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List of Doctors characters introduced in 2024
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Doctors is a British medical soap opera which began broadcasting on BBC One on 26 March 2000.[1] Set in the fictional West Midlands town of Letherbridge, the soap follows the lives of the staff and patients of the Mill Health Centre, a fictional NHS doctor's surgery, as well as its sister surgery, the University of Letherbridge Campus Surgery. Head of St. Phils' gynaelogical department Ed Jordan (David Bark-Jones) was the first to debut in the year. He was followed by Liv Morgan (Livvi Parsons) in February, a foster child that Rob Hollins (Chris Walker) cares for. Joanna Bending then joined as doctor Michelle Walton in March, followed by temporary receptionist Paige Popplewell joining later that month. In June, Alex Avery joined as doctor Graham Elton. September then saw the arrival of Scarlett Kiernan's (Kia Pegg) housemate, Holly Lewin (Jessica Chisnall). Additionally, multiple other characters appear throughout the year. This was the final year that Doctors aired on television.
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Ed Jordan
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Ed Jordan, portrayed by David Bark-Jones, first appeared on 9 January 2024 and appeared until 29 January 2024. He was introduced as the head of the gynaecological department at St. Phils Hospital, as well as the former fiancé of established character Nina Bulsara (Wendi Peters). He is first seen in scenes where Nina arranges a meeting with the head of department to spark an investigation into the pain women are facing under his doctors' care. Nina "gets a blast-from-the-past" as she is unaware that Ed runs it.[2] Ed shuts down Nina's claims of women's painful experiences and tries to say she is causing trouble due to him walking out on her without an explanation years prior, which infuriates Nina.[2]
Ed invites Nina to dinner, which makes her hold off on sending a formal complaint. He tries to kiss her after dinner, to which she walks off.[3] He soon arrives at the Mill Health Centre when she is seeing patients, trying to talk to her, which she also dismisses.[4]
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Liv Morgan
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Liv Morgan, portrayed by Livvi Parsons, first appeared on 21 February 2025 and made her final appearance on 16 April 2025.[5] She was introduced as a teenager that Rob Hollins (Chris Walker) begins fostering. She is initially wary of him due to him being a police sergeant and her family being criminals. Rob learns that she has been groomed by Stew McLaren (Harvey Zaffino), a man in his 20s. However, Liv becomes irritated with Rob asking questions about their relationship, giving him the "cold shoulder".[6] Rob is disgusted when he learns that Liv and Stew are cousins.
Rob persuades Liv to attend a counselling session with Jimmi Clay (Adrian Lewis Morgan). However, she "makes it difficult" by keeping him guessing about what is troubling her.[7] Liv eventually opens up by stating that she feels everyone leaves her eventually. Jimmi challenges her relationship with Stew, to her fury. She runs away and Rob finds her crying outside of Stew's flat, having found him with another woman. With his concerns growing over Liv's situation, Rob takes her fishing to attempt her opening up.[8] The trip is successful, with Liv opening up to Rob and later making him breakfast. However, her "good mood does not last long" when Rob informs her that her stay as a foster child is soon to end, with Liv moving onto a permanent home.[9]
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Michelle Walton
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Dr. Michelle Walton, portrayed by Joanna Bending, first appeared on 5 March 2024. Bending's casting was announced by her acting agency on 13 September 2023.[10] Debuting six months later, her character was brought in as a temporary replacement for Emma Reid (Dido Miles), who is in Australia amidst Michelle's hiring. Her backstory involves knowing established characters Zara Carmichael (Elisabeth Dermot Walsh) from a conference in their youth and Luca McIntyre (Ross McLaren) from a medical course.[11]
Michelle comes from Oldham and has remained in loose off-screen contact with Zara over the 20 years that they have been friends. In a video filmed for Doctors' social media platforms to introduce the character to fans, Bending revealed that she was friends with Walsh at drama school so felt that their characters being connected was "serendipitous". Bending opined that Michelle is a very kind doctor and someone who other characters will use as a "good shoulder to cry on". She also revealed that Michelle would be set to introduce an ex-partner to the Mill as a doctor to further help Zara.[12]
