Holby City: Flange is a Thing

(Series 21, ep. 25 ‘Pigeon’ by Andy Bayliss 20.6.19) My full review of this episode is over at Metro as per. Before you go, I have a few random thoughts.

– I’m going to have to start with Quote of the Week, which was of course Jac on FaceTime to Emma’s little friend. ‘Who are you? Your face is too big for the internet. Go away.’

– There was also Ric’s little dig at Brexit with his ‘All the good nurses go to Europe’ comment.

– I can completely believe in Donna and Xavier as a couple. The way she watches out for him and cares for him is pleasingly real.

– Which I can’t really say for Fletch and Ange. Thanks to Alex Walkinshaw’s impeccable acting skills, Fletch did look properly pleased and sweet about liking Ange and feeling he needed to tell Jac about it. But it’s weird that we’ve hardly really seen him together with Ange. And we’ve never seen Ange when she wasn’t stressing about ‘my brain-dead patient/my long-lost son/my highly-strung daughter,’ so his description of her as ‘really nice’ will have to be taken on trust.

– Poor Sacha! No relationship ever lasts on Holby so it’s probably a mistake that we ever want them to happen in the first place, but he was just starting to be happy with Patricia and now they seem about to be ripped apart. It’s tragic.

Holby City: He hasn’t changed a bit

(Series 21, ep. 24 ‘Over My Dead Body’ by Joe Ainsworth 11.6.19) For my rather long review of this episode pop yourself over to Metro (best make a cup of tea – and read this bit – first).

– ‘I was desperate for you to see how much I’d changed,’ said the man who hasn’t changed at all. Including that when he resorts to violence, as he did here, it’s still as shocking as when we first saw him hit Dominic all that time ago. I think it’s because Marc Elliott’s portrayal of Isaac is of a monster who works primarily on the psychological and emotional level, always with a veneer of charm and reasonableness. His violent outbursts come apparently out of nowhere and are more disturbing for being unexpected.

– His callous attitude to his father was stomach-turning too.

– Talking of stomach turning, that remark by Chloe to Dom about his ‘receptionist mother’ was really nasty, particularly because we all love Carole so much. So does Dominic, as you could see on his face. He was wounded on her behalf, and also perhaps a part of him felt the truth of what Chloe was saying – that he’d been as willing to drop his receptionist mother as he’d been to change his name from Darren to Dominic.

– Hanssen and Oskar – adorable. Holby are so good at casting child actors, and it was a brilliant idea to bring Hanssen and his grandson together like this.

– I guessed straight away that Oskar’s problem was that Hanssen was wearing scrubs. I find Hanssen in anything other than a suit quite odd, too.

– They really do need a neurosurgeon at Holby, don’t they? The number of times no neuro person has been available, because they’re all either dead or at home watching Blue Planet with Oliver Valentine.

– Quote of the week – Essie: ‘Has [Oskar] moved into the office?’ Hanssen: ‘He has made a little land-grab there.’

Holby City: Which one of us made the monster?

(Series 21, ep. 23 ‘In the Right Place’ by Ed Sellek 4.6.19) For this week’s proper review, please pop along to Metro, the Home of the Best Soaps Coverage (I’m not contractually obliged to say that, it just definitely is). But first…

– Ed Sellek, the man who brought us Hanssen Playing The Theremin (but you already knew that) today brought us Hanssen’s Precious Anatomical Model. Hanssen’s poor face as clumsy Sacha dropped all the internal organs on the floor was quite delightful. And it produced a lovely metaphor when Oskar found a piece on the floor. ‘Ah. You’ve found my heart. Well done,’ said Hanssen. I’m looking forward to seeing Oskar finding Hanssen’s considerable but sometimes hidden heart in the coming weeks.

– I thought this was going to be the last we’d see of Isaac after Dom told him to jog on, but apparently not (see summer trailer, below). 

– I actually winced when Dominic dropped that saxophone on the ground. That is not the way to treat a musical instrument.

– Some of the scenes between Dominic and Jon reminded me of that very tense episode where Sacha had to look after Essie’s dying Nazi grandfather, in the conflict between his instincts as a doctor and his instincts as a person.

