S21-E27 : GODS AND MONSTERSAfter a four-week gap, Lofty (Lee Mead) returned to our screens tonight and, although his husband Dom (David Ames) was also in the episode, for once their paths didn't cross. Instead Lofty was involved in the developing story of Ric Griffin's (Hugh Quarshie) downward spiral of mistakes and uncharacteristic behaviour.
It was a welcome break from Lofty being written more as an accessory to Dom than as a character in his own right, albeit rather short-lived as Lee isn't cast-listed for the next several weeks. I'm not sure series producer, Jane Wallbank, offers us much hope of a more permanent shift in emphasis, though her comments on Dofty's future in her recent interview with Digital Spy do at least indicate more screentime pending... eventually.
Synopsis: It's Ric's 65th birthday but, making mistakes at work, is he caving under the pressure when his magnum opus returns and recognises he's not the surgeon he once was? And will he have the courage to admit he has a problem? Putting any reconciliation with Ange at risk, Fletch goes on a mission to find out if Chloe's claims about Evan are true... but whose side is he really on? After Sacha jumps to the wrong conclusion about Isla, Essie finds herself assuming the role of a newly adoptive mother and is forced into living a lie.
The full episode can be viewed on BBC iPlayer until 10 October 2019 while below, with my apologies to those of the cast who have hit the cutting room floor, is the Lofty edit... (apologies for lower than usual video quality, I had a few tech problems this week!)
Check out the Timeline's HOLBY & CASUALTY INDEX for all the latest Meady Holby news and episode info.
Published: 20/08/2019; last updated: 11/09/2019