News about Bernie leaves viewers concerned. Spoilers ahead
IMAGE: HOLBY CITY, BBC
Last night’s Holby City included some alarming news for #Berena fans. Jemma Redgrave’s character Bernie, who left the show last year to return to work as a soldier in the army, was revealed to be missing in action.
In the final few minutes of the episode, Bernie’s son Cameron (Nic Jackman) told her ex-partner Serena (Catherine Russell): “There was an explosion at the airport hospital. He said mum is missing in action.”
It is not yet confirmed whether Bernie is dead, but viewers are concerned for her future.
Many #Berena fans have previously expressed dissatisfaction with how the storyline played out and are now worried one half of their ship may be killed off.
DIVA Media Group Creative Director, and former Channel 4 executive, Jacquie Lawrence commented: “It is always disappointing when a LGBTQI character dies in a television drama, especially as, in terms of representation and portrayal, they are still so rare on our screens.
“The impact is felt even more acutely when one of them is half of a beloved couple, a couple whose relationship was nurtured over many months. So I empathise with those who were bitterly disappointed with the closing scene of last night’s Holby City, in which Jemma Redgrave’s character, Bernie Wolfe was reported missing in action after a bomb explosion.
“Bhavna Limbachia, the actor who played Rana in Coronation Street, said that she was happy with her character’s death because she felt that it was the only way they would be parted, having fought so hard to be a couple.
“We can only speculate as to why Bernie Wolfe was announced MIA. We don’t know the circumstances of Jemma Redgrave’s departure or how she feels about this. But we know that if someone leaves, the priority is the storyline of the characters they leave behind, and death is the usual way to illicit the most dramatic storylines.
“It will not have been an easy decision. However, as Bernie was a soldier and drawn to danger spots, her demise was more in keeping with the storyline than death by a falling factory roof in Rana’s death, or death by helicopter blade in Ruby Haswell’s death in Emmerdale.”
Holby City continues Tuesdays at 8pm on BBC One.
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