BBC CASUALTY: we stare into the middle distance for Charliexit

[AnImaginaryCat]

Counting down to the long awaited day!

Unfortunately not thats the problem.

Impressive how little you know what you're talking about. And then you admit it while still so confidently stating that someone "can't" be who they are!

Sah (and Arin, their actor) is nonbinary but that doesn't mean they need to conform to any outer gender expression. They can choose to have visible breasts or not. In fact Arin had top surgery some time ago so Sah has never had breasts. Did you notice? Does that mean that Arin has to be a he/him? They're not!

It is complex but this complexity is not just a soap thing and I do recommend you read about it before commenting. Especially using the wrong pronouns for a character who has been more than clear that they use "they/them" and never, at all, "she/her".

In fact when Sah was first introduced there was a great deal of confusion in this thread about whether they were a boy or a girl. The answer "neither" was not good enough - people really needed to know both the character and the actor's birth sex. Absolutely none of anyone's business.

This thread is noticeably awful about Sah's identity when it's really not a difficult thing. Just use their name if you're not comfortable with they/them pronouns.

I'm a huge fan of Arin Smethurst as a nonbinary person on primetime BBC and Casualty is treating their story pretty sensitively, as Casualty goes. I wasn't hugely into how the show introduced their mother and made their deadname public knowledge, but haven't seen anyone being shitty about that as yet.

Nonbinary representation is such a good thing and it's so sad how a tiny minority make such a lot of noise about tearing it down.

I’ve been a nurse for the last 26 years because I wanted to be Duffy.

FML. Casualty owes me big time.

All that said above I can't imagine how uncomfortable and upsetting that would be for Paige. She only told Rash about her BRCA gene, right? I'm not sure it's common knowledge. Teddy wasn't to know.

Charlie is a shit actor. He only has one facial expression. How has he lasted so long???

So happy the best-paid and least-talented actor has finally recognised it’s time to go.

will he manage a full ep without leaning on something or someone for support? Or will he be found dead at the end of a shift, leaning on a desk and nobody had noticed cos he needs support to stand up and hasn’t actually done any real nursing for years?

will he be able to actually look people in the eye for more than three seconds?

will it be because patients refused to be treated by someone so old and frail he looked in more need of medical attention than half of the patients?

will he just or get to come in one day and nobody notices because he never does anything anyway?

Yes! Thank you @spiderlight and @TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross.

Definitely got that. We want the steady stream of patients who decide to re-wire the house electrics whilst wearing copper wellies standing in a bucket of water back!!

What was up with Faith?

was she tantrumming cos she needs to be the centre of attention at all times? I had zero sympathy for her.

couldn’t be arsed with the Sah SL, especially as the NHS is on its knees. If any other character was having elective cosmetic surgery, would an announcement be made?

In fact Arin had top surgery some time ago so Sah has never had breasts. Did you notice?

They're usually wearing the unflattering paramedic uniform though which appears to hide everything!

To be fair, now I think of it, I don't think I generally register whether any of the actors have breasts. Which is slightly odd 🤔

A general personal dislike (rather than specifically Casualty), I hate the way they refer to it as "top surgery". It's a mastectomy. I think Casualty is the first time I've heard it referred to as that (not that it's something that generally crops up in my day to day life!)

What was up with Faith?

She's going through drug withdrawal isn't she? Well, I say withdrawal, she seems to have moved onto cocaine.

I do wish Faith would stop calling everyone “sweetheart”. It is very annoying.

Of course I haven’t noticed Sah has not got breasts, all the paramedics spend their time in their big paramedic puffer jackets. And of course I know not having breasts doesn’t make someone a male.

I was just curious as to why if someone is non-binary, so doesn’t feel like (for want of a better term) or present as either sex, then surely having their breasts removed means that they will be assumed by out outsiders to be assumed to be male. I assume that non-binary people are not transgender as they are not wanting to present as a gender that doesn’t match their sex because they don’t feel like any gender?

I do genuinely wish I understood it more. After it was suggested that I learn more about it I did try and find some educational clips/articles about it on YouTube last night but sadly it only produced a negative image of the transgender issues so I was disappointed and didn’t watch them.

If anyone has any links or suggestions to something non-biased and informative I could watch then I would appreciate it. I would love to watch an informative documentary about it for example👍

I didn’t realise the actor was non-binary in real life, that makes me feel more hopeful that the issues will be played out realistically and sensitively as I assume their experiences will play a huge role on the scripting.

But back onto Casualty…. I hope the storyline doesn’t have a negative impact on Sah’s and Teddy’s relationship as I love their friendship ❤️

And as for Charlie’s death…..I think their will make it a Casualty Milestone and treat it in the same way as when Dufffy died with lots of soft music and ethereal lighting etc

@SoupDragon - the only peson I know who's been through the procedure referred to it as 'top surgery' so I think that must be an accepted term for it. The episode seemed to suggest that it would all be done and dusted during Sah's week off though, which is a bit unrealistic if they're back to work as normal the following week, carting big bags of kit around and lifting patients. The person we know is a barber, so nowhere near as physical a job, and he took over a month off work to recover.

Oh, it is absolutely the accepted term for it. It just bugs me personally.

I also thought a week off was optimistic!

(Obviously I would never challenge anyone who called it "top surgery". Or the equally personally irritating "bottom surgery")

I’ve two friends who had breast reductions (for purely medical reasons) and they were off a lot longer than a week

not sure why medical folk wouldn’t use the word “mastectomy” - seems more than a bit silly.

Just Googled the Charlie Fairhead actor. He was paid between £350,000 and £399,999 in 2021-22, more than anyone else on Casualty or in Eastenders. He must have an excellent agent!

Jesus!!!!!

How is that possible when he’s so crap?!

I mean, you have to admire him for that.

I was trying to work out his equivalent value in Daily Mail measurement, then realised, ironically, that they count expenditure in units of nurses’ salaries.

He was on that list of top paid bbc staff. It was bizarre.

@SoupDragon This article explains the difference between a Mastectomy and Top surgery. Be warned, it is a very long read. https://www.allure.com/story/top-surgery-mastectomy-difference

Derek Thompson has been best paid BBC actor for many years. And people are stunned when they find this out.

it’s astonishing, because he is such a bad actor and the character of Charlie is incredibly boring - very old, doddery nurse, who does a lot of leaning on things but very little actual work

Enjoyed tonight’s episode. Loving Dylan and Donna

max seems to have had a personality change for the better.

still sniggering at the Gethin bits. I’m just waiting for Charlie to say “You used to be an ambulance man called Andrew Ponting !” Or he would if he was still alive and not a zombie.