Updates

06/07/07 ~ Sandra Huggett Online has moved to a new location and has also had a mini revamp - hope you like the new look :) I am beginning to re-do the gallery as the pictures that were there were horrendous quality, so I will gradually replace them with proper screencaps (thanks to Saz, my new official screencapping person!)

Sandra’s role in Casualty is probably her best know to date. She played Dr Holly Miles from September 1999 until April 2001 (Series 14 and 15).

Holly was a cheerful, bubbly person who seemed to get on with everyone. She was particularly good with children – before she started working in Casualty she worked in Paediatrics. In Holly’s first episode, she is called into A&E to help out since they are short-staffed, but she ends up working there permanently, although she dealt particularly with cases involving children. She tended to get very involved with patients, wanting to help them, but often she got over-involved.

Holly’s first storyline was when she became involved with two homeless children who were brought into A&E after a fire. The two children had run away from home years ago, and their parents were looking for them in Holby. One child is reconciled with her father when they bump into each other in A&E, and Holly meets the mother of the other child, who has run off again. Holly helps the mother (Maggie) to look for her son and puts up posters around the department.

A couple of episodes later, the boy (Andrew) turns up in A&E again and Holly recognises him. She calls his mother, but he escapes before she arrives. Maggie arrives in A&E, expecting to see her son, and is furious with Holly when she finds out he has run again. Holly tells her that it’s not her fault he left and that she couldn’t have kept him there – she was only trying to help by calling her in. Maggie tells her angrily that next time she wants to help, she should just keep her nose out.

However, Andrew turns up again and he and Maggie have an argument in reception. Holly witnesses this, and is turned upon again, this time by Andrew. He tells her that she should just have left it alone and left him to it, that he didn’t want to see his mother.

Holly is upset by situation and knows that she got too involved, but is consoled slightly when she later sees Andrew and Maggie leaving the department together, talking.

In one episode, Holly helps an elderly lady who is scared to go outside. The woman (Faye) was brought in by ambulance after she fell and hurt her ankle, but is scared of leaving because she doesn’t like being outside and hasn’t been outdoors for years. Holly tries to gently persuade Faye to go outside, but to no avail. Eventually, she manages to trick Faye into coming out by going outside herself then pretending to fall over – Faye hurries out, concerned that she has hurt herself, but then realises that she is outside and it wasn’t as terrifying as she had thought.

When a new resus opens in the department, Holly wants to turn the old room into a paediatric resus. She organises a sponsored parachute jump to raise money to fund the project. Holly redecorates the room herself and paints dolphins on the walls.

In the middle of Series 14, Dr Patrick Spiller (played by Ian Kelsey) arrives in Holby and it is clear from the moment that Holly first meets him that they already know each other. She tries to hide the fact that she knows him, but it is clear to the rest of the staff that there is something between them. Patrick asks her what she is doing that evening, clearly hinting that he wants to see her, but she tells him she is painting the new paediatric resus.

In the next episode, Holly and Patrick have an argument when Patrick embarrasses Holly infront of a patient. Sean overhears the argument, and later quizzes Holly about how she knows Patrick. She tells him that they dated when she was in Med School and he was an SHO, but tries to play it down by saying that he just fascinated her and they only saw each other for a few months, but it is clear from her expression that she isn’t telling the whole truth.

In the Christmas episode, it is Holly’s birthday and Patrick uses this as an excuse to ask her out again, but she turns him down saying that she is going out with her boyfriend. However, Holly tells Amy that she is going out with some old girl friends from Med School. Later, Amy asks Holly if she is ready for her night out with the girls, but Patrick hears and realises that Holly doesn’t really have a boyfriend.

In this episode, Holly treats an elderly lady who suffers from advanced motor neurone disease. She is touched not only by the fact that her husband cares for her all by himself, but that he actually enjoys doing it because he loves her so much.

Later on in the series, Holly is involved in another storyline that shows her over-involvement with patients. A little boy, Jake, is brought in after nearly drowning in a river. She questions where his mother was at the time, and suspects that Jake and his sisters Gemma and Zoë aren’t being looked after properly. It turns out that they live in her street, and after advice from Patrick, she decides not to pursue it but keep a neighbourly eye on them.

