Charlie Fairhead, played by Derek Thompson, is a fictional character from the BBC British medical drama Casualty. He is the longest-serving character, having been part of the cast for over 36 years, the only remaining original character from the first episode broadcast on 6 September 1986.
Charlie took a nine-month break from the show from Series 18 on 17 July 2004, returning on 1 January 2005 in Series 19. At the end of series 19, he left again with exit scenes airing on 20 August 2005. After a further four months off-screen, he returned to the series 20 Christmas crossover with Holby City, which aired on 24 December 2005. He has remained with the show since, but regularly takes breaks of around two months every year. In May 2023, it was confirmed that Thompson had chosen to quit his role as Charlie after 37 years on-screen, with Thompson filming his final scenes in 2023, with Charlie set to exit on-screen in 2024.
Charlie made four appearances in Casualty sister show Holby City: the show's first episode in January 1999; the second episode to the Christmas crossover in December 2005; another crossover to Holby City in February 2010 when Charlie has a heart attack; and the most recent appearance in October 2012 when he interviewed Chantelle Lane (Lauren Drummond) for a full-time nursing position. Thompson also made an appearance in Casualty spin-off police drama, HolbyBlue for its first episode in May 2007.
Storylines
In the early days of Casualty, Charlie was depicted as a leader figure with a good sense of humour but a short temper, which occasionally got him caught in strife when dealing with people higher than himself.
During his time in Casualty, the character has come close to death on several occasions.
In Series 5, Charlie was shot in the chest with a handgun by a schizophrenic man, holding Megan Roach hostage in CRASH. He is seen to recover by Series 6.
In Series 12, Episode 24, Charlie and Baz Hayes were held hostage by an armed man who stormed the solicitor's office where Baz was finalising plans to leave Charlie and Holby, with custody of Louis. In a derelict building, Baz and Charlie have to repair a stab wound in the man's stomach. As he is about to shoot Baz, Charlie pushes him from Baz, just in time for a police sniper to kill the man. Upon their return to Casualty, Charlie proposes, and Baz accepts, to the delight of the rest of the staff. The next episode, is the day of Baz and Charlie's wedding, however the ceremony is postponed when the staff are called back to Casualty to deal with a fire at another Casualty department. As Charlie walks outside to find a walkabout patient, he sees the man run down by a stolen ambulance. Charlie races out to help the patient, but he is run down by the ambulance while pulling the patient from the road. After much concern from the rest of the staff, it is discovered that Charlie has only broken his wrist and the wedding ceremony goes ahead.
In the final episode of Series 14, Charlie finds himself fed up, after many weeks of trying to help an alcoholic mother called Leona. After an argument, Charlie storms off to the Men's, with Leona in close pursuit. He pushes himself up against the door to prevent Leona from coming in. All of a sudden, Charlie clutches at his chest and collapses, at which point the episode ends. At the start of Series 15, it is discovered that Charlie has suffered a pulmonary embolism and slowly comes back to health.
In Series 19, Charlie and paramedic Luke are asked by nurse Claire Guildford to scatter the ashes of her accidentally murdered brother, Peter at the seaside. After discovering that Luke had tried to protect the killer, his former wife, receptionist Bex Reynolds, and that Charlie knew of this as well, Claire plunges her car into the harbour, taking Luke and Charlie with her. She dies, but Charlie and Luke make a full recovery.
In Series 24, Charlie is stressed after he relentlessly attempts to help Louis' pregnant girlfriend Shona from harming herself and the baby as Louis can't be bothered. He eventually finds Shona extremely drunk and high, slumped in a graveyard. As they are driving back to the Emergency Department, Shona plays ACDC far too loudly through Charlie's car radio. Charlie begins to cough up blood and crashes into a gutter. Shona races off to find help. Charlie is brought back to the Emergency Department with Shona, where it is found he has had a heart attack. He is operated on by Elliot Hope, one of his oldest friends, and he makes a slow but full recovery.