Nick Jordan

Nick Jordan is a fictional character from the BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City, portrayed by actor Michael French. Jordan first appeared in two episodes of Casualty in 1998, before becoming a main character in spin-off show Holby City from its 1999 conception, in the role of Cardiothoracic Surgical Registrar. He departed from the show in its second series, returning for a 2005 Christmas crossover special between the two series, styled Casualty@Holby City. He returned again to Holby City in 2006, taking on the role of General Surgical Consultant, departing a few months later in order to pursue a transfer back to cardiothoracics. In 2008, he rejoined the cast of Casualty, becoming Clinical Lead of the show's Emergency Department. French left his role as Nick Jordan in February 2013, four years after his return. Creation Nick Jordan was created in 1998 by BBC executives Mal Young and Tony McHale. He was conceived as a Cardiothoracic Surgical Registrar who would become a main character in new medical drama Holby City - a spin-off of the station's long-running Casualty. Unlike Casualty, which focused on the Emergency Department of the fictional Holby City Hospital, Holby City would centre around the hospital's cardiothoracic surgical ward, Darwin. The main characters were all staff on the ward, with Nick Jordan working on the surgical firm of lead Consultant Anton Meyer. Discussing the show's conception as a spin-off, Young has explained: "Like most people I’ve often wondered what happens next to those patients who come in after accidents. Where do they go when you see them disappearing upstairs on a trolley at the end of an episode? As I thought about this, it struck me – why start afresh when you’ve got the basis of a series already? People have busy lives and if they already follow a number of soaps, they take to a new drama series when they make sense quickly. This could be a way of helping that to happen." The original cast of Holby City featured a number of established actors. Michael French, cast as Nick Jordan, was already well known for his role as David Wicks in EastEnders. French's cast-mates included George Irving, Angela Griffin, Lisa Faulkner and Nicola Stephenson. This propensity towards famous names was explained by Young, who commented: "Soap actors are the best actors. There’s been so much snobbery before. The whole thing about typecasting was probably invented by actors who couldn’t get other work.