hugh Quarshie), Serena Campbell (Catherine Russell), Bernie Wolfe (Jemma Redgrave) and, last but by no means least, Jac’s one true love, Joseph Byrne (Luke Roberts).
5. And love…
As the heartbreaking episode drew to a close, there was joy for some of our characters. Dominic Copeland (David Ames) was officially welcomed into Ange’s (Dawn Steele) family and Holby CEO Henrik Hanssen (Guy Henry) travelled up to Leeds to declare his love for Russ (Simon Slater)!
And, of course, there’s the place that, over the past 23 years, we’ve all grown to love: and that’s Holby. In the drama's final moments, as our favourite characters pulled together to tend to an emergency, the medical drama signed off with a love letter to the NHS and the real-life doctors and nurses who will still be saving lives long after the final credits roll.
Thanks for the memories Holby. We will miss you.