This doctor was later revealed to be Graham Elton (Alex Avery), an ex of hers, as well as a former colleague. They rekindle their relationship briefly, but Graham calls it off after Michelle has to present a course on LGBTQIA+ awareness to him. She is then shown to be worried about his "concerning behaviour and micro-aggressions", particularly since he often feuds with Luca, her gay friend.[13] Graham later asks if she would like to take over the Mill with him whilst Zara is bedbound from functional neurologic disorder (FND). She refuses and Graham uses his newfound power to terminate her contract. She is later part of a plan that sees Graham sacked and forced out of partnership. Michelle then becomes one of many to join as a partner following his exit.[14]
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Paige Popplewell
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Paige Popplewell, portrayed by Genevieve Lewis, first appeared on 25 March 2024.[15] She was introduced as a temporary receptionist at the Mill Health Centre, hired to cover Scarlett Kiernan's (Kia Pegg) annual leave. She was described as a "bubbly, outgoing" character who has been sent to the Mill by her uncle, Charlie, the head of a recruitment agency who supplies the surgery with temp staff.[7] Upon her introduction, she immediately bothers fellow receptionist Kirsty Millar (Kiruna Stamell) with her lack of experience. However, What to Watch noted that Paige becomes "a hit" with the rest of the staff, bonding with Zara Carmichael (Elisabeth Dermot Walsh) over designer shoes, gossiping with Luca McIntyre (Ross McLaren) over her famous ex-boyfriend and befriending Sid Vere (Ashley Rice), Al Haskey (Ian Midlane) and Jimmi Clay (Adrian Lewis Morgan).[15] Paige determines to win her over, getting Kirsty to gossip about her romantic situation with Dave Burns (Gareth Berliner).[16]
Paige convinces Kirsty to go on a date with Dave, leaving her to cover the reception desk alone. Whilst there, she flirts with Suni Bulsara (Rahul Arya), mentioning his expensive car. She then persuades Luca to cover reception whilst she fixes her false eyelashes in the toilets, during which she becomes engrossed in a phone conversation with her best friend.[6] Paige is again left on her own days later, but is "thrown straight into a busy day from hell", with numerous difficult patients.[9] The next day, she angers Kirsty by taking a mental health day due to feeling overwhelmed.[17] Paige makes several hints about wanting to date a doctor and flirts with Sid whilst the pair perform a stocktake together. The pair go on a date, where Paige is underwhelmed by Sid taking her for a picnic.[18] Scarlett returns from her annual leave and is unimpressed to meet Paige, although enjoys the gossip Paige gives her.[19]
Paige gives Sid a makeover and intends to go on "a proper date" with him.[20] She takes him to a club to meet her friends, Nicolette Masterton (Rosie Taylor-Ritson) and Chelsey Childers (Imogen Gurney), who are judgemental and gossip about Paige's ex-boyfriend. Paige persuades a reluctant Scarlett to join her for cocktails, during which Scarlett gets the impression that Paige "just dating Sid for his money".[21] Despite Luca having been irritated by Paige, she later proves herself to be organised when she assists him with vaccinations. However, to her disgust, a patient vomits over her.[22] Sid begins to become weary about his relationship with Paige when she describes him as "marriage material".[23] After Paige shows off a necklace bought for her by Sid, Scarlett takes issue with her appearing to be materialistic. Paige insists that every woman wants to be treated like a princess and that Scarlett should not have dumped Suni, due to his financial status, to Scarlett's anger.[24]
Paige introduces Sid to her parents, Cathy (Shona Lindsay) and Tony Popplewell (Paul Slack), on a night where he feels uncomfortable. What to Watch hinted that the scenes were a "bad omen of things to come".[25] Sid soon breaks up with Paige, much to her upset. However, she becomes focused on her career and soon convinces herself that she will be made a permanent member of staff after overhearing and misunderstanding Graham Elton's (Alex Avery) plans about temporary staff.[26] She is excited to be asked for a meeting with business manager Bear Sylvester (Dex Lee), but Paige's "happy bubble is burst" when she learns it is an exit interview.[27] She complains to her uncle about the situation and he threatens to withdraw his agency's temp staffing services, so Zara and Kirsty take her to lunch and persuade her of pursuing a career outside of working on reception.[28]
