Holby City: Whose head?

(Series 20, ep. 20 ‘Blind Spot’ by Katie Douglas 15.5.18) Oh, Fletch. At the beginning of this episode we saw him waking up in bed alongside a blonde head (presumably attached to a body, unless Holby has gone very twisted). But whose blonde head could it be?

Flash-back 24 hours, and who should appear at Holby but Sydney Somers (Gemma Oaten), now in charge of the agency that provides the hospital with extra nurses. When she last appeared there was a bit of a spark between her and Fletch, and she has blonde hair, too. It seemed the mystery was solved.

Fletch and Sydney clashed over the agency workers’ terms and conditions of employment, and it almost ended with the agency refusing to supply any nurses at all, which would have meant Donna missing Mia’s school concert. At the last minute, Fletch and Sydney thrashed out a solution and went to Albie’s to celebrate. Which is where they got drunk and ended up sleeping together, yes? 

Holby City: The man who won’t take no for an answer

(Series 20, ep. 19 ‘Bubble Wrap’ by Ed Sellek 8.5.18) It’s becoming increasingly clear that Prof Gaskell is a little bit… shall we say single-minded in his pursuit of his medical trial. It’s also becoming increasingly clear that the trial isn’t going all that well. He’s had one successful patient – the one in Lisbon who miraculously walked again after the Prof cured him. But then his first Holby City patient, Fiona, died. The Prof let Essie take the blame for that one, even though he knew that the fault lay with his trial. His second Lisbon patient is currently in a very bad way indeed – organs all failing and only being kept alive by very extreme measures. The doctor who’s looking after her on a daily basis, Leo (Nathan Osgood), described her current state as being “buried alive.” This is dreadful, and cruel, but the Prof doesn’t see it that way. What he sees is that a miracle is just over the horizon, as long as his research continues. 

Holby City: Doctors, nurses and their messy lives

(Series 20, ep. 18 ‘Headstrong’ by Johanne McAndrew and Elliot Hope 1.5.18) It was one of those shifts that had started off so busy that its busyness could only be conveyed via the medium of a quick montage. Fletch had gone into work early to deal with a myriad of nurse stuff. he also made a strong case to CEO Abigail that AAU needs some new nurses and a senior staff nurse, and for that latter role only Donna will do. Abigail said yes to the new nurses and senior staff nurse, but she wasn’t convinced by the Donna part, because Donna wasn’t up to speed on some little protocol or other. I hate to keep comparing Abigail with Hanssen, but I’m quite sure he wouldn’t have put ignorance of a new protocol over being a damn fine nurse. Serena certainly didn’t. 

Holby City: Faces from the past

(Series 20, ep. 17 ‘The Way We Were’ by Becky Prestwich 24.4.18) There were lots of old faces in this episode. Apart from the main storylines featuring an ex-boyfriend of Frieda’s, and Dominic’s past coming back to haunt him, we also saw glimpses of Oliver Valentine and Arthur Digby – both of them gone but not at all forgotten.

Dominic and Lofty arrived at the hospital all lovey-dovey and smiling, which was beautiful to behold. They even held hands on their way in to work, because they don’t want to hide their relationship – that’s how happy they are, and how secure with each other. But this is Holby, so we knew the ever-circling poo-bird of fate couldn’t be far away. 

Holby City: Smart juniors, full of smart juniosity

(Series 20, ep. 16 ‘New Ain’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be’ by Nick Fisher 17.4.18) At the beginning and end of this episode we saw F1 Nicky McKendrick as a child (played by Chanel Zinyemba). Even as a nipper she was practising her surgery skills on assorted toys. This is because she’s Super Keen (and possibly somewhat spooky).

It was her first day on Darwin, and she was Super Keen to make a good impression on Jac. So was Fletch, who’d got Jac a welcome back card and a cactus – “small, redhead, very prickly” as he confirmed with Sacha later, before they decided they’d take turns looking after it, both as a literal cactus and a metaphorical Jac. They won’t be able to look after Jac in person, because she’s looking after herself by taking more time off to get better from her gunshot injury. 

Holby City: Gaskell has a proposition for Ric

(Series 20, ep. 15 ‘Tate Gallery’ by Joe Ainsworth 10.4.18) Number one reason to like new CEO Abigail Tate: she wears slippers under her desk. Number one reason to dislike her: she uses the phrase “blue sky thinking.” She’s no Hanssen, that’s for sure. He’d never wear slippers under his desk, and he was accustomed to giving his pep talks from the stairs next to AAU. Abi gives hers via video.

She wanted blue sky thinking and “game changing ideas” from the entire staff team, and the prize was a lot of money to spend developing the winning idea. That’s even more of an incentive than a Pulses’ gift card, I’m sure you’ll agree. Ric thought he’d have another go with the artificial bladder idea that got such short shrift last week and Sacha also had some exciting thing to pitch. Judging all of this was Abi, Prof Gaskell, a man who didn’t say anything and Sanjay from EastEnders (Deepak Verma). 

Holby City: Gaskell takes risks and Ric risks Jason’s cake

(Series 20, ep. 14 ‘Tete a Tate’ by Joe Ainsworth 3.1.18) Today we met new CEO Abigail Tate (Olivia Poulet). She’s a heart surgeon, so well done to the fictional HR department for finding a Hanssen/Jac combo (jobs-wise) at such short notice.

It remains to be seen what she’ll be like as a CEO. Her managerial style seems at first glance to be ‘by the book and a tad on the cautious side,’ but that’s perhaps sensible given that she had one doctor just back from a spell in the nick and another one attempting who-knows-what maverick stuff all over the place. At times like this a bit of caution is probably what’s needed. All the same, she could have been more supportive of Ric’s artificial bladder idea.

That’s the CEO side of her job, but we haven’t seen what Abi’s like with a scalpel in her hand yet. What Fletch has already concluded is that she is no Jac Naylor. He was being especially fussy with her because he was rather fond of her patient, Hannah (Sasha Clarke), who was one of Evie’s (sort of) teachers, but Abi is going to have her work cut out impressing Holby’s best bearded nurse.