Casualty star Olly Rix has revealed a major insight into the development of his character, Flynn Byron (Image: BBC)

Casualty’s Flynn Byron is set to face a major decision after discovering the wrongdoing of his father-in-law. Viewers have seen Rida Amaan face challenging scenes in recent weeks due to the behaviour of consultant Mr Whitelaw (Robert Bathurst) who is known throughout the hospital for his alleged inappropriate behaviour.

Last week, nurse Amaan (Sarah Seggari) attempted to open up to the emergency department’s clinical lead, Flynn (Olly Rix) but was left stunned when Dr Byron revealed that Whitelaw was in fact his father-in-law. Shocked by this, Rida attempted to divert the conversation and instead praised her new boss.

But this week, Rida was given access to a private chat room which exposes the wrongdoings of surgeons not just in Holby City’s hospital, but across the country. Having offloaded to her friends Jodie (Anna Chell) and Cam (Barney Walsh), she later decides to make the group public – much to dismay of her colleagues.

Rida and her female colleagues on the surgery unit were called into Russell’s office, and he insisted that the women are safe. While Nicole (Sammy T Dobson) attempted to speak out, Rida shut her down and later explained that this was part of her plan to get onto Russell’s side.

Flynn’s character will be tested in coming weeks following his father-in-law, Russell’s behaviour towards Rida(Image: BBC STUDIOS)

But things are set to take a dramatic turn in the coming weeks, with Olly exclusively revealing to the Mirror that his character will face a major obstacle. “That becomes really the sort of centrepiece of the box set, and that and that moral dilemma,” said Olly. He added: “I think what you’re seeing being set up and something that we really explore is ‘Who is this man? When the chips are down, what does he do? Is he brave? Despite personal consequences, does he tugtail and run?’

“We’ve introduced this high-functioning, very competent alpha-male personality who’s come from that world, and we’re saying now, ‘Can you do it when it counts?'” Russell will later give Flynn an ultimatum – if he exposes his wrongdoing, he’ll make sure Flynn won’t see his wife Claire and their children after discovering that Flynn had been unfaithful during his time in the military.

“That’s really the kicker – Russell can potentially leverage Flynn’s silence,” he revealed, before adding: “They’re not actively at war, they’re not fighting. He’s saying, providing you don’t do anything, I won’t do anything. Flynn has to choose to step into that fire and say ‘I’m going to risk it all, or he won’t.”

Flynn now realises that his father-in-law Russell has leverage over him

Last weekend, fans saw the death of Cara, who was being treated for cancer. Cara had initially been planning to go home before suffering a seizure and later dying. Speaking of the storyline and the way Casualty appeals to a mass audience, Olly explained: “To use that story as an example, most of us know somebody who has been affected by cancer and their lives have been touched by that, and they’ve had to deal with that. The cast and the actors are no different, the same with the crew and writers.

“I think it’s one of the things that makes Casualty such an enduring piece, it speaks to everybody on some level. When you’re in an ED, you can run the entire spectrum of human emotion because you’re going to be faced with it all, from birth to death, from cradle to grave.”

Flynn first appeared on the show as a patient before his old university classmate, Stevie Nash realised who he was(Image: BBC)

One of Olly’s favourite dynamics is that of Flynn and Dr Rash Masum – who he has recently butted heads with. “I enjoyed it from the off,” Olly grinned. He added: “I liked that I sort of put his nose out of joint initially, as an actor, it was an interesting thing to do. I was hoping that we would get the payoff that I think we’re going to get. Ultimately, there’s no lack of professional respect or courtesy, yes, he quite brutally fired somebody and that upset Rash.

“But I think all Flynn is ever asking of Rash is that he steps up and gives his best because he’s such an outstanding doctor. I think Flynn, from the off, sees something worth nurturing in Rash and tries to bring out some self-belief and self-confidence as the ranking elder.” One thing Olly is sure about – Flynn can hold his own.

“He can own his failings, he can own his blind spots and face them,” he said, adding: “He does have a sort of energy that means he can attack things pretty aggressively and pretty quickly, often pretty effectively.

Olly hinted that there was more to come from Flynn(Image: BBC)

“But he’s not afraid to confront his failings. Of course, it’s gathering pace in the background but that becomes a central question of the entire box set. Is his biggest failing and biggest issue – is he going to face those? We’re seeing good signs so far, but we’ll see.” He also teased an “interesting story” about Flynn and councillor Anna Mills, whom he has been seen getting close to in recent weeks.

After joining the BBC medical drama earlier this year, Olly admitted it was a “collaborative process” between himself, series producer Liza Mellody for Olly to step into the role of Flynn. “The character himself, we had such an exciting conversation about him,” he revealed, admitting he “threw suggestions in” for his character.

Olly’s research for the character saw him take inspiration from the special forces, given Flynn’s background in the forces. His first episode saw the camera focus from Flynn’s point of view, after being admitted as a patient following a car incident.

Speaking of his role, Olly said: “Flynn doesn’t come in like any good character, he doesn’t come in static or fully formed, unevolving entity. If the audience sticks with him and goes with him, they’re going to go on a journey. That’s why we did the research and the character we began to wrench him out of that context and put him in an NHS world and people that he has to treat very differently, and watching him discover himself in a new environment. It becomes a bit of a redemption arc for Flynn.”