Characterisation
Howard is billed as a "confident, divorced ex-army captain", and is said to have a "highly different and strict outlook on working life" in comparison to Julia. [1] Digital Spy reported that he "looks set to ruffle feathers at work". [2] On Howard's BBC profile, he is described as "disciplined, highly organised and emotionally repressed". [4] It explains that prior to his debut appearance on Doctors, Howard has a background in military, and that he worked his to becoming an officer. It notes that as practice manager, he enjoys spreadsheets and that he "would always deal with problems in the correct manner", noting the time when he suspends Al Haskey (Ian Midlane) after stalking Jas Khella (Vineeta Rishi) as an example. Despite the stern characterisation, the profile explains that when the surgery is in jeopardy, Howard is not opposed to taking risks. [4] Digital Spy added that Howard's initial "brusque manner" will cause problems with his colleagues. [5]
Creation and introduction
In an interview with What's on TV , Kelsey stated that Howard was based on a real person. He explained that somebody stopped working for the army and began as a practice manager of a doctor's surgery, and within three months of him taking over the position, five of the staff members quit. The Doctors producers heard about the situation and wrote Howard's character based on it. [6] On why Howard chose to join the National Health Service, Kelsey said that Howard "wants to get his hands mucky", as well as wanting to be in a position with leadership again. He notes that this results in Howard entering the Mill and leading his colleagues "like they're part of his old military unit", scenes he described as hilarious. [2] Producer Peter Eryl Lloyd said that he knew the character of Howard would be disliked when he first arrived. He explained that the characters are missing Julia, which led producers to deliberately "go in a completely different direction" with her replacement. [2] To aid his portrayal of the job position, Kelsey spoke to a real-life practice manager, who told him to both manage and manipulate each colleague differently, and that Howard's relationship with every doctor should he different. [2] He noted that this had happened in respect to Howard's relationships with the other characters. Kelsey liked the fact that each character has a different relationship with Howard, since it meant that he could "bounce off people differently". [2] He admitted that many of the characters are unsure about their feelings on Howard, and teased that there are "loads of different angles and routes to go down" with him. [2] Kelsey compared the position of practice manager to that of someone running the Woolpack pub in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale , a soap he appeared in prior to appearing in Doctors. He explained that both positions include being involved in every cast member's stories, which leads to a lot of filming. [7] When he began filming for the role, Kelsey sourced an authentic army watch and shoe polishing kit, in order to "feel right with the part". [8] Kelsey explained that portraying the role of Howard opened his eyes to the chaos of a doctor's surgery, as well as how they are treated like a business. [6]
Departure
On 11 May 2015, Kelsey took to Twitter to announce his departure from Doctors, confirming that he would complete filming on 10 July of that year. He stated that he enjoyed appearing on the programme for the three years, but that it was the right time to leave. Executive producer Mike Hobson told Digital Spy he made the role of Howard "his own", and said that the cast and crew were sad for him to be heaving, adding that he was a "magnificent and an integral part of the Doctors family", as well as "a consummate professional and a pleasure to work with both on and off the screen". [8] He added that despite his exit airing later that year, there are still "lots of exciting storylines" to air for Howard. [8] Kelsey spoke to the Birmingham Mail about his exit storyline, describing it as dramatic. He stated that his final episode involves "a lot of blood, not necessarily [his]". [9] Kelsey revealed that Howard will discover that Emma is pregnant with his baby, a plot he described as "one of the key storylines" that lead to his exit. [9] He also explained that when he gave in his notice to the Doctors production team, it "put a bit of a spanner in the works". [9] This was due to the amount of storylines that Howard was involved in at the time, and he confirmed that the writers had storylines planned for Howard until Christmas. Kelsey stated that since they wanted to include all of the planned content prior to his exit, the production team were forced to "amalgamate" the plots, meaning that both Kelsey filmed a lot, and Howard was involved in a lot of plotlines. [9] When asked what his highlight from his tenure is, he stated that it was the friendships that he formed with cast and crew members, specifically co-stars Miles, Midlane and Chris Walker. [7] He labelled Doctors the "most fun" set he has worked on in the span of his career, and admitted that while it was a tough decision to leave a joyful role, it was "time to go", adding: "One day I was planning on renting a house in Birmingham for a year, the next I just decided I was done." [9] He accredited the heavy filming schedule as part of his decision to leave, describing it as the hardest schedule throughout his career, explaining: "it's the fastest I've ever had to work. Even with the preparation when you've finished doing a big day at work - you've then got to sit at home and put 15 scenes in your head for the next day." [7] He concluded his point by saying that despite getting used to the heavy schedule, it can get "to a point where you get frazzled". [7]
Spoilers for Howard's final episode had an embargo until the episode had aired, due to producers wanting to keep the reasoning behind his exit "top secret". [10] In the lead up to the episode's airdate, the Doctors Twitter account tweeted cryptic messages such as "everything changes", "cancel all other appointments" and "consider this a friendly warning, you won't want to miss it." [10] The secrecy behind the episodes was done purposely to incite hype, and for viewers to enjoy the shock twist. [10] Prior to his exit airing, he joked that his character had died. [6] In scenes aired on 22 October 2015, Howard dies suddenly of a brain aneurysm after he learns that Emma has miscarried, of which both storylines were kept secret until transmission. [4] Producer Lloyd was asked how and why the scenes were kept a secret from viewers, and he stated that it took "an awful lot of cooperation from actors, directors, writers and the press", but that it was worth it for the "sudden and unexpected" shock. [11] He then spoke about the decision to kill him off, explaining that there were numerous "different scenarios" in which he could leave, but that his death would "have the most impact and would produce many new stories with a lot of potential". [12] He accredited this to Howard being a "big" character, as well as having "strong relationships" with every single regular character. [12] Lloyd was asked if he had considered writing a happy ending for the pair, to which he answered yes, but admitted that he did not believe Howard and Emma's relationship could survive a miscarriage. [12] Lloyd was also asked if he would bring in another character like Howard, to which he denied, since it would be "poor drama". He added that both Howard and Kelsey "brought something unique" to Doctors. [11]
When asked who would be replacing Howard as practice manager, Kelsey explained that he did not know, and alleged that the production team themselves probably did not know. He explained that this was due to him not renewing his contract with the programme, and since he was "pencil lined" to film until December rather than July, they had to adapt to his exit. [7] He continued: "As with any long-running drama, they have to plan that far ahead, because that's how it happens on these fast-moving shows. They've had to either whittle it down or make things happen quicker to get in what they want to happen with the character." [7] He joked that he hoped one of his co-workers would get the position "so they get a job". [7] After the announcement of his exit, Kelsey revealed that he pitched a spin-off series centred around Howard to the BBC daytime programming department. He stated that the series could have aired after Doctors, and could follow Howard as a policeman. He stated that despite the department declining the idea, he was asked to write an episode that could act as a pilot episode to the series. He wrote the episode, and it was used as an episode of Doctors instead. Kelsey stated that the episode is "like a day out with Howard as a special policeman". [13] He stated that it was an interesting experience to write and film, since it gave him the opportunity to work with different storylines and cast members. Kelsey was also involved in the casting process for the episode, casting former Blue Murder co-star Caroline Quentin, adding that he wrote the role with her in mind. [13]
