Ruhma Carter (also Hanif) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Bharti Patel. Ruhma's storylines in the programme have included her relationship with Heston Carter (Owen Brenman), dealing with her partial deafness, supporting her children through various issues with the police, mourning the loss of Heston after his shock death and being suspended from her job.
Ruhma is characterised as a forthright, opinionated and working class character with an unexpected "grim past".[1] Her backstory involves being in an abusive marriage which she had to flee from with her children. That experience, alongside raising her children as a single mother and her husband Heston dying, leaves Ruhma finding solace in her job as a midwife. When she is temporarily suspended from her job, scenes of Ruhma going through her "lowest point" aired.[2] For her portrayal of Ruhma, Patel has received various award nominations, including the British Soap Awards for Best Newcomer and Best Actress.
Storylines
Ruhma is introduced as a sonographer for Emma Reid (Dido Miles) and Howard Bellamy (Ian Kelsey) and it is explained that her and Emma are former colleagues. Mrs Tembe (Lorna Laidlaw) calls her into the Mill, and whilst waiting, a pregnant patient of Sid Vere's (Ashley Rice) begins to feel ill, so she treats her. When Jimmi Clay (Adrian Lewis Morgan) and Heston Carter (Owen Brenman) hear of Ruhma's potential hiring, they disagree, insisting that the Mill does not need a midwife. However, Mrs Tembe disagrees and appoints Ruhma. Ruhma and Heston attend the theatre together and he later takes her on a date to a restaurant. Heston asks Ruhma to his house for dinner, where she explains her housing difficulties. Heston invites her to live with him, so Ruhma and her children, Shak (Sunjay Midda) and Alia (Mandy Thandi), go to live with him.
Ruhma plans to propose to Heston on her birthday, while Heston has the same idea. He proposes to Ruhma in a restaurant by arranging a Bollywood style dance routine and she says yes. After the pair become engaged, Shak expresses his unhappiness with the wedding. Ruhma receives a tip-off that she could sell furniture from people's estates. She sells the furniture online to make money for the wedding. On their wedding day, the police arrive at the venue and take Ruhma in for questioning. They accuse her of stealing the items and selling them for a monetary gain, to which she refuses and insists that she had no knowledge of the items being stolen. She is eventually released, but due to the ordeal, they are unable to sign the register, meaning they not legally married. They rush to the registry office when there is a cancellation and sign it. When Ruhma mishears Ayesha Lee (Laura Rollins) and Al Haskey (Ian Midlane), she reveals that she is losing her hearing. Heston suggests seeking treatment from a private audiologist and although she initially disagrees due to pledging loyalty to the NHS, she later seeks private help.
When Ruhma learns that a nude video of Alia (now Lisa Ambalavanar) and her boyfriend Tariq Amiri (Chaneil Kular) has been posted online, she is embarrassed and infuriated, but supports her. When Tariq is later run over, the entire Carter family unit are suspected as culprits for the hit and run, but are later cleared by the police. Heston is killed when Al crashes the car that the pair are in. Although she attempts to remain positive for her children, she is devastated. She suggests that the Mill honour Heston's memory by buying a memorial bench for the outside area. When Heston's memorial bench is stolen, Ruhma finds it on a secondhand sale website. She tracks down the seller, Lee Harwood (Matthew Mellahieu), and forces him to reassemble the bench at the Mill, which she later has concreted into the ground. When the COVID-19 pandemic affects Letherbridge, Ruhma is admitted into hospital with symptoms of coronavirus, which she tests positive for. After being on life support, she survives.
While treating a heavily pregnant Carrie Wade (Sarah Ovens), Carrie's fiancé Doug Machin (Michael Hobbs) flirts with Ruhma on numerous occasions, but she declines his advances. While on a house visit, Doug kisses her and Ruhma backs away, while Carrie watches. Carrie assumes that Ruhma kissed Doug and Doug lies by affirming her claims, leading to Carrie filing a report against Ruhma. She is suspended and an investigation into Ruhma's competency takes place. Grahame McKenna (Paul Bazely), who leads the investigation, is unable to find a consensus, and leaves her suspended from her job for months. While suspended, Ruhma allows one of her patients, Tanya Rees (Leila Mimmack), to stay at her house due to formerly being in an abusive relationship. Deborah Kovak (Jamie-Rose Monk) is hired in Ruhma's place as a temporary midwife and she discovers that Ruhma has allowed Tanya to stay at her house. Deborah reports Ruhma in an attempt take her job role permanently, but Zara Carmichael (Elisabeth Dermot Walsh) asks Deborah to leave the Mill and helps Ruhma to get her position reinstated.
