‘This will feel close to home...'

Star Bob Barrett on Holby’s return with a coronavirus-inspired episode

- VICTORIA WILSON

HOLBY CITY NEW TUESDAY / BBC1 / 8.15 PM / DRAMA

After taking an extended break from our screens in response to the coronavirus pandemic, BBC1’s popular medical drama Holby City makes a welcome return this week.

When we were last on the wards back in August, acting CEO Max McGarry (Jo Martin) was called away from the operating theatre just as stalwart Ric Griffin (Hugh Quarshie) was about to undergo brain surgery – leaving Ric’s arch-rival Guy Self (John Michie) to step in.

Elsewhere, Sacha Levy (Bob Barrett) was set to marry his terminally ill fiancée, Essie Di Lucca (Kaye Wragg), only for her to die on the way to the altar.

This Tuesday’s episode picks up the action as Holby’s finest struggle to cope in the aftermath. And as Ric wakes from a coma, following his surgery, he finds the hospital at the center of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Max desperately trying to keep her staff safe as the virus takes hold.

Here, fan favorite Bob, 54, chats to TV Times about filming the show in these unprecedented times and teases what’s to come for grieving Sacha…