Madeleine "Maddy" Young is a fictional character in the BBC medical drama Holby City, portrayed by actress Nadine Lewington.

Her role in the show was that of a Senior House Officer undergoing her general surgical rotation in Holby's acute admissions unit.

Described by the BBC as "enthusiastic [...] fun"[1] and "dedicated to her job",[2] Maddy was created alongside fellow new character General Surgical Consultant Dan Clifford.

Maddy was created by Holby City's executive producer Tony McHale as an SHO level doctor who would work on the hospital's Acute Assessment Unit.

The character was conceived alongside fellow series 9 newcomer Dan Clifford (Peter Wingfield), who arrived as the new General Surgical Consultant of the hospital's Keller Ward, in episode "It's Been a Long Day" - eight weeks before the introduction of Maddy.

[4] BBC Publicity explained at the time: "Maddy is good friends with Clifford (Peter Wingfield) and has saved him from trouble on a few occasions".

"[2] A spokesperson for BBC Publicity added: "We are delighted to have Nadine on board to play the part of Maddy, she's a great addition to the show and her character will be involved in some dramatic storylines.

"[9] Upon announcing the character's creation, BBC Publicity initially stated of her personality: "Maddy's enthusiasm and ability speaks for itself.

She's definitely not going to be single for very long, but there's a family secret she's harbouring which could just get in the way..."[2] The BBC Holby City homepage describes Maddy as: "enthusiastic and eager to learn.

[6] It later came to light that she once covered for him when he attempted an operation drunk - going so far as to date the lesbian anesthetist present during the surgery in order to buy her silence.

[17] In the show's tenth series, Maddy also formed a fast respect for the new head of the hospital's Acute Assessment Unit, Linden Cullen (Duncan Pow).

The pre-existing relationship between Maddy and Dan initially makes some staff wary of her, especially on the hospital's Acute Assessment Unit, where she is assigned.

However, she quickly strikes up a friendship with PRHOs Matt Parker and Dean West, and Senior Staff Nurse Donna Jackson.

Maddy engages in a one-night stand with Cardiothoracic Surgical Registrar Sam Strachan in episode "The Borders of Sleep",[13] and later bends the rules to help him take care of underage prostitute patient Jade MacGuire.

Her father reveals to Dan that Maddy once stole pharmacy drugs and planted them on the abusive boyfriend of her twin sister, Hannah.

Maddy gets into further trouble when she poses as Cardiothoracic Consultant Elliot Hope, attending a racial awareness course under the guise of "Ellie", only to be caught out by the hospital's Chief Executive Officer Jayne Grayson.

[23] In episode "Love Will Tear Us Apart", Maddy makes an error in the middle of an operation after Dan calls her out of the blue to arrange a meeting.

[24] Following Dan's departure, Maddy goes on to support Sam through his battle with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma,[16] and form a professional relationship with the new head of the AAU, Linden Cullen.

When Linden is suspended following the death of a patient, Maddy breaks the law by stealing samples from the hospital's morgue to prove his innocence.

"[9] In October 2007, drinks' industry body the Portman Group made an official complaint to communications regulator Ofcom about a scene in Holby City episode "Trial and Retribution", which depicted the characters Maddy and Sam Strachan each taking five shots of tequila following a stressful day at work.

[28] The body's chief executive David Poley claimed that in failing to show the negative consequences of this action, the series was presenting a "highly irresponsible portrayal of excessive and rapid drinking".

[3] The Daily Telegraph noted that the complaint came shortly after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith expressed concern about televisual glorification of drunkenness, having told the Labour Party conference such a thing would be branded unacceptable as part of a "zero-tolerance" approach to anti-social behaviour.

[31] The series 10 episode "Love Will Tear Us Apart", which saw Maddy stood up by Dan on a return visit from France, was selected as a televisual pick of the day by The Guardian,[32] the Daily Mirror,[33] and the Birmingham Mail.

Here, sexist surgeon Clifford returns to complicate Maddy's life, though since she's been sleeping with Sam, who's slept with Connie, Chrissie and Faye, she appears to need no help in that area.She's going to die.

"[32] Daily Mirror critic Jim Shelley has discussed the outlandish nature of the character's storylines, dubbing the line "I don't know why people complain about the NHS" from a 2007 episode his 'Naive statement of the week', explaining: "Hmmmm let's see.

And secret cokehead Jesus Of Nazareth (Robert Powell) keeping quiet about counselling Elliot's son for heroin addiction.

[36] The 17 November 2006 Children in Need charity telethon included a segment featuring the Holby City cast performing a version of Hung Up by Madonna.

[37] Although the character had not yet made her on-screen debut in the programme, Lewington as Maddy appeared in the sketch - as did fellow newcomers Peter Wingfield (Dan Clifford) and Phoebe Thomas (Maria Kendall) who also had yet to arrive in the show itself.

Lewington, alongside Rakie Ayola (Kyla Tyson) and Phoebe Thomas (Maria Kendall) provided backing vocals for Sharon D Clarke (Lola Griffin), who performed a soul version of Aretha Franklin's signature song, Respect.

"[9] Lewington has also appeared in a Holby City vs. Casualty special episode of BBC Two quiz show The Weakest Link, alongside co-stars Phoebe Thomas, Tom Chambers (Sam Strachan), Duncan Pow (Linden Cullen) and Robert Powell (Mark Williams).