Casualty star Arin Smethurst reveals Jan twist in improvised episode

"It all comes to a head at one point."

By Sophie Dainty

3 Dec 2022

BBC

Casualty spoilers follow.

Casualty star Arin Smethurst has opened up on the show's upcoming improvised episode.

The BBC medical drama will be breaking away from its usual format for a special edition in December, which focuses on the paramedic team and the pressures they deal with on a day-to-day basis.

The scenes, which weren't scripted, expand a week-long timeline, and will see Sah, Jan, Teddy and Ian pull together as they battle with long ambulance queues and backlash from patients, eventually pushing them to breaking point.

Discussing the episode, Arin – who plays Sah – said: "Jan plays a major role in this, she is pushed to the limit and it all comes to a head at one point which I won't spoil.

"Sah and Jan are paired up and they have a rough four days, and Teddy and Iain are paired up and they also have a rough four days. Teddy is having a bit of a confidence crisis as well.

"We explore all that through this journey. It's a very stressful journey, it's very dynamic and it's very varied. Sah and Jan's relationship really develops as well. I loved it, it was great."

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Arin also revealed how the episode will be a major turning point in Sah's working relationship with Jan.

They said: "Post episode, Sah and Jan's relationship develops further because Jan has supported Sah when their dad was sick. Now that Sah has had to take charge, and knows they can take charge, they are focused on ensuring Jan is okay – which she isn't.

"Sah wants to support Jan and also make it clear that no one begrudges anyone for having time off when they need it. It becomes not so tense anymore and there is a lot more understanding between them in the aftermath."

Explaining how they prepared for the episode, Arin added: "When we got the scripts, there were no lines in it – it was just a synopsis of the scene and what was happening in the scene.

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"That was it really – dialogue, mood, tone, thoughts and feelings were all left up to us. It was just the practical aspects of how the scenes would work and the logistics – the framework of it was given and then it was like: 'You bring it to life'. We just had to try our best and hoped it worked, I think it did though.

"We don't usually get much rehearsal time – it's usually a read-through, block it, show people and then shoot it. This time, we did have a few rehearsals to see what we could find and what we could explore.

"It was also a rehearsal for the crew as well and the camera operators because we were filming it in a different way to what we usually do – it was more like a documentary style, so it was a rehearsal for them to see what the action was going to possibly be.

"But it was obviously slightly different every time. We did have more time to explore stuff though but there were also times where we didn't rehearse it, we just thought we'd shoot it and see what happens because that was the point I suppose."

Casualty airs on Saturday nights on BBC One, and streams on BBC iPlayer.