page_title: Casualty (series 31)
section_title: Overview
hierarchical_section_title: Casualty (series 31) / Cast / Overview
caption_attribution_description: English: Actress Pam St. Clement at the EastEnders Meet and Greet event at BBC Elstree Centre.
context_page_description: The thirty-first series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 27 August 2016, and concluded on 29 July 2017. The series consisted of 44 episodes, including the show's feature-length thirtieth anniversary special episode, "Too Old for This Shift". Erika Hossington continued her role as series producer, while Oliver Kent continued his role as the show's executive producer until the end of the series. Seventeen cast members reprised their roles from the previous series with original character Lisa "Duffy" Duffin returning to the series as part of the show's thirtieth anniversary. Rik Makarem appeared in the series between October 2016 and January 2017 as first year foundation doctor Sebastian Grayling. This series also featured the death of regular character Caleb Knight, who has appeared since series 28.
  The opening episode of the series was a special feature-length episode, celebrating thirty years of the medical drama. The episode featured main character crossovers from Holby City, with Jac Naylor, Henrik Hanssen and Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher appearing in the episode.
context_section_description: The thirty-first series of Casualty features a cast of characters working in the emergency department of Holby City Hospital. The majority of the cast from the previous series continue to appear in this series. Amanda Mealing appears as clinical lead and consultant in emergency medicine Connie Beauchamp, whilst Jaye Griffiths and William Beck appear as consultants Elle Gardner, who also briefly acted as clinical lead, and Dylan Keogh. George Rainsford, Richard Winsor and Crystal Yu portray speciality registrars Ethan Hardy, Caleb "Cal" Knight and Lily Chao. Chelsea Halfpenny appears as Alicia Munroe, a second year foundation doctor (F2). Charles Venn portrays clinical nurse manager Jacob Masters, whilst Derek Thompson stars as senior charge nurse Charlie Fairhead, who has appeared in the show since its conception. Amanda Henderson, Azuka Oforka and Jason Durr play staff nurses Robyn Miller, Louise Tyler and David Hide. Michael Stevenson and Lloyd Everitt star as paramedics Iain Dean and Jez Andrews. Tony Marshall and Jamie Davis appear as receptionist and porter Noel Garcia and Max Walker respectively. Emily Carey and Owain Arthur appear as Grace Beauchamp-Strachan and Glen Thomas in a recurring capacity.
  It was announced on 7 June 2016 that, following three guest appearances in the previous series, Cathy Shipton had returned to the show as a regular cast member. Her character, Lisa "Duffy" Duffin, who appeared in the show across various stints since its inception, returned in the opening episode of the series. Of Shipton's return, Kent said, "All of us at Casualty are incredibly excited that the fabulous Cathy Shipton has agreed to bring Duffy back to the Emergency Department." Arthur made his final appearance in episode 9 when his character Glen Thomas jilts his fiancée, Robyn Miller (Henderson). Tom Chambers guest appeared in episode 3 as Sam Strachan, Grace's father, following two appearances in the previous series. Chambers was a regular cast member in the show's spin-off show, Holby City, between 2006 and 2008. Hossington announced that Sam would be reintroduced to the series after receiving a job as the hospital's medical director. Sam returned in episode 24. Chambers later revealed that he would be leaving at the end of his contract due to a prior commitment. It was announced on 7 February 2017 that the show had filmed a funeral for a regular character, and episode 33 featured the death of Cal Knight (Winsor) after he was stabbed by a white supremacist who blamed Ethan for his father's death. Winsor decided to leave the series of his own accord, but was initially surprised to discover his character would be killed off, before coming round to the idea.
  Several former regular cast members reprised their roles and made a cameo appearance within the show's feature-length opening episode, which included: Mackenzie "Big Mac" Chalker (Charles Dale), who departed the show in the previous series; Tess Bateman (Suzanne Packer), who appeared in the show for twelve years; Jay Faldren (Ben Turner), who appeared between 2008 and 2011; John "Abs" Denham (James Redmond), who departed from the show in 2008; Alice Chantrey (Sam Grey), who appeared in the show for over four years; Mike Barratt (Clive Mantle), who appeared in the show between 1993 and 1998; Comfort Jones (Martina Laird), who left the show in 2006; and Lenny Lyons (Steven Miller) who appeared in the show for three years. Ian Bleasdale also reprised the role of Josh Griffiths, one of the show's longest-serving characters, for the entirety of the episode. Bleasdale made a further three appearances in the series as Josh in episodes 20, 21 and 36. Russell Boulter reprised his role as Ryan Johnson for two episodes to resolve a storyline about his estranged marriage to Duffy.
  During the feature-length special, three characters from Holby City made guest appearances: hospital chief executive officer (CEO) Henrik Hanssen (Guy Henry), cardiothoracic surgeon and clinical lead of Darwin ward Jac Naylor (Rosie Marcel), and ward manager of the AAU Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher (Alex W
caption: Pam St. Clement guest starred in this series as Sally Hodge.
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