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Graham Elton
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Dr. Graham Elton, portrayed by Alex Avery, first appeared on 3 June 2024. Graham is introduced to Zara Carmichael (Elisabeth Dermot Walsh) as an old colleague of Michelle Walton (Joanna Bending). He explains that the surgery he works at in Warwick is being bought, so he wishes to relocate. Graham is given a tour of the Mill and later joins the team as a new partner, as well as a general practitioner.[29] Graham clashes with nurse Luca McIntyre (Ross McLaren) over the usage of pronouns for a non-binary patient. Luca gets revenge by getting people to refer to Graham by the wrong pronouns to make him realise how important pronouns are to people. Graham is then signed up to an LGBTQIA+ awareness course led by Michelle. He makes an inappropriate joke about the community and later screws up his training certificate in anger.[30] The next day, he dumps Michelle, leaving her upset. Both Michelle and Zara are then warned about Graham's "concerning behaviour and micro-aggressions".[13]
Graham and Luca's feud was soon heightened. Scenes show Graham finding out personal information about Luca, such as his involvement in the death of his boyfriend, Billy Parker (Daniel Cornish). He uses it to aggravate Luca, calling both him and Billy homophobic slurs, until Luca punches him. He then gets Luca sacked.[31] When Zara is diagnosed with functional neurologic disorder (FND) and cannot come into work, he manipulates her into making him the acting senior partner. He uses his power to terminate Michelle's contract when she declines his advances, as well as assaulting Scarlett when the practice is left empty. He alienates Jimmi and Al into quitting, as well as making the rest of the staff unhappy. He is shocked when Zara confronts him in the Mill, as well as Bear revealing that the Care Quality Commission have made an error with his partnership paperwork, which Graham realises has been orchestrated by Bear. Zara sacks Graham and orders him to leave the Mill Health Centre forever.[32]
Avery's casting was revealed by the media on 27 May 2024.[33] He was cast following the cancellation of Doctors by being offered a 32-episode contract. He was unaware that he had been cast as a villain but assumed that his character would be involved in the final storylines of the soap. Then upon arrival, he was made aware of being a villain when a makeup artist said: "oh, are you the new villain?"[34] Avery remarked on a podcast hosted by Elisabeth Dermot Walsh that the character of Graham represented the BBC in the events that unfolded between them and the Doctors cast and crew, which Walsh agreed with. He was written in to tear the Mill Health Centre apart, which is how the cast and crew viewed the BBC in the wake of Doctors' cancellation.[34]
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Holly Lewin
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Holly Lewin, portrayed by Jessica Chisnall, first appeared on 5 September 2024 and made her final appearance on 10 October 2024. Holly is introduced as Scarlett Kiernan's (Kia Pegg) "naughty new neighbour" as part of a storyline that sees Scarlett moving into shared accommodation due to her long-running money struggles.[35] Scarlett notices an abundance of packages outside of Holly's room, to which Holly reveals that she livestreams and that the packages are gifts from subscribers. Scarlett "can't help but gossip" about them to Luca McIntyre (Ross McLaren), who suggests that she is a sex worker.[35]
Scarlett becomes determined to find out more about Holly's lifestyle but is "surprised" when Holly invites her to watch her livestreaming. She is shocked to learn that there is nothing sexual about Holly's livestreams since she only opens packages onscreen and provides rich, lonely men with conversation. She "is left with something to think about" when Holly suggests that Scarlett could make a lot of money from doing something similar.[36] Holly later "desperately" arrives at the Mill with a sore throat and asks for antibiotics since she has a livestream scheduled and cannot afford to miss out on the money.[37] However, since her infection is viral, Luca does not prescribe antibiotics and she storms out, lashing out at Luca.[37] She later "pleads with Scarlett" to act as her voiceover, giving her half of the income from the livestream.[38] They do one final livestream together, during which they earn thousands.[39]
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Other characters
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References
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