BBC Casualty's Charlie star Derek Thompson gives blunt 4-word response to why he really left show after 38 years
Casualty star Derek Thompson has opened up about his exit from the BBC soap after 38 years as Charlie Fairhead - and he's hinted that there's more to his departure than meets the eye. The actor, 76, stopped by Good Morning Britain on Tuesday to chat about his new role in detective drama Blue Lights.
When asked by host Susanna Reid why he left Casualty after nearly four decades, Derek hesitantly replied: "That's all rather confused." After being pressed on the matter, he added: "It's confused in that there is a truth and the truth has been rather garnished.
"So I can't answer that question but I'm creating a memoir of the whole of my career and my early life in Belfast so you're going to have to buy the book."
Derek Thompson announced last year that he was leaving the BBC soap after 38 years as doctor Charlie Fairhead on the show. He joined the show in its first series in 1986, with Charlie surviving multiple gun shots, being run over by an ambulance and numerous heart attacks over the decades.
Derek's final episode aired in March 2024, with Charlie surviving being shot and driving away from Holby City Hospital for the last time. Speaking about his time on the show ahead of his final episode, Derek said: "I never envisaged I’d stay 38 years.
"I originally signed up for three years, but it soon became apparent what a great character he was to play. Medicine and television have both changed a lot since I started. But the basics are still there – the reception area and desk where people roll up is still performing the same function it did on my first day."
He added that the storyline closest to his heart was the one involving his on-screen sidekick and Charlie's eventual wife Duffy (played by Cathy Shipton). "The storyline I feel most personally attached to was Duffy’s death through vascular dementia,” he said. “There was another where a father, whose son was being taken away by his mother, gets a gun and kidnaps the boy. He ends up in A&E and it was played beautifully.
The actor recently played the role of Robin Graham in BBC One drama Blue Lights, which returned for a second series this year.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1 and ITVX.