Development
Introduction and characterisation
The BBC described Ruhma as "a midwife who promises to deliver a refreshing perspective on all things pregnancy related."[3] In an interview with the BBC, Patel stated that her character is "a woman's woman" and that Ruhma believes a pregnant woman should have an enjoyable and natural experience.[3] Patel added that her character wants to promote more midwife-led home births and that she will fight a good fight for her cause.[3]
When Ruhma is introduced, she was characterised as a forthright, opinionated and working class person. It was said that these traits help to cover her "grim past".[1] Her first BBC profile explained that Ruhma is more comfortable in the company of women, but noted that she is not nervous when around men. Ruhma loves bargains and enjoys shopping at charity shops and car boot sales, but is also interested in opera, classical music and live performances, but does not have the money to pursue those interests. In regards to raising her children, the profile stated that Ruhma raised them in a "rather liberal" way as opposed to her own upbringing.[1] The profile added that Ruhma is "outgoing, funny, extremely warm and very front-foot" and that she has a great sense of humour.[1]
Patel stated that Ruhma is a good person. She said that Ruhma's job is important to her, describing it as "her rock". She explained that when Ruhma was leaving her abusive marriage, raising her kids as a single mother, and through her grief for Heston, Ruhma's job was "everything for her and the one thing she could lose herself in".[2] When Ruhma is suspended from her job, Patel noted the tough time that her character has gone through, describing it as "a terrible time" and the lowest point for her.[2] Patel commented: "She was trying to help someone, and it backfired, and now Carrie and Doug have blamed her for the traumatic birth of their son".[2] Over her tenure, scenes see Ruhma become slightly "over familiar and needy".[4]
Relationships
Upon being asked about Ruhma potentially having a love interest, Patel commented "Honestly, I doubt it; she's a very busy independent woman [...] If it were to happen I think it would be a bolt out the blue, Ruhma isn't looking and it's not on her radar at all."[3] However, when Ruhma saves a pregnant patient of Heston's, Ellen Markwardt of What's on TV stated "Ruhma has made a real impression on the GP."[5] When Ruhma is introduced to Heston, the pair initially dislike each other, resulting in an argument that ends in a kiss.[6] After his death, Patel stated that Ruhma is "lonely, and is still relatively young", and would "like the idea of finding love again, but she'd also be nervous".[2]
Doctors is a British medical soap opera, first broadcast on BBC One on 26 March 2000. Filmed in Birmingham and set in the fictional West Midlands town of Letherbridge, the soap follows the lives of the staff of both an NHS doctor's surgery and a university campus surgery, as well as the lives of their families and friends. Initially, only 41 episodes of the programme were ordered, but due to the positive reception, the BBC ordered it as a continuing soap opera. Doctors was filmed at the Pebble Mill Studios until 2004; production then relocated to the BBC Drama Village, where it filmed until 2024. Episodes are filmed three months prior to transmission. The soap is typically broadcast on weekdays at 1:45 pm on BBC One, as well as having classic episodes broadcast on Drama. It takes three annual transmission breaks across the year: at Easter, during the summer and at Christmas.
Dr. Heston Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Owen Brenman. He made his first appearance in 2008, and he continued to appear until 2018, when Brenman left Doctors, with Heston being killed in a car accident.
Dr. Lily Hassan is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Seeta Indrani, who made her first appearance on 28 October 2008. Her backstory involves going from a rebel in her youth to reinventing herself and achieving a medical career. During her time on Doctors, Lily is depicted as a talented and devoted doctor who "does everything by the book". She struggles with social interaction and does not find it easy to trust people. Lily made her final appearance on 31 March 2010 when she leaves the fictional Mill Health Centre to go on sabbatical leave to take care of the drug-addicted Sapphire Cox. Producers of the soap felt Lily was a successful character since she provided a contrast between herself and other colleagues.
Dr. Elaine Cassidy is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Janet Dibley. She made her first appearance during the series 12 episode "Frozen", broadcast on 31 August 2010. She departed Doctors on 28 September 2012.
Winifred Tembe is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Lorna Laidlaw. She is introduced on 5 January 2011 as a new receptionist at the fictional Mill Health Centre as a replacement for Ruth Pearce. Despite initially being introduced as Mrs Tembe, she later reveals her forename to be Winifred. In April 2016, Mrs Tembe's role within Doctors changed as she becomes the practice manager. On 8 January 2019, it was announced that Laidlaw was to leave Doctors after 8 years. Mrs Tembe's exit storyline saw her move away with Gordon Clement to Newcastle after accepting a new job working as a manager for a children's charity. Laidlaw's final scenes aired on 13 February 2019.
Howard Bellamy is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Ian Kelsey. Howard first appeared on 28 May 2012, where he is introduced as the practice manager of the fictional Mill Health Centre. Kelsey was cast in the soap following the departure of Julia Parsons, the practice manager prior to Howard. He is an ex-army captain, and producers deliberately made his personality different to Julia's. Howard was based on a real person since producers had heard of a situation where somebody quit the army to become the practice manager of a doctor's surgery. Kelsey spoke to a real-life practice manager to aid his accuracy in the role.
Bharti Patel is an English actress, known for portraying the role of midwife Ruhma Carter on the BBC soap opera Doctors. For her portrayal of Ruhma, she has been nominated for numerous awards at the National Television Awards, British Soap Awards and Inside Soap Awards. In May 2024, she began appearing as Maya Houssain in EastEnders.
"Can You Hear Me?" is an episode of the British television soap opera Doctors, broadcast on BBC One on 12 June 2020. It marks the first episode in soap opera history to be filmed solely using mobile devices, and was self-shot by cast members from their homes as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down production of Doctors. The episode centres around the colleagues of the fictional Mill Health Centre and St Phils hospital dealing with lockdown, and features appearances from relatives of the characters. The scenes take place after the colleagues have been to work, where they discuss the professional and personal impacts of the pandemic on their lives via video chat. The episode also covers regular character Ruhma Carter suffering from COVID-19.
Mike Hobson is a British television producer, known for his work on the BBC soap opera Doctors and the BBC drama series WPC 56.
Luca McIntyre is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Ross McLaren. Luca is introduced to the series on 24 February 2021 following the departure of nurse Ayesha Lee the year prior. McLaren's acting credits confirmed that he had been contracted as a series regular on the soap. McLaren felt thrilled to be cast on Doctors and has described Luca as a cheeky and lovely character who would "go the extra mile" to help a patient. Luca's introduction sees him feature in a standalone centric episode that explores his background, including experiencing homophobia in his former workplace and suffering a car accident that ends the life of his boyfriend Billy Parker. His background also involves a religious upbringing and a bad relationship with his mother, and later scenes in the series reveal that Luca is HIV-positive, which he initially receives a negative response to from patients of the Mill Health Centre.
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