Casualty’s Sunetra Sarker has said she feels co-star Derek Thompson “deserved more” in the run-up to his exit from the BBC soap after 38 years on screen.

Earlier this year, Thompson bowed out of his role as Charlie Fairhead on the medical drama, with his character deciding to retire from nursing and driving off into the sunset.

Sarker reprised her role as Zoe Hanna for Charlie’s send-off and has now opened up about Thompson’s exit, saying she wished there had been more of a spotlight on the actor and his contribution to the show.

charlie fairhead, zoe hanna, stevie, casualty

“You know, I feel like he deserved a lot more, personally. I feel like I wish we could have had him on every channel talking about his departure,” she told The Mirror.

Digital Spy has reached out to the BBC for comment.

Sarker also said she wishes that fans could have had more opportunities to celebrate Thompson.

However, she added she appreciated her involvement in his on-screen send-off and revealed she’d promised him she’d “be there in a heartbeat” if he ever left.

“It was an honour to go back. You know I would have loved for so many of us… I know so many of the cast would have loved to be a part of that… I was just thrilled to be a part of it,” she said.

zoe hanna, casualty

Going on to praise Thompson, Sarker added: “I can’t explain who he is to everyone on that show because it’s more than a father figure. It’s more than a team leader.

“He’s just a very modest, talented man who knows how to make a show work [because] there would be no Casualty without Derek.

“I don’t think without his throughline so many of us could have had big parts to be in the show.”

casualty star derek thompson in character as charlie fairhead, writing in a medical report at the nurses’ station

BBC
Reflecting on his final episode, she recalled that Thompson “gave the most wonderful speech to the cast and crew which was so from the heart”.

“It brings tears to my eyes just seeing him loving us all. And the reason that so many people in that whole show have got families and homes is because of him.

“Like, he’s kept people in employment, some of them for 30 years. I do think the show’s gonna be very different without him.”