arrivals

Casualty aired a dramatic final episode of its latest boxset recently – but the BBC show’s cast has teased some huge scenes ahead, new arrivals and much more drama

Casualty ended this latest boxset with a dramatic series finale, which saw drama, heartbreak and a tragic death. The BBC show is very popular amongst their fans – and it looks like there’s some huge drama ahead in the coming months.

The BBC drama ended last month with some devastating scenes, as it seemed Ngozi had died after suffering a relapse at the airport as her and her young son plan to travel back to Nigeria. Elsewhere, there was trouble for Iain and Faith, who seemed on the verge of splitting from one another as Iain continues to struggle over his mum’s death.

The Mirror got all the gossip from the cast at the Inside Soap Awards, where the stars dropped some huge hints about what’s coming next and what the future holds for their characters.

Two new arrivals

Olly Rix – who plays Flynn – teased there would be drama ahead, and some new arrivals. “We have two new characters coming into Holby and that’s a big part of the next season,” he said.

“When any new character comes in, everyone has to re-orientate themselves. So you see everybody across the breadth of the NHS dealing with these two people.”

Relationship drama

Anna Chell – who plays Jodie – warned it wouldn’t be plain sailing for some of the couples. She said: “There’s quite a few relationship break-ups and new relationships formed. Some maybe the audience don’t expect.”

Naomi Wakszlak – who plays Indie – also gave us an insight on what we can expect for Indie and Cam (Barney Walsh) after the pair finally found love with one another this series.

“We’re going to see them getting a lot closer, which is really nice. I think at first Indie is a bit more into it than Cam is so we have to pull Cam out of his shell, which is really nice. It’s been a lot of fun, I love Barney so it’s been really great working with him. We don’t really get to go inside that much and be with the doctors and nurses so it’s nice to do a bit inside!” she said.

Past wounds revealed

Last series, we learned that Flynn had suffered a devastating loss of a child. This devastating past trauma is set to continue to be explored over multiple boxsets going forward.

“I think when you join this show, everybody’s so well drawn that when you come in, you’re relentlessly exploring this new character and you have to serve everybody else still,” Olly said.

“So it’s something that you do over quite a dragged out period of time, so each boxset, we’re pulling another thread and there’s space to do it over multiple boxsets.”

Real-life drama

Documenting the real life struggles of the NHS – like the BBC drama did one Christmas about the issues with blood supply – is important to the cast, and raising awareness of conditions that might not be well documented on TV.

Sammy Dobson – who plays Nicole – shared: “Doing the postpartum psychosis storyline, the amount of people that reached out to me who have been in a similar situation who have never ever seen that reflected in TV.

“Casualty finds those stories and connects with people who might not see those things on TV and in other places. I think it’s so important to tell those stories.”

Milo Clarke, who plays Teddy, added: “It’s a privilege to be able to tell these stories. For as long as we’ve known, we’ve all been affected or used the NHS or known someone who works for the NHS. It’s very important to represent that.”

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Israeli media report two people are hospitalised after a drone strikes Ramon Airport in the south of the country.

The Israeli military says it is investigating the crash of a drone  launched from Yemen that has struck the arrivals hall at Ramon Airport near the Red Sea city of Eilat.

Airspace above the airport was closed, the Israel Airports Authority had said earlier on Sunday, without providing an immediate reason for the closure.

The Israeli military said the incident was under review, without providing details on the impact. It did not specify whether the drone had fallen after being intercepted or if it had been a direct hit.

Earlier, the Israeli military said the air force had intercepted three drones launched from Yemen. It said two were “intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory” but did not elaborate on the status of the third.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing the Israeli rescue services, reported that two people were lightly wounded in the drone strike. A 63-year-old man was injured by shrapnel, and a 52-year-old woman was injured after she fell. It said emergency workers evacuated them to a hospital in Eilat while others who suffered panic attacks received medical care at the scene.

Israeli Army Radio reported that a preliminary investigation into the damage at the airport indicated the drone had not been spotted by the air force’s detection systems at all.

The airport, located near the resort city of Eilat on the border with Jordan and Egypt, mostly handles domestic flights.

The Houthis in Yemen have been launching missiles and drones thousands of kilometres north towards Israel in what the group says are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians under relentless Israeli fire. It has also been attacking vessels in the Red Sea since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023.

There has been no immediate comment from the Houthis on the drone strike on Ramon Airport.

Israel has bombed Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the vital Hodeidah port. Its latest barrage killed senior Houthi officials a week and a half ago, including its prime minister and other cabinet officials. Large numbers of civilians have also been killed in Israeli strikes.

In May, a Houthi missile hit near Israel’s main airport, Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv, injuring four people lightly and causing many airlines to cancel their flights to Israel for months. Israel later struck and destroyed the main airport in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Greece has suspended processing of asylum applications from people arriving by sea from North Africa since July.

More than 120 refugees and migrants have been intercepted off the island of Crete, according to Greek authorities, the latest in a series of arrivals of people making perilous journeys to Europe from North Africa despite a suspension of asylum claims and a concerted push for tougher detention rules.

Two boats, carrying 58 and 68 people and believed to have departed from Libya, were stopped on Monday, and their passengers were placed under guard at temporary shelters. More than 100 other refugees and migrants arrived on Crete over the weekend after strong winds eased.

Greece’s conservative government last month suspended all asylum claims for migrants arriving by sea from North Africa, a move it argued helped deter crossings that peaked in July at more than 2,500 in a single week.

The ban passed in parliament amid a surge in asylum seekers reaching Crete and after talks with Libya’s Benghazi-based government to stem the flow were cancelled acrimoniously in July.

It also marked a further hardening of Greece’s stance towards refugees and migrants under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government, which has built a fence at its northern land borders and boosted sea patrols since it came to power in 2019.

The government remains at odds with regional authorities in Crete over a plan to build a permanent transit facility on the island. It is preparing draft legislation that would mandate imprisonment for people whose asylum claims are denied and require ankle monitors during a 30-day compliance period before deportation.

Earlier this month, at least 26 people died after two boats sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

That disaster, also involving people travelling from Libya, was the latest to befall refugees and migrants making the perilous Mediterranean crossing from Africa to Europe.

Rights groups and United Nations agencies have also documented systematic abuse against refugees and migrants in Libya, including torture, rape and extortion. In February, Libyan authorities uncovered nearly 50 bodies from two mass graves in the country’s southeastern desert, in the latest horror involving people seeking to make it to Europe through the North African country.

Since the beginning of this year, 675 people have died in the central Mediterranean while trying to make the crossing, Filippo Ungaro, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Italy, recently said.