Casualty star announces huge return to BBC soap seven years after exit
Casualty star Sunetra Sarker has confirmed she's returning to the long-running BBC medical drama seven years after she quit.
The actress made the surprise announcement during Friday’s edition of Loose Women, appearing alongside co-hosts Kaye Adams, Dame Kelly Holmes, and Jane Moore as she revealed her exciting news. “This week, I might have gone back to a certain hospital that I used to work at called Holby City hospital,” Sunetra cryptically teased. “I'm going back to Casualty,” she added, as the audience erupted with applause.
“It must be seven years I left in 2016 and yeah, it has been a while,” she shared, as she revealed she was reprising her role as Dr Zoe Hanna for just two episodes of the long-running hospital drama to bid farewell to Derek Thompson, who is leaving Casualty after 37 years playing senior nurse Charlie Fairhead. “I'm going back for a special double episode because our lovely Charlie who has been there forever is going to leave the show. So I'm going back to make sure I get my last little moment with him,” Sunetra explained.
Sunetra Sarker played Dr Zoe Hanna for more than eight years (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Sunetra appeared on Casualty for more than eight years before she quit the show in 2016 because she wanted to “find something very different” after almost a decade on the medical drama. The 50-year-old landed a role on Channel 4’s comedy drama Ackley Bridge, and confessed she wanted to find a character who was so far removed from Dr Zoe Hanna.
Speaking to Zoe Ball in 2018, she said playing matriarch Kaneez Paracha on the critically-acclaimed show was a breath of fresh air. “She looks nothing like me, she sounds nothing like me. She's funny and she has a personality in a way that you don't usually see a Pakistani woman having,” Sunetra stated.
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Sunetra is reprising her role for a special double episode (BBC)The actress, who appeared in Brookside from 1998 to 1990, spoke fondly of her time on Casualty, and said her co-stars were like “family”. When she returned for a one-off episode in 2018, as Zoe reunited with her estranged husband Max, Sunetra said it was an “honour” to see her old castmates. “It was like going for a school reunion... I have to be honest, there's always going to be a little part of me in Casualty… It was an honour to go back,” she sweetly added.
She was last seen on the show back in 2016 (We Love TV)When she first departed the show in 2016, she thanked her fans for their unwavering support, and viewers were left heartbroken as they watched Zoe jet off abroad for a new job, leaving Max behind. “So that's it guys. Goodbye from Zoe – it's been a privilege and a pleasure. Thanks to all the crew, cast and wonderful fans. Over & out,” she tweeted after her final scenes aired. "We miss you. We love you," executive producer Oliver Kent replied.
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