– One day in the future Ange might ponder why both her children are susceptible to controlling, manipulative men – because Evan is shaping up to be almost as nasty as Isaac Mayfield. Currently he’s at the fairly early stages of ‘I-know-best-what-you-need-don’t-I-babe.’ As viewers we can see exactly what’s happening, but I think the only characters who can see it are Cameron and possibly Nicky. I wonder what role Dominic will be able to play in the story as someone who’s survived that kind of relationship?

– And finally… the summer trailer. My heart skipped a beat at Jac’s glimpse of Joseph in the rain (it had to be Joseph) and I might have made an eeking sound when he actually appeared. Of course that wasn’t the only excitement and intrigue to be had from that trailer, and I’ve detailed all the other fun in yet another article for Metro here.

Watch the trailer on the BBC Holby website or on YouTube

Holby City: ‘He compromised you and you didn’t even notice. That’s what he does.’

(Series 21 ep. 22 ‘Bloodline’ by Patrick Cash and Ed Sellek 28.5.19) For my full review of this episode head over to Metro. 

It’s been a while since I watched the episode because I was on holiday last week so I got the review ready before I went, so my further thoughts have been lost in the mists of time and lots of long walks (and ice cream) in the Lake District. Normal service will be resumed from the next review.

Holby City: He used to be a happy boy

(Series 21, ep. 21 ‘Unredeemed’ by Andy Bayliss 21.5.19) Pop over to Metro for the full review of this episode. But first…

– It was one of those episodes which shows what a real community Holby is, as everyone jumped to defend Dominic from the nasty Isaac.

– Isaac hasn’t changed at all, has he? Still as manipulative and nasty as ever. Marc Elliott plays him so well that the scenes between Isaac and Dom were quite distressing to watch.

– Lofty leaving Dominic sandwiches for breakfast was like Charlie bringing Duffy the last muffin on Casualty. Adorable. I still don’t think for a minute that Lofty would have cheated on Dominic on what was supposed to be their honeymoon, but sometimes plot reasons come first I suppose.

– Carole’s love of Dominic hasn’t been affected one bit by his recent rejecting behaviour of her, has it? I loved her confrontation with Jon: ’My son was a happy boy and Isaac has taken that away.’

Holby City news: Luke Roberts and Patsy Kensit are coming back

This is, for me, the best news ever. As part of the 20th anniversary Holby City celebrations, Luke Roberts and Patsy Kensit will return to the show to reprise their roles as Joseph Byrne (The World’s Most Beautiful Heart Surgeon and the One True Love of Jac Naylor) and Faye Byrne (former wife of Joseph and mother of his child Harry).

They’ll come face to face with Jac as a life hangs in the balance. Luke Roberts says, “It’s been an absolute joy to slip back into the surgical scrubs, see so many familiar faces and reconnect with the likes of Rosie Marcel, Patsy Kensit, Jaye Jacobs, Bob Barrett, Guy Henry, Hugh Quarshie, Belinda Owusu and Alex Walkinshaw to name but a few of the mega talented folks working on the wards.”

Patsy Kensit says she read the script “as fast as I could, which shows what a gripping episode it’s going to be.” She says it’s really exciting to be working with Luke and Rosie Marcel again: “We always had a fantastic time together on set and that’s not changed at all.”

Executive Producer Simon Harper says, “Joseph was the love of Jac’s life, and as if that in itself weren’t enough to rock her world, he turns up with the woman who is Jac’s sworn enemy! It was for Joseph’s sake that Jac sent Faye packing in 2010 and as far as Jac’s concerned, it’s the ultimate insult and comes at a time when she is already feeling off-balance both professionally and personally. This unique episode concentrates entirely on this classic Darwin trio with all their past tensions and rivalries bubbling to the surface.” He promises a “gripping and darkly comic” episode and Patsy adds, “There are lots of surprises!”

This special episode is due to air in the autumn. I can’t wait!

(Picture: BBC)

Holby City: ‘It felt like I’d fallen off the face of your earth’

(Series 21, ep. 20 ‘The Wrong Horse’ by Nick Fisher 14.5.19) There’s a full review of this episode at Metro.

I’m currently trying to get the next few weeks’ reviews etc ready for Metro as I’m going away on holiday soon, so apologies that there are no random thoughts this week. I’m already several episodes ahead and very nervous that I might give spoilers away by having a random thought about something you haven’t seen yet!