#hanssen

Dom, 100%. He employs Ric briefly, but he almost blows it by being a little too probing in his questioning of Serena, so he is replaced by Donna who is a spy,. Hanssen keeps getting Serena to go to conferences, hoping that Bernie will also be going. He conspires with Dom about how to get Bernie in the same place. Dom suggests a work accident for Cam where he would end up on AAU, but Hanssen vetoes that. Donna’s job is to set Serena up with wildly inappropriate people that she would never be attracted to to try and get her to see what she’s missing.

I’ve lost my train of thought now and i have no clue where this is going? But of course it works because it’s berena 

Television has played a significant part of my life in recent years; it is my way of escaping the harsh reality of today’s world. Whenever I am feeling sad or upset, television is my answer to escape reality. Television has helped when the going gets tough, especially with recent personal issues.

What makes a good television programme are strong and relatable characters… What I look for in a TV character is a strong and complex backstory, takes no for an answer, heart; and even if you hate them, you can’t help but root for them! The majority of characters are British, mostly from BBC dramas Casualty and Holby City which have produced some very memorable characters over the years, plus being my guilty pleasures.

Here is a list of my 5 favourite TV characters:

5. Lindsay Denton

BBC drama, Line of Duty have produced some very memorable character in its so far four series run, but none quite as memorable as Series 2 suspected bent copper, Lindsay Denton played by Keeley Hawes.

Her downfall begins as she was entrusted to lead a police convoy escorting a civilian under witness protection (the civilian being one of the criminals from the first series of the police drama) is attacked by gunmen, with the civilian critically injured and all police officer are killed, with the exception of Lindsay Denton.

Lindsay Denton is regarded as iconic for her no non-sense demeanour and isn’t afraid to rub other people up the wrong way… She is a Detective Inspector and is incredibly intelligent. DI Denton is emotionally tortured as police in her department resent her for the death of her colleagues during the convoy.

She becomes the centre of an Anti-Corruption investigation by AC-12 and doesn’t take kindly to the fact that she had an undercover officer working alongside her. She is very quick to out AC-12’s undercover officer, Kate Fleming (played by Vicky McClure) and assaults her away from the public and CCTV cameras. She is questioned by AC-12 on the charge of conspiracy to murder, but it Lindsay isn’t afraid to show her aces as she publicly humiliates the AC-12 team with their own discretions.

Lindsay is a character you want to hate, but you do root for her as the series progresses. She has a short-temper as exhibited by assaulting an alcoholic neighbour with a wine bottle, or even assaulting a parole officer who attempted to have sex with her.

She is ultimately arrested for conspiracy to murder and perverting the course of justice, later being released to see her dying mother as well as two corrupt police officers kidnapping her in a prison van, killing one and seriously injuring the other when fearing for her life. She is later sent back to prison for life when the jury convict her of conspiracy to murder… But it was not the last we see her!

Her saving grace was during Series 3, she is released from prison when her appeal for conspiracy to murder was granted and the evidence later quashed following indiscretions by AC-12 officer, Steve Arnott (played by Martin Compston). You can’t fault her commitment for being a police officer, but with the question of perverting the course of justice still lingering over her head, the prospect of her returning back to policing was not good.

She certainly became quite the confidante when Steve Arnott came to her as he was now under AC-12’s investigation. Lindsay helped Steve with his inquiry into historic child sex abuse, but she comes back into the radar of Dot Cottan (Craig Parkinson) who arrests her and demanded Lindsay to destroy the list of evidence which will convict a number of politicians and police officers involved in the child sexual abuse scandal. Lindsay demanded to see AC-12 first before being sent to prison, as not only would she turn in the list, but also Dot for being ‘The Caddy’. She is shot dead by Dot in the final confrontation as she emails the list to AC-12 which charges the list of suspects involved in historic child sexual abuse.

Lindsay Denton is calculating, manipulative and cold; you wouldn’t to be in a fight with her as you will clearly lose, but she is a good ally to have when the going gets tough.

4. Henrik Hanssen

Calm, controlled and very mysterious, Henrik Hanssen was the character that got me watching Holby City religiously for the past 5 years. Guy Henry’s tall, enigmatic Swedish character caused a stir when he first walked on the wards of Holby City in Series 13 Episode 1 “Shifts” as joint Director of Surgery of Holby City Hospital, ruffling the feathers of Connie Beauchamp who was appointed in the same role.

Henrik Hanssen arrived as the grim reaper, being hired in by the Department of Health to oversee cuts within the hospital.

Henrik is a bit of an enigma, his private life he’d rather not discuss, he doesn’t usually display public emotion so willingly, and remains ice cool when the going gets tough.

During his first three years at Holby, he has been at the helm during the well-known plastics scandal storyline which almost closed down the hospital’s leading Cardiothoracic Surgical Unit, the subsequent deferral and later gaining Foundation Trust status at the hospital, the downfall following Richie Mooney’s father dying during the hospital’s trial AAU non-referral scheme, and of course flying back to Sweden to be with his son and grandchild.