However, in the following episode Gemma brings baby Zoë into the department because she is worried about her, despite her mother ordering her not to see Holly again. Zoë only had an ear infection, but Joanne (Gemma’s Mum) finds out that Gemma went to see her, and tells Holly to stay away. Holly plans to stick to this, but a few days later Gemma comes knocking frantically on her door, desperate to see her. She is worried about Zoë because she won’t stop screaming, and her Mum isn’t around to help. Holly goes round to sort them out. While she is talking to Gemma, Joanne comes home and is livid to find Holly there. Joanne orders her to leave, but Gemma begs her Mum to let Holly stay and to talk to her. Joanne eventually agrees and talks to Holly.

She tells her how much she loves them, but she just can’t cope sometimes and she finds it hard to keep a job. She breaks down and starts to cry, begging Holly to help them. Holly tells her that she can’t help and that she should go and see a councillor. At this point, Joanne turns on Holly and tells her that social services would only try and split the family up. She yells at Holly to go away. Gemma follows Holly outside and tries to apologise for her mother’s attitude. Joanne comes out too, and there is a commotion as Joanne tries to pull Gemma back. A car turns the corner and Holly and Gemma are pushed into its path.

Holly regains consciousness almost immediately and starts seeing to Gemma who is still unconscious. Joanne calls an ambulance, but then flees with Jake and Zoë. Once in hospital, the police quiz Holly about what happened. They post officers in the department to look out for Joanne in case she comes in to see Gemma. Inevitably, she turns up at the department to see her daughter. Holly tries to smuggle them in to give them a few minutes alone, but the police spot them. Joanne is arrested and we see Jake and Gemma crying as she is dragged away, screaming that she loves them. Holly blames herself for all this, and Patrick comforts her and tries to persuade her that she did what she thought was right at the time.

In the next series, Holly is asked by Max to go on a ‘date’ – an interview with a journalist, Nick Costello about the NHS. Holly is reluctant, but accepts when Max points out that she might meet the man of her dreams. Before Holly goes out for dinner, Patrick is behaving in an extremely jealous manner because he doesn’t realise that it is an interview – he is under the impression that Holly is just going on a date. Holly notices his behaviour and enjoys winding him up, before she eventually gives in and tells him the truth.

The dinner with Nick seems to be going very well, until Holly accidentally slips up and tells him that Adam, one of the nurses in the department, is HIV positive. She tries to gloss over her mistake and move the conversation on, but Nick picks up on this and is clearly interested. The next episode, Nick comes into the department, pretending to be a patient, to try and dig up some dirt on Adam so that he can write a juicy article for his newspaper. After trying to ring his phone all day, Holly sees him in a cubicle and manages to persuade him not to write the article.

Unfortunately, a bankrupt patient in the next cubicle overhears the conversation and sells the story to other papers to make some money. The next day, it is all over the press and Adam is distraught. Against Charlie’s advice, Holly tells Adam that it was her fault, hoping that it will ease her conscience a little. Adam is angry and shouts at Holly, telling her how he feels betrayed and he never expected that from a friend. She is upset at Adam’s reaction, but later when he has cooled down he approaches her and apologises, understanding her situation.

Later on in the series, Holly organises a ‘Well Teddy Clinic’ where a small group of young children visit the department, along with their teddy bears, to see how it works. The day is success and both the children and staff enjoy it. However, Holly does appear annoyed by Patrick’s flirting with the teacher!

On Christmas Eve, Holly is at a special lunch with her old paediatrics colleagues, and has dragged Patrick along to give her a lift. Patrick is less than thrilled about this and moans through the meal. On the way home, Patrick’s car breaks down on a small road in the middle of nowhere. He tries to phone for help, but the breakdown company tell him that he hasn’t renewed his membership, then his phone battery dies. They try to retrieve Holly’s phone from the boot but it is frozen stuck due to the cold and the heavy snow. Whilst trying to open it, Patrick gets his thumb caught and injures it. Patrick looks for a stick to prise the boot open with, and while searching he trips and sprains his ankle.

Holly manages to open the boot, but finds that there is no signal for her phone. Desperate to hide from the freezing cold, they decide to shelter in a nearby barn. During the episode, it becomes increasingly clear that they both still have feelings for each other and after Holly asks Patrick what he sees in her, they almost kiss, but Holly pulls away at the last minute and runs outside. She returns later telling him that she walked down the road and found that there was a signal on her phone so she called for help. Patrick is asleep and she leans over and kisses him on the cheek.

