Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Casualty star Derek Thompson to return to Belfast for Blue Lights

Derek Thompson as Charlie Fairhead in the BBC1 medical drama, Casualty. (Warren Orchard/BBC)
Derek Thompson as Charlie Fairhead in the BBC1 medical drama, Casualty. (Warren Orchard/BBC)

Derek Thompson will be appearing in the second series of Blue Lights.

The Belfast-born actor, 75, has been the longest-serving cast member on Casualty.

He played nurse Charlie Fairhead for almost four decades and around 900 episodes of the soap before the BBC announced last year that he would leave in 2024.

Thompson will guest star as retired police officer Robin Graham in the second series of Blue Lights.

Graham will be introduced as someone whose “past and conscience catch up with him” when trainee solicitor Jen Robinson (Hannah McClean) investigates an old case.

Blue Lights Series 2,2,2,Robin Graham (DEREK THOMPSON),***STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 MONDAY 4th MARCH 2024***,Two Cities Television,Christopher Barr
Derek Thompson will be appearing in the second series of Blue Lights. (Two Cities Television/Christopher Barr)

Thompson said: “I loved the first series of Blue Lights and thought, as did the majority of my friends and colleagues, that it was the best new TV series of last year. I was thrilled and excited (star jumps in the living room) when I got the invitation to take part in series two.

“I was born in Belfast and was equally excited (more star jumps) to travel over to work on the show and pleased to report, having read the scripts, that I’m sure the fans will love the second series every bit as much as the first.

“Greatly looking forward to it myself as I’m one of them.”

Blue Lights, written by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson and launched on BBC One and iPlayer in March 2023, has been a critical success.

The corporation has commissioned a further two series of the Belfast-based police drama from Two Cities Television, before the second series airs this spring.

The Two Cities team said: “We are delighted to have Derek Thompson back working with us in his native Belfast; it is an honour to have him as part of the Blue Lights family.”