Holby City: Her name was Dr Lo

(Series 19, ep. 45 ‘Calm Before the Storm’ by Katie Douglas 15.8.17) In a nutshell: Sacha found God, Nina and Matteo found each other and Selfie found Ollie’s Achilles’ heel. It doesn’t sound like a lot to fill an hour of TV, but I was gripped throughout. The hour just flew by.

Guy Self really is a brilliant baddie, and I think he’s even better this time around than he was during his first stint, because now we know what a complicated personality he really is. He’s no cartoon villain, there’s a vulnerability there which at the moment he is reigning in tightly as he reverts to his default setting of Manipulative and Devious – though would the old Selfie have become quite so flustered during surgery? 

Holby City: You can’t take the military out of the girl

(Series 19, ep. 44 ‘Go Ugly Early’ by Nick Fisher 8.8.17) So that’s the end of the Trauma Unit. The little room with the plastic flaps instead of doors, that has been the site of so much pioneering traumatic excellence over the months, is now a little empty room, the flaps flapping plastically in the breeze of trolleys whizzing by. Most importantly, the Trauma Unit was the queendom of the utterly marvellous Berenice Wolfe, and her queendom is now gone and so is Bernie. 

Holby City: Guy Self is back in the building

(Series 19, ep. 43 ‘The Evolution of Woman’ by Simon Norman 1.8.17) Nina has been Queen of Medicine (or whatever her job is) for all of five minutes, and she’s already circumvented the mythical HR department and the CEO by bringing a familiar face back to Holby. “Guy Self, darkening my doorstep,” muttered Hanssen, nicely marking his own territory with that use of “my doorstep.”

It seems that Nina and Selfie have History, and it’s something to do with Berlin. Whatever it is, I think Nina has the upper hand at the moment, or she thinks she does. That’s the thing with Selfie, you’re never quite sure where you are with him. 

Holby City: Not your average WAG

(Series 19, ep. 42 ‘Baggage’ by Patrick Homes 25.7.17) Since Donna’s return there’s been a bit of mystery surrounding her. Why isn’t she relishing her WAG status and swanning about getting spa treatments and buying over-priced luxury goods for her swanky mansion, rather than mopping up pee, pus and sick in AAU? Why does she look sad when she thinks nobody is looking? And why has her credit card been declined?

We discovered the answers to all these questions when her niece/adopted daughter Mia (Briana Shann) turned up at Holby. One thing I especially loved was that Hanssen remembered Mia. I remember them having a sweet little scene together when he found her alone in the corridor in her first incarnation. Hanssen also very sweetly paid Donna’s bill when Pulses declined her credit card. He was very busy being Enigmatic and Delightful all over the hospital this week. 

Holby City: Life lessons learned

(Series 19, ep. 41 ‘Going the Distance’ by Chris Murray 18.7.17) Essie is a mass of thwarted maternal instinct, isn’t she? She’s currently directing it all at Parker (whom she inherited from a former patient). He’s a perfectly nice lad, but Essie is constantly worrying that she’s not looking after him properly, or he’s going off the rails or whatever. A template for mother/son perfection presented itself this week in the form of patient Roma (Maria Miles) and her utterly devoted son Lewis (Jack Kane). Essie wished that she and Parker could have such a bond, but actually Roma and Lewis were teetering along that fine line where devotion can become harmful for one or both parties. Roma realised that and made some changes, and Essie realised, with the help of Raf, that she needs to relax about Parker a bit. I bet she won’t, though. 

Holby City: How messy life can be

(Series 19, ep. 40 ‘Sleep Well’ by Elliot Hope and Johanne McAndrew 11.7.17) Fran isn’t evil, or a villain, or a baddie. She’s a hurt, angry, damaged person. Jac knows this, because she’s similarly damaged. Where they differ is that Jac has dealt with all the hurt she’s suffered over the years by exercising a huge amount of self control – sometimes Jac is just held together by willpower alone. Fran is more needy and volatile. 

Holby City: Morven on the case

(Series 19, ep. 39 ‘Keeping the Faith’ by Jeff Povey 4.7.17) There was no need for the services of Lexi, the Holby Vicar, this week as Jasmine’s funeral had already taken place before the episode started. Jac Naylor didn’t shed a single tear, let alone fling herself on the coffin screaming “Why? WHY???” This will not surprise those of us who’ve known Jac for some time. I can’t imagine a person less likely to emote in public.

You’d think that Morven, who went through it all with Arthur, would know that there’s more than one way to grieve, and just because it doesn’t show doesn’t mean it isn’t so (I made that up – I think – but if you want to borrow it for any self-help book you may be writing, please feel free). Morven decided that Jac’s apparent lack of remorse was hiding a guilty conscience. When she confronted Jac about this, it made me realise how rarely we see Jac properly angry. We see snappy, sarcastic and irked quite a lot, but this was proper white-hot fury. You can tell that Jac’s mental defences are pretty fragile and having Morven poking a little stick at them was almost too much.