Dr. Zara Carmichael is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Elisabeth Dermot Walsh. Zara was introduced as the new general practitioner at The Mill on 4 June 2009, and remained a regular until April 2012 when Walsh left to go on maternity leave. She returned for a brief appearance in December 2012, before returning full-time in February 2013. In September 2015, Dermot Walsh left again to go on maternity leave. She returned full-time from March 2016 onwards. Zara has been involved in a number of different storylines including being kidnapped, dealing with early menopause, the birth of her son, her on-off relationship with Daniel Granger (Matthew Chambers), and her feud with stepdaughter Izzie Torres (Bethan Moore). For her portrayal of Zara, Walsh won the award for Best Female Acting Performance at the 2015 RTS Midlands Awards.