IcCROYDON - JANUARY.06
A new year brings new faces to the wards of Holby City as cardio thoracic registrars Joseph Byrne (played by Luke Roberts) and Sam Strachan (Tom Chambers) join the team.
"It's been terrific," smiles 28-year-old Luke when asked how he's settling into the job. "Holby has a very nice cast who are extremely welcoming.I was fortunate to come in with Tom and Rosie Marcel [who first appeared in November as Jac Naylor], so there is a feeling of solidarity between the three of us."
Nevertheless, he admits he was a bit nervous about his first day in the role."It was a filmed rehearsal in front of all the producers of a script I'd only recently received. We were constantly reassured it wasn't a test, but of course you can't ever get it out of your mind. Tom and I were bricking ourselves, but it was a good first hurdle."
Luke also had to get his tongue round some seriously complicated medical jargon."The trick is to say it with confidence and people will buy it," he laughs. "At the beginning I tended to look up all the diagnosis I was giving, but after a while you realise you'd need years and years of training to fully comprehend exactly what you were saying. But we get the general gist of it because we have on set advisers.
"Joseph's very stuck in his ways," he adds, "in so far as he's rather bookish, very strait-laced and incredibly meticulous to the point that it develops into a disorder. It's really fun to play.
"When I got the part I thought, 'Here's someone with scope'. His problem does manifest itself in some pretty interesting ways. Of course, it allows for a little bit of comedy as well, because he clashes with his counterpart Sam, who is quite the opposite of Joseph."
Although January marked Joseph's debut, it's not Luke's first brush with Holby."In May last year, I played the son of a surgeon who died after being mysteriously over-anaesthetised on the table. Understandably, he was a very angry character. It was only one scene really, but I think it was enough to get me called in for this part."