| Essie Harrison | |
|---|---|
| Holby City character | |
 Kaye Wragg as Essie Harrison | |
| First appearance | "My Name Is Joe" 6 May 2014 |
| Last appearance | "Episode 1100" 15 March 2022 |
| Portrayed by | Kaye Wragg |
| Spinoff(s) | Casualty (2019) |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Essie Di Lucca |
| Occupation |
|
| Spouse | Raf di Lucca (2017) |
| Significant other | Sacha Levy |
| Relatives | Joe Goodridge (grandfather) |
Estelle "Essie" Harrison[1] (also Di Lucca) is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, played by actress Kaye Wragg. She first appeared in the series sixteen episode "My Name Is Joe", broadcast on 6 May 2014. Essie arrives at Holby City employed as an agency nurse working on the hospital's AAU and Keller wards. She is characterised as an opinionated nurse who is not afraid to challenge the healthcare system. She is also played as a warm person who makes a good friend for fellow characters and strives to provide excellent patient care. Her introduction to the show was controversial and featured the discovery that her grandfather Joe Goodridge (Julian Glover) was an escaped Nazi war criminal.
Essie's main stories have been centric to her relationship with registrar Sacha Levy (Bob Barrett). The show's producer Simon Harper was fond of the pairing but tasked his writing team to create a series of dilemmas for them. Their romance is over-shadowed because Sacha and his family are Jewish and they struggle to accept her due to Joe's actions. Her need to have a child of her own also causes problems. Essie has been involved in other relationship stories featuring registrar Raf di Lucca (Joe McFadden), which resulted in marriage, and locum consultant Ben Sherwood (Charlie Condou). Despite this, Sacha always plays a key role in the stories and the pair eventually reunite.
Other stories include being held hostage by a patient, unauthorised parenting and a promotion to the hospital's transplant coordinator. One of the character's prominent stories during her later tenure focused on her ovarian cancer diagnosis which resulted in a hysterectomy for her survival. Producers decided to revisit the story in 2020, when Essie learns her cancer has returned. The story was run alongside another cancer storyline featured in Holby City, a decision taken to raise awareness of the statistically high occurrence of cancer in society. Essie is killed off in the show’s 1033rd episode, broadcast on 11 August 2020. Wragg reprised the role for the show's finale in 2022.
- ^ Writer: Ed Sellek; Director: Jennie Darnell; Producer: Sholla Coker (2 January 2018). "The Prisoner". Holby City. BBC. BBC One.