AFTER 38 YEARS – senior charge nurse Charlie Fairhead has departed the BBC medical drama Casualty.

Charlie – played by Belfast-born actor Derek Thompson – exited the drama last night. According to BBC News, he was stabbed at the end of last week’s episodes and fans were worried he may be killed off.

However, after fighting for his life throughout last night’s episode, Charlie made a recovery and was last seen riding off in a car with the words “Just retired” on a sign on the back.

Charlie had been the series’ longest running character, appearing in the very first episode on 6 September 1986. He was the last remaining original cast member on the series, which is now in its 38th season.

Casualty is set in a fictional Holby Street Hospital and follows the dramas and exploits of the A&E staff there.

Thompson had acted in almost 900 episodes of the series, but announced last May that the “time has come for me to hang up Charlie’s scrubs”. He is now 75 years of age.

In his time on the show, nurse Charlie Fairhead was shot in the chest, held hostage, and even run over by an ambulance on his wedding day.