CASUALTY’s longest-serving cast member Derek Thompson will leave the soap after almost four decades playing Charlie Fairhead, the BBC has announced. The 75-year-old said “the time has come for me to hang up Charlie’s scrubs after the most wonderful 37 years” starring in nearly 900 episodes of the much-loved TV programme. The BBC said Thompson will be filming until autumn, with his final scenes airing next year in the “culmination of a gripping exit storyline which will see the character front and centre of the action”.