Former Coronation Street and Hollyoaks star Lucy-Jo Hudson has joined the cast of Casualty for the medical drama’s Christmas special.
The actress, who was in a relationship with I’m A Celebrity’s Alan Halsall, portrayed Katy Harris in the ITV soap and Donna-Marie Quinn in Hollyoaks.
In the coming weeks, Lucy will appear in a festive episode of Casualty, which will shine a spotlight on the importance of blood donations.
On Christmas Day in the ED, the staff are faced with an emergency blood shortage.
While Stevie Nash (Elinor Lawless) fights to save lives, Iain Dean (Michael Stevenson) will risk his own to ensure the hospital doesn’t go without all important blood donations.
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While details of Lucy-Jo’s character is being kept secret for now, the soap star will also feature alongside Tristan Sturrock (Poldark, The Crown), Joseph Charles (Breathtaking, Solo: A Star Wars Story), Zoe Brough (Outrageous, Father Brown), Katy Carmichael (Malpractice, Spaced) and Valerie Antwi (DI Ray S2, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
In 2010, Lucy-Jo appeared in another Christmas special of Casualty played a character called Deena Richards.
Following the release of the show’s trailer for this episode, Lucy-Jo has taken to Instagram to share her excitement about returning to Holby ED.
Alongside the teaser, Lucy-Jo shared a behind-the-scenes snap of her as her character and Elinor Lawless, aka Stevie.
‘Don’t miss it’, she wrote alongside.
‘Saturday 21st December 9.20pm BBC1 Christmas Day Special Casualty @bbccasualtyofficial Directed by the wonderfully talented @moviegoblin #legend.’
The medical show has been off air since September. The returning instalment will be followed by the next boxset of Casualty later in the month.
Reflecting on the importance of donating blood, along with what he learned while filming this episode, star Barney Walsh – who plays nurse Cam – said: ‘The importance of blood should not be underestimated, because it is the one thing that cannot be replaced and cannot be manufactured. It’s either there or it’s not.
‘From the beginning of the episode, seeing Cam and the particular rigmarole that Cam has to do with the blood from the beginning – out of the fridge into the thing, the clock has to go on, it has to be downstairs by a certain time, has to be on the right shelf at the right time.
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‘All of these things you’d expect, OK, but the fact that blood can so easily be either contaminated or the fact that blood can be so easily depleted in an ED or in a resus of one room of one hospital is quite scary and quite staggering.’
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He added: ‘It’s something that people won’t think about until they see the episode and they go, “Wow! Is that true?” Because I was on set and I asked the question to one of the medical advisors – is this true that Cam would have stocked the blood on Christmas Eve and by Christmas Day there’s no blood left. And they said absolutely – that blood can go just like that.
‘To learn that, and to be in a position now where we can tell that story to the public and open the public’s eyes on the importance of blood and giving it, it’s an honour to be a part of that story.’
This article was originally published on November 20, 2024.
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