Susan Cookson from Emmerdale discusses Charlie's exit tale and Casualty's return.

Susan Cookson, who plays Maggie in Emmerdale, has opened up exclusively about being invited to return to Casualty for Charlie’s exit narrative and whether or not Maggie would actually finish up with Charlie.

On the red carpet at the Inside Soap Awards, Susan Cookson of Emmerdale spoke exclusively to express.co.uk about whether she would ever return to Casualty.

In the BBC medical drama, Susan, 58, portrayed Maggie Coldwell from 2005 to 2008; she then made cameos in 2009 and 2015.

She was questioned about the possibility of having her character returned for Charlie Fairhead’s leaving plotline, who plays her on-screen love interest and is portrayed by Derek Thompson.

“Yes, I would, she replied. Would be. There was a call made, but as I had a contract with Emmerdale, it was never going to happen.

As she continued, “But I’d always kind of thought, even before I got the Emmerdale job, I always thought, well, I wonder if they would ever get me back, or whether they would finally get Charlie and Maggie back together and they go off into the sunset, and they get married, which is what was gonna happen.”

But alas, it wasn’t meant to be since contracts are contracts, she said. I just don’t see how he would have played another medical professional after playing a nurse on the opposite channel, even if I had been able to get time off.

Since the very first episode of Casualty was broadcast, 75-year-old Derek Thompson has been a member of the cast.

The actor, who was born in Belfast, said earlier this year that he would hang up his fictitious scrubs. His final episodes are scheduled to air in 2019.

Susan also discussed how she stays connected to the other cast members, mentioning that Tess, who was portrayed by Suzanne Packer, was a friend of hers who she had spent the weekend with.

But she also said to our reporter, when asked if we would ever see Derek Thompson on our televisions again, “But, well, I don’t think I’ve seen the last of him.

We haven’t seen the last of him, according to reliable sources. He’ll be back, I don’t mean casualty-wise.

Given that Susan has been playing nurse Wendy Posner in ITV’s Emmerdale since 2019, she has plenty of experience portraying medical professionals on film.

Her roles in Doctors, Clocking Off, and Coronation Street will also be familiar to soap opera viewers.