Exile (Casualty)

"Exile" is the thirty-second episode of the twenty-ninth series of the British medical drama Casualty. It was written by Kelly Jones, directed by Steve Hughes, and produced by Jonathan Phillips. "Exile" first aired on 16 May 2015 on BBC One in the United Kingdom. The plot sees Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson) and Connie Beauchamp (Amanda Mealing) travel to Bucharest to help Charlie's son Louis (Gregory Foreman), who has become a heroin addict and is planning on selling his kidney to pay his debts.

Executive producer Oliver Kent initially had doubts about taking the show away from its regular setting, as he thought it might appear "odd". Unlike other episodes, "Exile" only follows one story, as opposed to multiple plots. Producers decided that Louis would be central to the story, as putting him in jeopardy meant Charlie had to come to his rescue. The producers also wanted to send Charlie and Connie on a metaphorical rollercoaster, before reaching pivotal points in their story arcs. Kent hoped "Exile" would become "a talking point" among viewers in the future. The episode was filmed on-location in Romania in late 2014, marking the first time an entire episode of Casualty has been filmed abroad.

Scenes from the episode were first seen in an April 2015 trailer for the show, while two 30-second trailers were released shortly ahead of its broadcast. "Exile" was seen by 5.28 million viewers, making it the 12th most watched programme on BBC One for the week ending 17 May 2015. It received positive reviews from critics, with Alison Graham of Radio Times calling it "a positive thing for the characters" and Sarah Ellis of Inside Soap branding the plot "a heart-wrenching story".