Actor among BBC’s top earners retires after 37 years
msn.comHis salary of £350,000-399,999 placed him ahead of Peter Capaldi, then playing Doctor Who, and any cast member from EastEnders.
Fans loved the character, lynchpin of the fictional hospital’s accident and emergency department. He appeared in almost 900 episodes.
Thompson said: “The time has come for me to hang up Charlie’s scrubs after the most wonderful 37 years. “Charlie Fairhead was inspired by a real nurse - Pete Salt.
Together with the writers and producers, I have tried to bring to Charlie the compassion, kindness, heroism and sound judgment that we all see and love in Pete, and 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: “Derek and I would often like that, after such a long and dramatic career in the NHS, there was almost nothing that Charlie hadn’t seen. “So 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. “We will all miss Derek enormously.
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