In the New Year’s episode, Holly receives a birthday card which isn’t signed. She thinks it’s from Patrick, but when she asks him about it, he says it wasn’t him and she looks disappointed. On the stroke of midnight, they almost kiss again but Dan appears with impeccable bad timing and hugs Holly instead. In the next episode, Holly receives some flowers, again with the card not signed, and everyone assumes they are from Patrick.

When Holly moves house, Patrick agrees to help as her removal man has hurt his back. While on the way to the tip, Patrick stops to help out Spencer and ends up being kidnapped and held hostage on a boat. Holly phones him, wondering where on earth he is, and he tries to give her a message in code as to what has happened so she can help. Holly drives around trying to find him, although his message confused her. In the end, they bump into each other by the side of an RTA that one of the kidnappers was involved in.

Afterwards, at Holly’s new flat, she receives a bottle of champagne and a card, again unsigned, to welcome her to her new flat. She assumes it’s from Patrick again and thanks him and kisses him on the cheek. Patrick talks to Spencer and tells him that he didn’t send the champagne, but doesn’t tell Holly this. They seem to be happy together, and Holly invites him to stay for something to eat, but their conversation gradually turns into an argument when he insults her IQ and he storms out.

A few weeks later, a student doctor is shadowing Patrick for the day and Holly acts incredibly jealous of her. Patrick tells Holly that in fact he didn’t send the champagne after she moved house. Another anonymous gift is left for Holly at reception – a teddy bear. Unimpressed, and clearly starting to get annoyed by the whole thing, she throws the teddy in the bin. When she goes out to her car later on, the teddy is tucked under the windscreen wiper. She is clearly unnerved by this.

A couple of episodes later, Holly leaves her house in the morning to find a rose attached to her letterbox with a note saying ‘Only you can heal me’ on it. She looks up and down the street but doesn’t see anyone. Later, she tells Chloe that she was certain she left her window open that night, but when she woke up it was closed. At the end of the shift, Holly returns to the staffroom to find another rose, on her locker this time, and inside is a bottle of perfume and another unsigned card that read ‘You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will, but the scent of the roses will hang round here still’.

In the next episode, Holly is running late and receives a phone call from her secret admirer, asking if she slept well. She asks who it is and what he wants, but he hangs up. She goes outside to find a rose inside her car. Unable to stay in her car after that, she walks to work and is even later. At work, she treats a patient called Gary who seems to act suspiciously, and she assumes that he could be her admirer. It turns out that he is only someone who would like to see her, and when his fiancée turns up she drops him in it by revealing that he had asked her out to dinner.

Dan approaches Holly and asks her if she’s been having anymore phone calls, and when Holly questions him suspiciously about how he knew someone had phoned her, he says that Patrick mentioned it. Patrick offers to give Holly a lift home since she walked that morning. He drops her off and offers to come in with her to check that everything is okay, but she tells him she’ll be fine and has to clean up as she left the flat in a tip that morning. Holly goes in to find that her kitchen is spotless even though she left it like a pigsty that morning. She walks through into the bathroom to find a candlelit bath has been run for her. Terrified, she runs back through to the living room and closes the door behind her as the phone starts to ring again. The camera zoomed out to see the silhouette of someone holding a phone outside her window.

The next day, Holly turns up at work exhausted, having not had much sleep, and fed up. She tells Patrick that she called the police, but felt stupid at the few serious complaints she could make and the fact that when her stalker broke in, all he did was tidy up.

That day, Holly is asked to carry out a simple procedure, but due to her distracted state of mind, she does it wrong and is unnerved by her lack of concentration. Dan tries to talk to her about it, but she quickly makes an excuse to leave, still suspicious of him. Later on, Holly receives another phone call, at work this time, and the caller tells her that the purple colour she’s wearing really suits her, before hanging up. She runs around frantically, asking anyone she sees who is at a telephone if they called her. Dan tries to calm her down and takes her into Charlie’s office. He stupidly decides to choose that moment to tell Holy that he has feelings for her. This only increases Holly’s suspicions of him.

Patrick offers to give her a lift home that evening, but when they go outside they find that the tyres on his car have been slashed. Tom approached them as they talk about it, and offers to give Holly a lift home instead. Holly agrees that it would be a good idea. As Tom gets into his car, we see that he has a photo of Holly in there, but he hides it so Holly can’t see it. He is her stalker. The episode ends with them both driving off together.

The next episode carries directly on from this. Tom invites Holly back to his house for a quick drink.

To be completed soon.