Casualty :: Money Talks :: Alan

Series 07 Episode 10. 14th November 1992. Screencaps

This episode guide is only for the parts that Alex appears in. For a full episode guide, please visit holby.tv.

Alan (Alex) and his friend and colleague Fred are driving through the country, going to restore power for a farmer as part of their job for Wyvern Electricity. Alan is concerned that Fred is there and believes he should have stayed back at the base as it's his last day, sure that Fred's wife, Dolly, will 'have his guts for garters' if they're late. Fred is more relaxed and tells him that Dolly will wait for him, just like she has for the last 40 years and that he'd volunteered them both to do the job when noone else wanted to do it.

An egg collector spies a birds nest on top of the pylon and starts to scale it before Alan and Fred get there, using specialist equipment to climb. Fred and Alan arrive and Alan realises that Fred doesn't want his retirement party and doesn't care if they miss it or not as he doesn't want to leave. In the middle of their discussion, Alan spots the climber and alerts Fred who calls it into the station whilst Alan tries to shout him down. The egg collector uses his special metal stick to try and get the eggs and electrocutes himself in the process before the power can be turned off, leaving him dangling from his harness in full view of Alan.

Alan climbs down and goes back to Fred who gives him a gentle talking to to calm him down and they update the station on what has happened, asking for an ambulance. Fred wants to climb up to help him, but Alan accidentally lets it slip that he'd promised Dolly that he wouldn't let Fred climb on his last week and the men finally agree that Alan will go up. Alan puts the harness on and climbs to the top, attaching the safety reins before cutting the man's own strap after attaching him to himself.

As Alan starts to descend down with the man, Fred is frustrated at being grounded and starts to climb up to help him guide the man down. Alan tells him to climb down, but Fred is adamant he wants to help. Reaching a hand out to help guide the man's head past the metal, Fred's foot slips and he falls 30ft to the ground. When the ambulance arrives, they find Alan in shock who confirms that the climber is dead and they paramedics check on an unconscious Fred, Alan begging them to ring Dolly.

A tearful and very shaken Alan is comforted by one of the doctors and guided to a cubicle to wait for news on Fred, terrified that he's going to die. Fred is given a scan and Nurse Duffin updates Dolly and the Branch Manager on his status where she learns that he asked to go on the job, telling the manager in no uncertain terms where to go, before breaking down in tears.

Dolly goes to see Alan and gives him a dressing down, soon softening when she hears his side and sees how distressed he is and she comforts him, crying herself, before the doctor leads her away to see Frank where she sits with him as he starts to breathe for himself, declaring that as she'd taken the leaving present from the manager, he was officially hers, and only hers.