TV Tonight: Charlie leaves Casualty for good

It's Charlie's final episode of Casualty, tonight at 9.25pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

Charlie's life hangs in the balance in the final episode of the current series.

Derek Thompson leaves the BBC drama after 37 years in emotional scenes which fans will see tonight.

 Derek says: "Together with the writers and producers, I have tried to bring to Charlie the compassion, kindness, heroism and sound judgement that we all see and love in Pete.

"I want to say thanks to Pete and everyone else over that time who has inspired me in bringing this character to life."

Jon Sen, executive producer of Casualty, said they used to joke that after Fairhead's long and dramatic career in the NHS there was not much that he hadn't seen.

"It was an amazing surprise to me when Derek arrived with a brilliant idea for Charlie's exit as part of an upcoming storyline, which was too good to pass up," Sen said. "We will all miss Derek enormously. "

"Over nearly four decades, Derek has crafted an iconic character who is woven into the fabric of British TV history. We will miss his craft, his humour and his on-screen presence. We're also going to miss a friend, so for the next few months we're going to have a ball filming Charlie's final chapter."

Fans will have to watch tonight to learn Charlie's fete.

Stream the series on iPlayer.