Casualty star Kirsty Mitchell on how Faith Cadogan avoided being struck off

Casualty exclusive: Kirsty Mitchell on Faith Cadogan’s return to nursing, not being struck off and the situation with paramedic Iain Dean.

Casualty star Kirsty Mitchell on Faith Cadogan’s future

Faith Cadogan makes a welcome return to Holby ED in Casualty episode Liability (BBC One, 9.20pm, Saturday, January 27, 2024), but things are far from smooth sailing for the advanced practitioner nurse.

Despite her extensive nursing experience Faith (Kirsty Mitchell) is put on light duties and forbidden from treating patients or going anywhere near the hospital’s pharmaceuticals, due to being in recovery from a near-fatal drug addiction triggered by a devastating sexual assault.

Now, the popular medic seems firmly on the road to recovery but it’s still early days…

As part of our interviews with Kirsty Mitchell last September the star discussed what lies ahead for Faith and how the nurse avoided losing her job and being struck off.

Here, Kirsty, 49, tells us more…

Casualty interview with Kirsty Mitchell

Does it feel like Faith still has a long way to go in terms of her recovery?

“Yes, she does. What I want for Faith is for her to get back on top of everything. If she gets back to work, it feels like she’ll get back to the top of her game. But it’s a long road.”

What about rekindling her relationship with paramedic Iain Dean (Michael Stevenson)?

“That’s the other burning question, do her and Iain ever get back together? Well, I think that’s also really far off, because there’s a lot of repair to do to herself and, also, when you’re going through rehab or anything like that you’re not allowed to be in relationships.”

It’s great to see more scenes on the horizon for Zoe Brough who plays Faith’s daughter Natalia…

“I know, I adore Zoe, she’s lovely to work with and so honest and open as an actress. And yes, she has some fab stuff coming up!”

What are your hopes for the impact of this difficult storyline?

“The flip side of this is, if she manages to pull through it then hopefully, we’ll get success stories or it’ll be an inspiration for people to think ‘If she can do it, I can do it’. I have a lot of young girls that write to me and they’re in hard, anxious spaces, so it’s a big responsibility having these storylines and making sure that you keep a core of yourself and a core of this person that they’ve fallen for that you’re trying to pull out the other end, so that they come with you on the journey. Everybody wants her to get better.”

And for Faith?

“I hope she finds herself again. I hope everything that’s happened is enough of a shock to bring the old Faith back, that she can fight the demons and enjoy herself, her family and her friends again, and do what she’s good at.”

When Faith’s addiction became known, she was under investigation and there was concern that she could be struck off and lose her job. How has she avoided that outcome?

“It could have gone that way; if they’d found out she’d stolen the drugs then yes, she would have been stuck off. But Stevie Nash (Elinor Lawless) was evasive and Max Cristie (Nigel Harman) had so much going on, it got hidden. Medically, I asked right away whether she’d lose her medical licence. It depends on where the information ends up and if there’s proof of theft. Does it come out that she stole the drugs? Does it get reported?”

It’s hard to know whether Max has her back or not…

“Well, he’s got his own stuff going on as well! He initially didn’t want Donna Jackson (Jaye Jacobs) to speak to the police and say she was responsible for the car accident. You see, not everybody’s super honest! Saving lives, yes, but not super honest! It’s all part of the web we weave…”

Thanks for answering, that makes sense!

“It was my first port of call as well, because, especially if you were writing prescriptions to yourself. But we don’t really know… As an audience we know that she’s stolen drugs, but we don’t know how far that gets down the line of being reported or whether Max covers it, or whether they know, but they don’t have the proof – and Stevie doesn’t give them the proof. Right now we just want her to stop crying!”

Finally, what do your family think of you being on Casualty?

“My mum loves Casualty, she’s so into it. My sister too. When we talk she’s like ‘don’t tell me anything, I don’t want to spoil it!’”

New episodes of Casualty air on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer on Saturdays. See our guide for more details

Casualty exclusive: Kirsty Mitchell on Faith Cadogan’s return to nursing, not being struck off and the situation with paramedic Iain Dean. Casualty star Kirsty Mitchell on Faith Cadogan’s future Faith Cadogan makes a welcome return to Holby ED in Casualty episode Liability (BBC One, 9.20pm, Saturday, January 27, 2024), but things are far from smooth sailing for the advanced practitioner…