Programme Information

Russ Abbot joins the medical madhouse

Casualty

Saturday 14 November on BBC ONE

• www.bbc.co.uk/casualty
• Programme copy

Russ Abbot is checking into Holby City Hospital this week, to play Malcolm, an aquarium shop proprietor in deep financial water, in Casualty – Leave Me Standing. The much-loved entertainer talks to Programme Information about his guest role in the long-running medical drama and reveals that it takes a lot to make him squeamish, as he used to work for an undertaker, and also admits that his wife wears the trousers in their relationship.

In Casualty, Malcolm has kept his financial woes from his wife, Brenda (played by Patricia Brake), but the stress has caused ulcerations to his legs and matters go from bad to worse when, confronted by his landlord, Malcolm drops a fish tank on himself causing severe lacerations. But things really hot up in casualty when the landlord reveals he's building a car park on the site of Malcolm's shop and flat. Malcolm then decides to take matters into his own hands.

Russ explains: "Malcolm's a nice enough guy but he's a bit behind with his rent and he doesn't want to trouble his wife, so he's kept it all to himself. He has ulcers all over his legs and it fascinated me that you could keep a secret like that from your wife for so long! Malcolm wasn't embarrassed about his troubles – he just didn't want his wife to worry," adds Russ. "But he's not an aggressive guy or a bad guy; he's just been driven to act by his own dilemma and his own mistakes."

Like Malcolm, Russ has been married for a long time – would Russ be as scared of his wife's response as Malcolm seems to be of his?

"I've been married for 42 years but, in the early part of our married life, I was always away with the band and my wife, Tricia, raised the family, as such – so she has had the trousers on for the early years," says Russ. "But marriage is a partnership – although I have to say that as she'll probably read this!"

With severe cuts and ulcerations to his character's body, Russ had to check in with Casualty's famous make-up and prosthetics team to achieve just the right amount of blood and pus. He says: "It's very cleverly done. It looks gory and the prosthetics are great. The make-up girls have been doing it for so long now it's second nature to them but it looks so effective. The medical side of things has never bothered me as I used to work with an undertaker when I was 19, but I don't think I'd relish an invitation to visit a real operating theatre!"

Russ is no stranger to the Casualty set, having starred in the medical drama before in series 14, back in 1999. So what drew him back to Holby?

"Casualty has got a lot of class, a lot of respect and lots of viewers as well. It's really professional. You always have to look at the script and see what the part's like and if there's enough meat in it and Malcolm, I thought, was a nice part. But most of all it's such a well-liked programme and my wife's a big fan – she watches it every week, she loves it and her friends do as well."