Ian Kelsey To Join Doctors

Former Casualty actor Ian Kelsey is to join the cast of BBC One‘s daytime soap Doctors.

The Mill Health Centre is set to get a new practice manager later this month following the departure of Julia Parsons (Diane Keen). It has been announced that actor Ian Kelsey is to join the daytime medical soap as Howard Bellamy; a former army captain with a very different take on management than Julia – a much more strict take.

‘Diane Keen has left some big shoes for me to fill, so it’s lucky I have size 13 feet! The producers and writers have created a gem of a character for me to play in Howard, so it’s great to go to work every day and be able to sink your teeth into the next scenario Howard finds himself tackling…and it being Doctors that could be anything!’ – Ian Kelsey on joining Doctors

It was revealed last month that actress Diane Keen had decided to leave the BBC One soap after nearly a decade. Exactly how Julia will bow out of the soap is yet to be revealed with producers keen to keep the circumstances secret.

Ian Kelsey is no stranger to the world of medical drama having played Patrick Spiller in BBC One’s Saturday evening drama Casualty between 1998 and 2002. Prior to that the actor was best known for his role of David Glover in Yorkshire soap Emmerdale being part of the cast between 1993 to 1996. Kelsey’s most recent role was in ITV detective drama Blue Murder opposite Caroline Quentin and played Jack Clayton in fellow ITV series Where The Heart Is between 2005 and 2006 and Matt Brewer in BBC One drama Down to Earth between 2003 and 2004.

Kelsey will make his on-screen debut in Doctors on Monday 28th May.
[Written by Rosemary Bright]