Casualty spoilers follow.
Casualty aired a shocking cliffhanger in the second part of tonight’s double episode (September 16), as Donna Jackson learned her fate.
Donna was sentenced to 12 months in prison – six in custody – for falling asleep at the wheel and causing a car accident that left Ashley’s mum with life-changing injuries.
Digital Spy can confirm that this is the last we will be seeing of Donna for now.
Jaye Jacobs, who plays Donna, filmed her final scenes in the role earlier in the year, but the door has very much been left open for the character to return in the future.
BBC
Tonight’s second episode followed Donna on one of the most challenging days of her life.
After arriving home following another night of passion with Max, Donna struggled to concentrate, knowing her sentencing was looming.
She then clashed with her daughter Mia, who wanted to know what’s going to happen to them if Donna does go to prison.
BBC
Donna did her best to be positive while simultaneously trying not to make promises that she couldn’t keep.
Ashley opens up to Donna about his fears, explaining that he doesn’t know how he is going to look after himself, and his mum’s ongoing needs.
Donna’s apologies don’t cut it with Ashley and she is asked, for the second time that day, what the future will hold if she goes to prison.
BBC
Realising that Ashley is facing the same struggle as her own daughters, Donna heads home, where she apologised to Mia for everything.
At court, Donna was given reason to be optimistic when she learned that the judge had a good reputation, and an affinity to the NHS.
Sure enough, things got off to a good start when a nervous Ashley gave his statement, which explained just how much Donna has helped him.
BBC
Unfortunately, this didn’t carry favour with the judge, who eventually sentenced Donna to 12 months – half in prison, half on licence.
Donna then faced an emotional farewell with Mia, before being led away to prison in cuffs.
BBC
Discussing Donna’s challenging story, Jaye said to Inside Soap: ” I struggled with it, because Donna has always been straight up.
“Although I put it down to the fact that she was extremely tired, and she thought she was going to get screwed over by other people in the accident, so it was a defensive thing.
“It seemed like a good thing to do in the moment, but it was a web she couldn’t then un-weave.”
BBC
Addressing the audience’s reaction to Donna’s web of lies, Jaye added: “They were quite shocked, they are like, “What is she doing?”.
“But people like to see characters in a scrape, don’t they? So they seem to have quite enjoyed it.
Following tonight’s episodes, Casualty will now taking a short break from screens, but will be back later in the autumn.
Casualty airs on Saturday nights on BBC One.
Read more Casualty spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Deputy Soaps Editor
Sophie is an award-winning journalist with over a decade of experience as a writer. Previously at BT.com, where she had her own Reality TV column, Sophie joined the Digital Spy soaps team in 2013 and won the Unsung Hero of the Year award at the PPA Awards in 2022.
Over the years, she has written hundreds of articles about the Carters, the Dingles and even Wellard the dog, and has created a number of the site’s video franchises. Sophie hosted Digital Spy’s first ever podcast ‘Soap Scoop’ back in 2020, where she spoke to the likes of Alan Fletcher (aka Doctor Karl) and Lisa Riley, has been interviewed on on podcasts and live radio and has represented the company on the panel of the British Soap Awards.