Faith Cadogan spirals out of control in Casualty episode Hard Pill (BBC One, 8.10pm, Saturday 09 September 2023 — See our TV Guide for listings).
Elsewhere, Jan Jenning and Gethin West prepare to leave for Switzerland, while Donna Jackson and Max Crisite play a dangerous game of secrets, lies and denial… which leads to heartbreak for Dylan Keogh!
Full Casualty spoilers below…
Faith Cadogan unravels
Nurse Faith Cadogan’s life goes into freefall in this week’s Casualty.
Last week paramedic Iain Dean (Michael Stevenson) reported his ex to clinical lead Max Cristie (Nigel Harman), after she nearly killed two patients. Now she’s being investigated and in danger of losing everything.
Instead of facing her problems, however, Faith (Kirsty Mitchell) is ignoring calls from HR, locked in her bedroom and racking up lines, while her eldest daughter Natalia (Zoe Brough) takes care of her younger children!
Natalia still thinks her mum has cancer, but can tell something terrible is up, especially as Faith’s friend Stevie Nash (Elinor Lawless) is ignoring her calls. Stevie, meanwhile, is disgusted by Faith’s behaviour, yet is keeping mum about the true extent of her secrets and lies…
Stevie lashes out
At work Stevie is on a short fuse, with her coworker Nash Masum (Neet Mohan) bearing the brunt of her temper.
Max is alarmed by her behaviour and cautions the agitated medic to calm down, otherwise the rest of the team may start asking questions. Aware that Stevie knows more than she’s telling him, Max encourages her to reach out to Faith who’s in danger of ruining her life beyond repair.
After a stressful shift, coupled with a day of dodging Faith and her family, Stevie hits the pub with the nursing team, but it isn’t long before Natalia finds her. In a furious showdown Natalia accuses Stevie of abandoning Faith, only for the doctor to blurt out that she doesn’t have cancer, she's a hopeless drug addict!
Shocked, Natalia heads home where she witnesses Faith completely unravelling and openly doing drugs — and still her mum tries to deny it.
Horrified, Natalia leaves while a despairing Faith faces the cost of her spiralling addiction — her job, relationships and kids.
Is this rock bottom? Or does Faith have further to fall?
Jan’s life or death decision
On the surface Jan Jenning and her ex-husband Gethin West are the picture of domesticity, preparing for a trip and bickering about what to pack.
Look a little deeper, however, and they are actually in turmoil as they plan to quietly leave Holby to travel to Switzerland so Gethin can end his life on his own terms.
But, just like mice and men, their best laid plans go awry.
Jan (Di Botcher) is delayed at work when her ambulance is attacked by terrifying thugs, who have been terrorising her patient Nathan Mendes (Michael S. Siegel, Foundation) and his daughter Leah (Cicely Whitehead, Alex Rider).
Elsewhere, Gethin (Robert Pugh) waits patiently in a taxi outside the ambulance station, where Teddy Gowan (Milo Clarke) stops for a chat. In heartbreaking scenes, Gethin says his goodbyes to his unaware nephew and then ultimately decides to leave Holby without Jan…
Jan is devastated he will be going through this alone and, later, in a moment of painful vulnerability she confides in Iain, who is deeply troubled that she was willing to risk her career and prison.
In the meantime, Gethin is stranded and distraught at the airport as they won’t allow him to board without assistance. On hearing this Jan grabs her bags and leaves — only to run into Teddy who immediately realises something is up.
As Jan races to help Gethin, Teddy interrogates Iain about Jan’s cagey behaviour…
Will Iain reveal the truth to Teddy? And will Jan make it to the airport in time for the flight?
Dylan sees too much!
With her sentencing looming, Donna Jackson (Jaye Jacobs) is in total denial about her predicament and this week a solicitor has to give the nurse a stern talking to! Meanwhile, Donna’s daughter Mia (Briana Shann) is on edge and unsure what to do if her adoptive mum ends up going to prison.
At work Donna’s self-deception continues as she downplays the seriousness of her situation and focuses on terminal patient Ibs Omar Elmi (Patrick Elue, The Almond and the Seahorse).
Yet, consultant Dylan Keogh (William Beck) is only too aware of how much she’s struggling and encourages her to open up. Donna, however, can’t face what may lie ahead in her future and turns down his support.
Instead, she cancels her plans with Mia and accepts a booty call from Max, who is just as much in denial about his deteriorating health as she is about her pending court case.
The confused senior medics decide to hook up in Max’s office but fail to lock the door!
No prizes for guessing who discovers them in the midst of a carnal connection… Yep, poor Dylan. The same Dylan who is secretly helping treat Max and in love with Donna!
Also in Casualty this week
Newly engaged to Paige Allcott (Shalisha James-Davis) Teddy excitedly makes plans for his stag night, where he wants his uncle Gethin to be at the centre of activities.
Iain has a meeting with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) where he gives a statement regarding Faith’s drug addiction.
Ryan Firth (Eddie-Joe Robinson) is surprised when Stevie accepts his invite to join himself, Cam Micklethwaite (Barney Walsh), Jodie Whyte (Anna Chell) and Rida Amaan (Sarah Seggari) for afterwork drinks in the Hope and Anchor.
Determined to ignore her conflicting feelings about Faith, Stevie begins buying shots and regaling the nursing team with some of her most shocking tales! Until Natalia turns up demanding answers…
After telling Natalia the terrible truth, will Stevie leave Faith to deal with the consequences alone?
Casualty episode Hard Pill airs on Saturday 09 September 2023 at 8.10pm on BBC One and will be available on BBC iPlayer after transmission.
