After suffering a breakdown, Holby City surgeon Jac Naylor is now in a secure mental hospital. But she's refusing to accept help, reveals Rosie Marcel…
Holby City star Rosie Marcel on how Jac Naylor battles with her demons when she's sent to a psychiatric unit in tonight's episode...
Following her mental breakdown in Holby City, we discover surgeon Jac Naylor is in a secure psychiatric facility and Fletch (Alex Walkinshaw) pays her a visit tonight. Is she pleased to see him?
Rosie Marcel: "Not exactly. Jac’s there but she doesn't feel like there's anything wrong. She feels like everybody else is to blame. She blames Fletch for calling the police, for calling the psych team, and for her child being taken away from her."
Jac isn’t exactly welcoming when Sacha (Bob Barrett) later pays her a visit, too…
RM: "She blames Sacha for not being there and protecting her and seeing what was wrong – and she hits him, which is dreadful. Bob actually asked me to hit him! We didn’t tell anybody we were going to do it because we wouldn’t have been allowed to because of the insurance. But what you see is him getting hit it's for real. Then, later, Elliot (Paul Bradley) turns up. And somehow, with his beautiful soul and calming nature, Elliot manages to reach her…"
Jac seems to have softened a bit by then…
RM: "Yeah mainly because she’s been dosed up with drugs, so she’s definitely a lot calmer at that point!"
They all want Jac to allow doctors to help her. When Elliot turns up does she then think: 'Well, they can’t all be wrong…'
RM: "I think so. And also Elliot's not trying to talk to her about her brain and her mind. He's just talking to her, about her. Whereas the others have gone you're ill, you're ill, he's not doing that. So I think that just speaks to her."
Jac always manages to find a common ground with Fletch, Sacha and Elliot in a way she doesn't with anybody else. Why does she have a soft spot for them?
RM: "I think Jac is very careful about who she has as her friend or her lover or her father figure. Whenever she’s given them grief, they've always given it back as well and I think she respects people who respect themselves. They don't let her get away with anything but they know her and know she doesn’t mean it. That's why she loves them and respects them."
MORE: Why Rosie Marcel had reservations about Jac's breakdown storyline
So, will Jac be able to come back from this ordeal, mentally and physically?
RM: "Honestly, I think it's gonna take a while and I'm happy with that, I really don't think it should suddenly be: ‘Oh, Jac's back and she's fine’. And I made it very clear when we were doing this storyline that I didn't want that to happen. So we're finding a way through for Jac. But I know, having been unwell myself, it's always there. You’re always in fear of it happening again or raising its ugly head and you have to do a lot to keep yourself mentally healthy. For Jac, I don’t know how long someone can carry on before they need to change their lives very drastically."
Might that include a new job?
RM: "Well, who knows? We'll see…"
Holby City continues tonight at 8pm on BBC1.
