Irving was heavily involved in the creation of his character, writing Meyer's biography before assuming the role. He felt that it was important for him to understand Meyer's motivation and the reason he is so driven, as the character is presented as a "peacock ogre" who throws scalpels at one of his colleagues in an early episode, and unless Irving could fathom why, his portrayal would be "one step removed". Meyer was loosely based on the cardiothoracic surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub. He was originally intended to be of Iranian descent and had the surname Hussein, before the series producers changed their minds and made him central European instead. Irving had developed a Hungarian accent for a film role prior to his involvement with "Holby City", and decided that "Meyer was temperamentally Hungarian–gloomy with a bit of Mediterranean liveliness." It was decided that Meyer had left Hungary following the 1956 uprising, with his parents, who were intellectuals.