Casualty’s longest-serving cast member Derek Thompson is set to leave his role as Charlie Fairhead after almost four decades on the show.
The 75-year-old actor, who is among the BBC’s top-earning stars, said “the time has come for me to hang up Charlie’s scrubs after the most wonderful 37 years”.
Derek has starred in nearly 900 episodes of the medical drama, joining the cast in Casualty’s very first episode in 1986.
The BBC said Derek will continue filming until autumn, with his final scenes airing next year in the “culmination of a gripping exit storyline which will see the character front and centre of the action”.
Derek said in a statement: “Charlie Fairhead was inspired by a real nurse – Pete Salt.
“Together with the writers and producers, I have tried to bring to Charlie the compassion, kindness, heroism and sound judgment that we all see and love in Pete, and I want to say thanks to Pete and everyone else over that time who has inspired me in bringing this character to life.”
The BBC described Derek’s character as having played a “central part in the show” and the “lynchpin of the hospital’s emergency department”.
Jon Sen, executive producer of Casualty for BBC Studios, said: “Derek and I would often joke that, after such a long and dramatic career in the NHS, there was almost nothing that Charlie hadn’t seen.
“So it was an amazing surprise to me when Derek arrived with a brilliant idea for Charlie’s exit as part of an upcoming storyline, which was too good to pass up. We will all miss Derek enormously.
“Over nearly four decades, Derek has crafted an iconic character who is woven into the fabric of British TV history.
“We will miss his craft, his humour and his on-screen presence. We’re also going to miss a friend, so for the next few months we’re going to have a ball filming Charlie’s final chapter.”
During his time on the show, Charlie was run over by an ambulance on his wedding day, suffered a near-fatal cardiac arrest during a gang siege, and saw the “heart-breaking farewell” of his loving relationship with fellow nurse Duffy (Cathy Shipton).
In 2017, Derek was the top earner in the scripted TV (drama and comedy) category, earning between £350,000-£399,999 and ranking above stars such as Danny Dyer and Peter Capaldi, according to figures from the BBC’s annual report.
The BBC said details of Derek’s final Casualty storyline will be revealed “in due course”.