Media entertainment trade union BECTU claimed that the staff members were dismissed after 11 months and two weeks of service so that the BBC could avoid granting them rights allowed to employees who have worked for the company for a year or longer.
Derek Thompson, Suzanne Packer and Ben Turner appeared as nurses Charlie Fairhead, Tess Bateman and Jay Faldren.
Jane Hazlegrove, Matt Bardock and Sophia Di Martino played paramedics Kathleen "Dixie" Dixon, Jeff Collier and Polly Emmerson.
Charles Dale appeared as hospital porter MacKenzie "Big Mac" Chalker, and Sam Grey played healthcare assistant Alice Chantrey.
[5] Joe McFadden played recurring homeless patient Alistair, who befriended Polly and appeared in Casualty's first webisode, "The Parting of the Ways".
[6] Robert Boulter appeared as F2 Kieron Fletcher, Raymond Coulthard played anaesthetist Matt Strong, and Michael Maloney was consultant Howard Fairfax.
[7] Stephanie Beacham played Monica, an ardent feminist, who ended up in the ED after injuring herself on a light fitting, while Ron Moody starred as an elderly vagrant.
[8] Barry Sloane played Davey Blake, a childhood friend of F2 Lenny Lyons (Steven Miller),[9] and Chris Fountain appeared as Seb, a patient with leukaemia.
[12] Adam Trueman (Tristan Gemmill) begins his first day as Clinical Lead of the ED by greeting the eight new F2 doctors, including Heather Whitefield (Georgia Tennant), May Phelps (Laura Aikman), Yuki Reid (Will Sharpe) and Lenny Lyons (Steven Miller).
Adam and Heather attend a call-out to a deserted shopping centre, where one patient is trapped in an industrial fan, another has fallen from a balcony, and numerous homeless people are living in the basement.
Unaware that the centre is occupied, its owner rigs the building with explosives as part of an insurance scam, detonating it with dozens of people trapped inside.
Polly (Sophia Di Martino) and Dixie (Jane Hazlegrove) wait anxiously for news, while at the hospital Adam's partner/nurse Jessica Harrison (Gillian Kearney) does likewise.
The dean of medicine announces a new Junior Academic Fellowship Award, which will see one of the F2s win a role in the emergency department with an excellent salary.
Mick, a security guard seeking Ruth's approval, takes on a group of drunken homeless men who are stealing hand sanitizer from the wards.
He manages to calm down but, when Harry cries and Jessica leans back to comfort him, the shift in weight causes the ice to crack and the passenger front side is submerged in water.
Brought up short by this, Ruth pays May a visit at home, where she is horrified to see May slumped in a chair, with an open bottle of wine and some pills nearby.
The Ambulance Trust has made its decision in Polly's tribunal about Alistair's death, but she doesn't care either way; too scarred by events, she is determined to resign anyway.
Charlie's chest pains are worsening, and his stress levels increase further when he gets a phone call from the police and Louis – Shona has broken into his house.
The next day, fending off the attentions of her admirer, Dr Matt Strong, Zoe is determined to erase the machine before Jordan hears her drunken ramblings.
A pleasure boat accident brings watery memories back to the surface for Adam; new F2 Keiron pushes his luck with the patients; and Zoe's new admirer gets under Jordan's skin.
Despite his colleagues' concern, Adam volunteers to attend with the paramedics when a pleasure boat sinks on a river and, with memories of Jessica and Harry still fresh, dives into the water looking for casualties.
Meanwhile, Jordan overhears Matt's persuasive advances towards a disbelieving Zoe; Alice thinks she's made an emotional breakthrough with Adam when he admits that he is finally going to visit Harry's grave for the first time; and Jeff makes a big announcement to a stunned reception and Dixie.
It's the day of a very important internal review at the ED, and Ruth finds herself in an impossible situation with one of her colleagues—will career ambitions ride roughshod over the truth?
Shona has been sleeping rough while drinking and getting high and comes to Charlie telling him how she wants to abort the baby only to realise she can't do this and needs to seek social services to which she storms out on.
A new line of enquiry comes to light when it turns out that Cheryl had taken part in a drugs trial with Langham Services, ran by Robert Ludlow.
He is distraught when she dies unexpectedly and, unable to express his fear to his mates (who are running a book on which staff member is at risk) he tries to seek solace with Ruth.
A massive power cut plunges Holby into darkness, as the drugs trial situation comes to a head, and Jordan gets closer to the truth about Zoe's pregnancy.
Lenny is prepared to go through with his deal with Ludlow to be crowned the winner but, oblivious, Yuki writes a preparatory speech recalling why he became a doctor: his brother died of cancer a few years ago and he's wanted to help fix people ever since.
It's still the night of the Ludlow Foundation event and a power cut has struck the north of Holby, plunging the Emergency Department into a state of chaos.
When Yuki punches Lenny in the face for a second time, after finding out he's accepted a bribe from Ludlow to be awarded the JAFA fellowship, a fight ensues in the middle of the ED.