Casualty spoilers follow.
Casualty has revealed when Charlie Fairhead's final scenes will air.
Viewers will say goodbye to Charlie in a special episode, titled 'Charlie' airing on Saturday, March 16 – and it's not one to be missed.
Casualty bosses have confirmed last year that Derek Thompson would be bowing out of his role as Charlie after 37 years.
Derek has played Charlie since 1986, appearing in nearly 900 episodes – making him the show's longest-serving cast member.
He filmed his final scenes last autumn, when it was also announced that Sunetra Sarker would be reprising her role as Zoe Hanna for his send-off. And she may not be the only returning star, either.
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Ian Bleasdale is also back as Charlie's old friend Josh Griffiths, but the detail surrounding what brings him back is a closely-guarded secret.
Casualty will air Charlie's swansong over two unmissable episodes, with the first airing this Saturday (March 9).
The scenes will see Charlie vow to prove there is good in the world, with disastrous consequences.
Charlie will eventually find himself on the wrong side of troubled patient Kyle, who was involved in a car pile-up.
Although Stevie suspects Kyle has a knife, he's able to prove he doesn't, leaving her humiliated.
Despite this, Stevie's suspicions will soon be proved correct when Charlie later approaches Kyle in the corridor.
Realising Kyle has raided the pharmacy for drugs, Charlie challenges Kyle and urges him to do the right thing.
However, the situation takes a dark turn when Kyle ends up stabbing him, leaving Charlie's life hanging in the balance.
Next weekend's episode will air the aftermath of this, as Charlie's colleagues desperately try to save him. But does a tragic exit await Charlie? That remains to be seen.
Why is Charlie leaving?
Last year, Derek decided to leave the show after three decades of playing stalwart Charlie.
Explaining the reasons behind this, Jon Sen – who was Casualty's executive producer at the time – said: "Derek and I would often joke that, after such a long and dramatic career in the NHS, there was almost nothing that Charlie hadn't seen.
"So it was an amazing surprise to me when Derek arrived with a brilliant idea for Charlie's exit as part of an upcoming storyline, which was too good to pass up.
"We will all miss Derek enormously. Over nearly four decades, Derek has crafted an iconic character who is woven into the fabric of British TV history. We will miss his craft, his humour and his on-screen presence.
"We're also going to miss a friend, so for the next few months we're going to have a ball filming Charlie's final chapter."
Meanwhile, Derek added: "The time has come for me to hang up Charlie's scrubs after the most wonderful 37 years. Charlie Fairhead was inspired by a real nurse – Pete Salt.
"Together with the writers and producers, I have tried to bring to Charlie the compassion, kindness, heroism and sound judgement that we all see and love in Pete and I want to say thanks to Pete and everyone else over that time who has inspired me in bringing this character to life."
Casualty airs on Saturday nights on BBC One. The show is now releasing episodes early on BBC iPlayer at 6am on the day of transmission.
