Elliot Hope is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama television series Holby City, played by Paul Bradley.

His storylines have seen his wife Gina, a motor neuron disease-sufferer, commit assisted suicide, and his relationship with his children subsequently deteriorate.

He ended a brief romance with colleague Lady Byrne as he was still mourning Gina, and later shared a kiss with his old friend Tara Sodi.

Bradley was cast in the role after originally auditioning for a more minor part, and impressing executive producer Richard Stokes.

He observed real heart surgery being performed in preparation for the role, and bases his portrayal of Elliot on his own father, who was a doctor.

The Times's David Chater called it "highly effective in what it sets out to do", though Robert Hanks of The Independent deemed it "incompetent to the point of sacrilege".

[1] His casting was announced in June 2005, when series producer Emma Turner commented: "The man is a great surgeon but his shambolic appearance and eccentric manner will cause the highly-political Connie's feathers to become ruffled.

"[2] As research for the role, Bradley observed three operations at the University College London Heart Hospital, an experience he described as "amazing" and a privilege to attend.

[1] Bradley has described his first few weeks on Holby City as amongst the hardest acting experiences he has ever had, due to the medical terminology, props and procedures associated with the role.

[1] Jim Shelly of The Mirror commented unfavourably on the "horrible inevitability" of Bradley's casting, as he had previously portrayed Nigel Bates in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

[1] Elliot is described on the BBC Online Holby City homepage as "a disorganised genius" who "comes across as a bumbling eccentric" but has surgical expertise which is "second to none".

"[5] On 17 November 2006, Bradley appeared as Elliot in a Children in Need segment featuring the Holby City cast performing a version of "Hung Up" by Madonna.

[19] Elliot returns when Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher (Alex Walkinshaw) calls him to help Jac, who is terminally ill and needs an operation to save her life.

[19] Elliot arrives at Holby city episode "More Equal Than Others", when it is revealed he has beaten cardiothoracic consultant Connie Beauchamp to the position of Clinical Lead.

He later steps down from this position in order to spend more time with his wife, Gina (Gillian Bevan), who has motor neuron disease and goes on to end her life by euthanasia, with Elliot by her side.

Elliot's relationship with his children, James (Sam Stockman) and Martha (Holly Lucas), is strained following their mother's suicide.

James goes missing, causing Elliot to worry his son has also committed suicide, before returning from Bangkok with a heroin addiction.

Elliot has a brief romance with Lady Byrne (Jane Asher), the mother of his registrar Joseph (Luke Roberts), however he ends the relationship as he is still mourning Gina.

Martha leaves Holby to attend university, returning two years later having married in Las Vegas without telling her father.

When Ben confides in Elliot that he is experiencing on-going health problems, he initially agrees not to tell Martha, not wanting her to worry.

When Martha arranges a surprise party for Elliot's 50th birthday, he is re-introduced to an old friend from university, Tara Sodi (Meera Syal).

He becomes determined to see the scientific project he has worked off for many years, the Hertzig (an electronic heart), into practise, and is delighted when he finds a potential patient.

Guy Self then attempts to tempt Jac into taking Elliot's place; leading the Herzig 5 project and running Darwin ward.

After Elliot has fully recovered from his ill health and recent surgery, Oliver Valentine returns to the hospital fourteen months after leaving for South America.

[22] Ric Griffin (Hugh Quarshie) discovers a "bloodied and badly bruised" Oliver near the hospital entrance, and admits him immediately.

[22] Guy Self started to focus more onto the surgery side of things in April 2015, once he got told that he can not carry on performing in theatre and still be the Chief Executive Officer of Holby City Hospital.

When Brigitte Nye comes back to Holby with Frieda Petrenko (Olga Fedori) who is seriously ill, he performs major surgery on her to prevent her dying.

"[27] The episode was selected as recommended viewing by several TV critics, including Dydd Iau of the Liverpool Daily Post,[28] and Roz Laws of the Sunday Mercury, who noted: "It sounds a bit strange, but there's snow, carols and an uplifting happy ending for a change.

"[29] The Mirror's Maeve Quigley called it "a timeless story", though questioned the plausibility of a world in which Elliot's patients went untreated, as "the NHS isn't a one-man band after all".

[31] Hanks wrote: "What it did add to the mix, that James Stewart never achieved, was to give the viewer an authentic frisson of empathy: there was a point towards the end – during an encounter with Elliot's miraculously resurrected, motor-neurone-disease-afflicted yet remarkably soignée and articulate wife - when I began to see never having been born as preferable, sometimes, to prime-time TV.