This is Sarah Sutton (Nyssa in ‘Doctor Who’)’s ‘Casualty’ episode! 🙂

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley.

I don’t usually do reviews on medical dramas like ‘Casualty’, but pretty recently, at the time of this review, the classic 1989 episode (Series 4, Episode 6 to be specific) called ‘Charity’ was repeated on the Drama channel on UKTV. I found the opportunity to watch the episode by seeing it on UKTV Play.

The reason why I wanted to watch the episode is because that this is Sarah Sutton’s episode in ‘Casualty’. Sarah Sutton is well-known for playing Nyssa in ‘Doctor Who’. This seemed a nice chance to check out the ‘Casualty’ episode and to find out what Sarah Sutton is like in a different acting role.

I’m glad I got to see Sarah Sutton in ‘Casualty’. I did watch Sarah’s ‘Casualty’ episode many years ago on YouTube in 2018, but it was only parts of it, as the beginning and the end were missing. I don’t think this episode showcases Sarah Sutton’s talents as an actress to a great extent, but she’s still good in it.

For one thing, the character she plays called Sarah Dryden doesn’t have a lot to do in the episode. She spends a lot of time in a hospital bed, suffering in pain. Her story is also over by the time we get to the final quarter of the episode, since there are other storylines going on throughout the episode.

In the episode, Sarah Dryden is a patient who has an ectopic pregnancy. A lot of her story can be quite depressing, as are most of the other storylines going on the episode. It was nice to see her having scenes with her husband, Iain Lauchlan as Dan Dryden, who she gets to have a little kiss with.

I think this might be the first time Sarah has ever had an on-screen kiss with someone in a TV series. And no, I’m not counting the kiss on the cheek Sarah as Nyssa gave to Peter Davison’s Fifth Doctor in ‘Terminus’. This is like a proper full-on kiss on the lips with someone, even though it’s done briefly. 🙂

I chatted briefly to Sarah about her ‘Casualty’ episode when I saw her at the ‘Carlisle Comic Con’ in March 2018. I can’t recall the conversation well and I’m not sure if Sarah has fond memories of the episode. I might check with her on how she feels about her ‘Casualty’ episode the next time I see her. 😐

I’ve shared my thoughts on how I feel about medical TV dramas when I reviewed the ‘Harry Hill’s World of TV’ episode back in 2020. From watching this classic ‘Casualty’ episode, I can’t say I’m keen to watch any more episodes on UKTV Play, as the atmosphere and tone of the series is depressing. 😦

I know that’s the point of some of these medical TV dramas, but it was a struggle to get engaged with the characters. Even from watching this episode, I don’t know who the main characters in ‘Casualty’ are. That is often the case whenever I’m watching medical dramas and soap operas on TV.

Like I said before, other storylines going on in the episode are depressing. There’s a storyline about a bad-tempered old man who beats his wife and there happens to be a bite victim. There’s also a little girl who has severe asthma and dies rather tragically by the end of the episode, which is upsetting. 😦

The title of the episode happens to be about funds being raised for the ‘Casualty’ hospital at a posh ball. Honestly, I didn’t pick up on this detail immediately when I saw the episode, as it’s not really the focus. The hospital storylines take up more focus than the posh ball storyline, which is so jarring.

Apart from Sarah Sutton, there aren’t many actors I recognised in the episode. Jean Heywood makes an appearance as Mrs. Grady though. I’ve seen Jean Heywood in Series 4 of ‘Jeeves & Wooster’, Series 7 of the original ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ and very recently in ‘A Very Peculiar Practice’.

The ‘Charity’ episode in ‘Casualty’ isn’t something I would rate highly. I enjoyed Sarah Sutton’s scenes in the episode and again, there aren’t that many, but the majority of the episode was quite a challenge to watch. My parents and I felt quite downhearted after we finished watched the episode.

We had to cheer ourselves up by watching a ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ episode on Britbox. If you want to check out this ‘Casualty’ episode to satisfy your curiosity about Sarah Sutton being in it, then go ahead. But I advise caution, as this might not be your cup of tea and it’s a tough episode to watch.

By the way, after doing some research on the episode, I’ve just discovered that Robson Green (who would go on to play Geordie Keating in ‘Grantchester’) plays Jimmy Powell, one of the series regulars at the time. Wow! To think Geordie Keating was in ‘Casualty’ before ‘Grantchester’ is astounding. 😀

Also, Brenda Fricker from ‘Home Alone 2: Lost In New York’ has been a regular in ‘Casualty’. 😀

Thanks for reading.

Bye for now.

Tim 🙂