Robert Bathurst toured operating theatres in preparation for Casualty role
Robert Bathurst has revealed that he visited several operating theatres as research for his role as surgeon Russell Whitelaw in 'Casualty'.
Robert Bathurst visited operating theatres for his role in 'Casualty'.
The 68-year-old actor plays villainous surgeon Russell Whitelaw in the BBC medical soap and revealed the extensive research he did to prepare for the part.
Robert told Inside Soap magazine: "I tested myself as to how squeamish I was! I went round a hospital in London with a brilliant surgeon called George Reese. He took me round all the operating theatres, and we had really interesting chats.
"He was also on set to make sure things looked as plausible as possible. I learned a lot about the interior workings of the abdomen – I know where a spleen is!"
Robert's alter ego sexually assaulted Rida Amaan (Sarah Seggari) in a recent episode but the 'Cold Feet' star revealed that he will continue to "deny any wrongdoing" as the storyline comes to a head in the coming weeks.
He said: "Russell will continue to deny any wrongdoing, until he might be rumbled. But even then, he's prepared to brazen it out – and he has nerve, if nothing else.
"He's not prepared to accept the error of his ways, it's not in his character to do that. Whatever happens with Russell isn't just in black and white; there's a lot of grey in there. And that's why I think it's dramatically interesting."
Robert revealed that people are even commenting on the storyline to him in public.
He recalled: "I was at the horse racing the other day and gave my ticket to someone who looked up at me and said, 'Get your hands off that nurse!'
"The great thing about these stories is that it's not just about plot, it's about character. If a plot is engaging and has human complication, that's what the audience reacts to. I'm sure people are booing at the screen, but I'm ready to ride that!"
Bathurst revealed that painstaking effort went into the tense surgery scenes that unfold on screen.
He said: "They take ages, because they're very complicated!
"Normally the team is in the emergency department, but they built this operating theatre specifically for this set. The scenes were filmed from all angles, and we also had the specialist information and knowledge from the surgery advisers, so they took a long time.
"It was all done with such vigour, care and precision."