Another intriguing storyline during his first tenure was his relationship with CT surgeon, Sahira Shah (Laila Rouass). Sahira was previously a junior under Hanssen and was specially employed as a new registrar on Darwin, which saw her go head-to-head against Jac for Connie’s old consultancy post which Jac ultimately won. His relationship is further intriguing as Hanssen tried to continually further her career with conference trips, delisting her official warnings and even making her husband jealous that she was getting close to fellow CT surgeon, Greg Douglas (which they did!) Certainly, Hanssen was distraught when Sahira left for Nottingham (my home city!) When he temporarily left during Series 15, he left for Sweden as we find out his father is dying and finally meets the son he has never met with his former love, Maja.

Following Hanssen’s initial exit, we were overjoyed when he returned back in Series 17 as Chief Executive Officer. Hanssen in his recent years has thawed as his backstory is further explored… During Series 18, he wrestled to keep his position as CEO from an ever-ambitious Guy Self (John Michie) who originally stepped down to focus on his neurosurgical super centre. Whilst he has been a vocal point by supporting other storylines, notably Arthur Digby’s death and supporting his junior doctors, it wasn’t long before his family reappear.

His fractured relationship with his son was ever present during Series 19 when he appeared initially as a patient. Hanssen was unnerved that a drugs trial from his son’s pharmaceutical company led to a number of patient deaths, which he ultimately severed his ties with his son for covering the information up. Fredrik returns as a registrar later on, one to gain his father’s approval but second to sell another trial drug… His attempts fail, with devastating consequences.

Fredrik returned with once more, this time with a vendetta against the hospital staff at Holby, who Hanssen favoured over him… He fatally kills Raf and severely injures Jac and Oliver with a rifle, only for Fredrik to be killed by armed police. The downfall from the shooting saw Hanssen become guilt ridden for his son’s actions and his depression explored. Right now, his storyline has been with colleagues and former university friends Roxanna MacMillan and John Gaskell

Hanssen is interesting; icy cool and calm under pressure, but underneath the surface lies a mentally exhausted gentleman… He’s a firm but fair hospital boss; he may look scary at first glance but he is loyal to his staff and close friends.

3. Takashi ‘Shiro’ Shirogane

The only animated character to make the list goes to one very handsome Takashi ‘Shiro’ Shirogane…

Shiro was the Garrison’s star pilot, breaking every single record known to man, but deep down his ambition has led to somewhat interesting backstory. His family backstory is unknown, suffers from a neuro-degenerative condition and was in a same-sex relationship with the lovely Adam (daggers at the Voltron writers!)

His story starts very early on; he was one of three pilots to have been at the helm of the failed Kerberos mission, kidnapped by the Galra and used a warrior to fend off the universe’s strongest creatures. His battling has led to a number of physical and mental health changes; his fringe turning white from the stress endured during his time being captive in the Galra, noticeable scar across his nose, his right arm amputated with a mechanised prosthetic and suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

He did manage to escape Galra captivity and crash landed back on earth, only to be quarantined by the Galaxy Garrison and later rescued by Garrison cadets which are Keith, Lance, Pidge (Katie Holt) and Hunk. Soon enough, Shiro is back in space and becomes leader of the Paladins and captains the Black Lion.

He is a father figure to the younger Paladins; a leader and assertive but has been known to be a bit of goofball from time-to-time. Keith has looked up to Shiro, which he provided support before going to Kerberos, and Pidge thanked him for looking out for his brother during their captive years in the Galra. However, his memories during his captivity in the Galra often come back to haunt him in anger and frustration.

Shiro doesn’t seem to get a rest and continues to suffer… He has been cloned on more than one occasion, actually been killed and had his memories transplanted into the Black Lion. His clone, Kuron was similar to Shiro in some aspects, but was mainly used a monkey by the Galra to extract information about Voltron. The clash between Keith and Kuron saw the mechanised Galra arm amputated and soon enough, Shiro’s memories from the Black Lion was transferred into the clone, thus Shiro now coming back to life.

His hair is now fully white, his amputated right arm now replaced by an Altean floating arm… His return to the Garrison now means he is captain of the Atlas to defend Earth from the Galra.

I admire Shiro; brave, courageous and flawed… I want to give this man a hug!

2. Dylan Keogh

Currently one of the most popular characters gracing long-running medical drama, Casualty; William Beck’s Dylan Keogh is blunt and to the point… He doesn’t care about the emotional downfall of a potentially life-threatening medical condition he diagnoses.

Dylan is fascinating… He says things as he sees them; a spade is a spade; a tension pneumothorax is a tension pneumothorax and vice versa! He first appears as a GP in Series 25 but specially recruited to Holby as a consultant by Miriam Turner. He initially turned down the role of consultant after rescuing Hannah Fleet from a bus crash, but later accepts as he found his old GP career boring and wanted to get back into the excitement of emergency medicine.

In his first few episodes, he rubbed a number of staff up the wrong way… He often forgot his colleagues’ names, didn’t take advice from his fellow consultants about treatment of patients, and his bedside matter left a lot to be desired. However, he is a fantastic diagnostician, preferring the rarer illnesses than the hurly-burly to resus… This is evident in the majority of his episodes, his dry-wit and lack of compassion for his patients makes him all the more enjoyable.

