Nina Bulsara

**Dr. Nina Bulsara**, portrayed by Wendi Peters, made her first appearance on 20 February 2023. Details surrounding her casting and Nina's characterisation were announced in November 2022 on the BBC topical series *Morning Live*.

## Development

### Casting and characterisation

Wendi Peters began filming for *Doctors* in October 2022 and announced her casting on the BBC topical series *Morning Live* on 2 November 2022. Prior to being cast as Nina, Peters had portrayed Nicky Connelly in a 2021 episode of *Doctors*. The radio show host asked her if there was any connection between the two roles, to which she clarified that Nina is a new and unconnected character. On Peters' casting, executive producer Mike Hobson said: "We are absolutely delighted to welcome Wendi to the *Doctors* cast. She is a familiar face every soap fan will recognise and we know she will be brilliant in this role."

Peters' first episode as Nina was set to air on 8 February 2023 where the character meets with Zara Carmichael (Elisabeth Dermot Walsh) at a medical conference. In the episode, the characters get caught up in an explosion at the hotel hosting the conference. However, due to the episode being set for transmission at a similar time to the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake, the BBC decided not to pull the episode from schedules hours before transmission. The episode eventually aired on 20 February 2023. The trauma of the explosion acts as bonding for Nina and Zara and the two become set on introducing Nina as a partner at the Mill Health Centre.

Peters appeared on the *Here She Is* radio show to discuss her role as Nina. She confirmed that Nina's surname is derived from her dead husband, who was Indian. She also revealed that the pair have a son together who would be arriving in the serial a few weeks after Nina's debut. Once Zara persuades fellow partner Daniel Granger (Matthew Chambers) to allow Nina to become a partner, she states that she wants her son, Suni Bulsara (Rahul Arya), to be hired at the Mill.

Peters, who rose to prominence for portraying Cilla Battersby-Brown on *Coronation Street*, said that Nina is a completely different type of character to Cilla. Her backstory involves growing up as the daughter of two solicitors. Nina then went on to marry a consultant who died from a stroke. Peters described Nina as a headstrong woman who "knows what she wants" and hoped to see Nina get it. Hobson billed Nina as "a feisty busybody who wants to be respected" and hinted that she will "ruffle a few feathers at the Mill." Nina's BBC profile described her as a "headstrong woman who knows what she wants", while Suni's noted his close relationship with Nina and called him a "mummy's boy".

## Reception

Helen Daly of the *Radio Times* described Nina as "a chatterbox who has an opinion on everything and everyone" and opined that while she can be overbearing for her fellow colleagues, she is "a ray of light and will always find the positive in any difficult situation". Daly wrote that Nina would be a good addition to the cast, as well as *Metro*'s Calli Kitson being intrigued by the character. Peters' co-star Elisabeth Dermot Walsh posted online that she was excited for viewers to meet the "charming, dynamic and maddening character". Also writing for the *Metro*, Chris Hallam described Nina as "bossy, interfering and annoying".