Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson) is a fictional character from the BBC British medical drama Casualty.
[3] Thompson made four appearances as Charlie in Casualty's sister show, Holby City, including the February 2010 episode when Charlie has a heart attack; his final appearance in Holby City was in October 2012 when he interviewed Chantelle Lane (Lauren Drummond) for a full-time nursing position.
In the early days of Casualty, Charlie was depicted as a leader figure with a good sense of humour but a short temper, which occasionally got him caught in strife when dealing with people higher than himself.
In Series 5, Charlie was shot in the chest with a handgun by a schizophrenic man, holding Megan Roach hostage in CRASH.
In the final episode of Series 14, Charlie finds himself fed up after many weeks of trying to help an alcoholic mother called Leona.
At the start of Series 15, it is revealed that Charlie has suffered a pulmonary embolism and slowly comes back to health.
In Series 19, Charlie and paramedic Luke are asked by nurse Claire Guildford to scatter the ashes of her accidentally murdered brother, Peter, at the seaside.
After arriving back at the Emergency Department, Charlie refuses treatment as he feels he does not need it despite being immersed in the freezing water for several minutes.
At first, he insists that he just pulled a muscle in his back whilst swimming, but the ECG results say that he has had a massive heart attack, and he quickly loses consciousness and falls into Cardiac Arrest.
After over half an hour of CPR and defibrillation, the team feels it is time to stop when Charlie's heart comes back to a normal rhythm.
In March 2020, Charlie quit his job at the emergency department, following a stressful several weeks after the death of Duffy.
She briefly returns in late 2003 to visit her father but dies after a road accident so Charlie gets full custody of Louis.
Charlie has come close to death on several occasions since 1990 as a result of a shooting and later a hit and run involving a stolen ambulance, a pulmonary embolism, attempted drowning and a heart attack.
He returns several months later, working in the private sector, and becomes a grandfather after Louis's brief relationship with Shona Wark results in a daughter.
While searching for his missing granddaughter, who had been taken by a mentally ill patient, Charlie sees Ruth Winters (Georgia Taylor)'s husband kissing his lover, James.
In February 2015, Charlie gives Connie a few harsh words after she makes the rash decision to ask Caleb Knight (Richard Winsor) for his letter of resignation.
Accompanied by Connie, he rescues his son on the verge of illegally donating a kidney for money and whisks him back to England.
Charlie is seen diving into the water to save Zoe; however, the exertion and hypothermia bring on a massive heart attack.
After a lengthy resuscitation attempt by Connie, Rita and Lofty, he eventually regained consciousness and recovered by the end of the episode.
Series producer Oliver Kent has described Charlie as "by far our most important character" and "absolutely core to the show's success".