His friendship with Zoe Hanna (Sunetra Sarker) was pure gold; the banter felt genuine and when Zoe left permanently for Detroit, Dylan was saddened to lose his one true friend. Zoe has been there for Dylan in a number of situations… She provided support following Hannah Fleet killing paramedic Polly Emerson, for which he blamed himself after his abrasive attitude toward Hannah, she helped with Dylan’s diagnosis of OCD and was she was the first person he confided in about his previous alcoholism and she confided in Dylan about her relationship with Max.

We cannot forget about his failed marriage to Sam Nicholls (Charlotte Salt), a former army major seconded to the E.D. as a doctor, Dylan didn’t appreciate his private life being aired in public… The pair had been estranged and soon deteriorated after Sam revealed an affair with Iain Dean (Michael Stevenson) during her GMC inquiry, leading to a very bitter divorce. Following the divorce, Dylan still harboured feelings for Sam when she was engaged with a relationship paediatric doctor, Tom Kent (Oliver Coleman), which saw Dylan leave after Series 27.

Dylan later returned in Series 29 originally as a Locum, but back full-time… His attitude has little changed, his lack of respect and bedside manner is still appalling, but all the more hilarious at the same time. His OCD was explored following the death of three patients under his care (none of them were his fault), his father making an appearance for which he has a bitter relationship with, blamed himself for not saving Caleb Knight (Richard Windsor) and more recently his alcoholism after his medical secondment to France to help injured refugees explored.

Dylan is compelling, tactless and normally shows zero empathy… Preferring the comfort of his houseboat and loyal dog, Dervla. Aww!

1. Jac Naylor

This wasn’t a tough choice for number one, Holby City’s very own ice queen and super b***h has come a long way since she first graced our screens in 2005! First appearing in Season 8 Episode 6 “Bird on a Wire”, there was no question she would be a bad egg.

Originally arriving as a Locum General Surgical Registrar, her main ambition was a permanent surgical post at Holby City, which she did receive later on in Season 8, but her prime target was to become Consultant which took much longer than previously hoped, having achieved it 5 years later in Season 13 after fulfilling Connie’s job.

Jac is quite a vile character on the face of it, often sleeping her way to get to the top of her career, and she isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers in the process. She has had some very memorable relationships, most interesting of them all being Joseph Byrne (played by Luke Roberts). Whilst Joseph and Jac’s initial relationship was blossoming, Jac had an ulterior motive however as Joseph is the son of very Senior CT Consultant, Lord Byrne; leading to Jac having an affair with him in order to secure a permanent Consultant position of her own… And guess what, it didn’t end well! Lord Byrne passed away as it became apparent Lord Byrne and Jac were having an affair, which lead to growing animosity from Joseph, wanting to get rid of Jac at all costs! Their animosity waned as Joseph began to know more about Jac’s past and becomes sympathetic… Joseph was Jac’s true love and when Joseph decided to leave Holby with his new baby from his previous marriage to Faye Morton (Patsy Kensit), Jac was distraught. Rosie Marcel knows how popular Jac and Joseph’s relationship is, and has reiterated that if she ever leaves Holby, Luke Roberts has promised he will be involved in her exit storyline… If it ever happens!

Her second year in Holby also explored her past; her reputation was already tainted with her affair with Lord Byrne, however it is established that she was previously in care and was a victim of rape after being assaulted by patient Alan Clooney, and more recently having to treat one of the staff members from her old care home. Her backstory was delved into further during Season 12 when her mother, Paula Burrows returns seeking a kidney transplant… Coincidence? It was discovered that Jac was abandoned at the age of 12 when Paula jetted off to India, leaving her behind and ultimately in care. Jac resented Paula but soon donated her kidney to her, hoping to re-establish a relationship with her mother, but as soon as she got her kidney, she decided to bugger off again to India, this time with Jac’s half-sister, Jasmine Burrows. Paula Burrows was poison and certainly explains why Jac is the way she is!

Despite Jac’s somewhat vile nature, she does have a heart which she doesn’t want other people to know about… Her friendship with Sacha Levy (Bob Barrett) is golden, her daughter Emma Naylor-Maconie from her previous relationship with Jonny Maconie is adorable, comforting Zosia March (Camilla Arfwedson) following the death of her close friend Arthur Digby (Rob Ostlere) and she is known for publicly backing her colleagues during confrontations… Notably protecting Jasmine Burrows (Lucinda Dryzek) when she was being bullied by Serena Campbell (Catherine Russell), and defending Donna Jackson (Jaye Jacobs) when a patient relative was stalking both her and Ric following their mother’s death.

Make no mistakes, Jac is an awful character but provides huge amount of depth… She doesn’t care what people think about her, she isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers and always wanting to be at the top of her career, no matter who she will take down. Rosie Marcel delivers a brilliant and memorable character; Jac’s dry-wit, awful bedside manner is combined with heart to people she genuinely cares about. She has been a mainstay at Holby for 13 years with the odd appearance in Casualty, and long may it continue…