Flynn was left in absolute shock by what he uncovered (Picture: BBC / Metro)
Casualty spoilers follow for Saturday’s (July 18) episode that is now available to view on BBC iPlayer. The episode in question will air on BBC One at 8:20pm.
The Clinical Lead, as viewers know, suspected that Bard – an old acquaintance from his army days – was beating and hazing his soldiers as part of his training.
His suspicions were first piqued when a soldier was admitted following an explosion on the Wyvern Hill Estate with injuries unrelated to the blast.
Private Rory Dickson (Gwïon Morris Jones) was later admitted to the ED when a military training exercise went awry, with Flynn desperate to get the young soldier to reveal just what Bard was subjecting them to.
At first, Rory kept shtum but, with his best friend Kev in a bad way after the training exercise, he ultimately decided he would report Bard. That is, until Kev tragically died.
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Flynn decided to put a stop to the twisted colonel himself, reporting his actions. Bard was suspended pending further investigation and he showed up at the hospital in tonight’s offering of the medical drama as Flynn smirked, making it clear that he reported him.
Bard warned him to tread carefully and, in subsequent scenes, Flynn received a call to inform him that Bard has ‘nothing to answer for’.
‘He did a hatchet job on me’, Flynn shared with Stevie Nash (Elinor Lawless), revealing that Bard had made out like he was a ‘bitter ex soldier with an axe to grind’.
Flynn thought he’d outsmarted Bard (Picture: BBC STUDIOS)
The show favourite made it clear that he was going to ensure Bard paid and in subsequent scenes he paid a visit to the pub where all the soldiers were drinking to warn them of just how dangerous the colonel is.
Bard, however, arrived seconds later and instructed Flynn to come outside. He spoke about Adam – a friend of Flynn’s who he trained with in the army when he was just 17.
Adam was treated horrendously by Bard and subsequently took his own life, which is why Flynn is so determined to stop the twisted colonel from causing any more torment.
Bard managed to convince those in power that Flynn was out to take him down (Picture: BBC STUDIOS)
In a bid to antagonise Flynn, Bard said disgusting things about Adam. Holby’s Clinical Lead retaliated with a punch but Bard got the upper hand, knocking him to the floor.
Flynn reeled, horrified at the prospect of Bard getting away with his crimes. Can he ensure that this isn’t the case? Will Bard face justice?
That remains to be seen but there’s more trauma for Flynn in next week’s Lethal Legacy finale when a patient is held at gunpoint.
Casualty airs Saturday at 8:20pm on BBC One or stream from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
If you’ve got a soap or TV story, video or pictures get in touch by emailing us soaps@metro.co.uk – we’d love to hear from you.
According to The Sun, Pete and Olivia struck up their romance at the Brit Awards in February, where they later stayed at the same hotel together.
Another source clarified: ‘Their passionate romance only started in the last few weeks, since she has split from Bradley; there was no overlap.’
Speaking about their hidden relationship, a source told Closer Magazine that Olivia has ‘always been drawn to Pete’ and ‘carried a torch for him.’
‘The secrecy has made it exciting, and they’ve spent a lot of time together – they love nights in watching movies together,’ the insider added.
Noting that Olivia and Pete ‘can’t keep their hands off each other,’ they went on to shed some light on their relationship’s dynamic.
‘Olivia is quite dramatic and intense, whereas Pete is very laid back, but somehow it works.’
Olivia and footballer Bradley Dack were married for almost three years (Picture: Getty Images)
She and Pete are said to have grown close at this year’s Brit Awards (Picture: Backgrid)
The Sun’s insider described Pete as ‘a shoulder to cry on’ for Olivia during what was ‘a really horrible breakup’ from Bradley.
They added: ‘They have got closer and Pete has held a torch for Olivia for a really long time. She is hurting and vulnerable, and he was in the right place at the right time.
‘They get on really well and are taking it slow; there is no label at the moment.’
As for Bradley, he is reportedly ’embarrassed’ by news of Olivia and Pete’s secret romance.
According to The Sun, he had been ‘hopeful’ that they might reconcile their differences.
A source said: ‘Bradley is livid, he’s not surprised at all but is completely embarrassed and upset. He can’t believe Olivia has moved on so publicly and they’ve not even signed the divorce papers.
Bradley is said to be ‘livid’ at this turn of events (Picture: Getty Images)
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‘Bradley was hopeful for a reunion with Olivia but after this, he’s just livid and will take her to the cleaners.’
According to the tabloid, he’d ‘suspected things for the last year,’ but she had always denied there being anything romantic between her and Pete.
Pete and Olivia first met when on Towie in 2017 and have been close friends ever since, even hosting a radio show together on, uh, KISS FM.
Signs of their feelings for each other were visible from September last year, when Olivia and Pete were pictured looking cosy together on holiday in Ibiza.
Snaps from the time showed her lying in his arms as they sunbathed on the deck of a luxury yacht.
The pair maintained that they were only ‘friends’ at the time, with Pete saying how he ‘felt sick’ at the thought of people misconstruing what had been an innocent cuddle between pals.
The pair have been inseparable since her split from Bradley (Picture: Backgrid)
After the pictures were published, and with Olivia reportedly in ‘the doghouse’ with Bradley, she opened up about the tension in her marriage.
Speaking on her podcast at the time, she said: ‘I think that there was stuff going on on both sides…. At the end of day, marriage is really f***ing hard.’
A month later, The Sun revealed that Olivia and Bradley had parted ways, which had ‘never been an option until now’.
‘Olivia is heartbroken,’ said a source, with both of their families ‘so intertwined’ after a long relationship.
She first met the midfielder in 2015 through mutual friends while on a night out.
Olivia previously described marriage as ‘frikinnn hard’ (Picture: Instagram)
The pair dated on and off for a year, but things fizzled out, with Olivia heading to the Love Island villa in an act of revenge against her ‘cheating ‘ex.’
There she finished in third place with Chris Hughes, losing out to Strictly’s Amber Davies and radio presenter Kem Cetinay.
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Olivia said at the time: ‘He’s alive, I swear. 10 years of us. A lot has changed. Marriage is frikinnn hard (no one wants to say that part out loud), and I’m just not a faker.
‘I’m not posting pictures if they don’t reflect our reality. We are doing our thing, and if there are any more updates, you will be the first to know.’
Olivia is the latest Towie romance for Pete (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
Prior to romancing Olivia, Pete dated Towie castmates Jess Wright and Verity Chapman.
Both were short-lived dalliances, with Pete and Jess’s relationship hitting the rocks after she drunkenly kissed castmate Lewis Bloor.
Pete’s most high-profile relationship was with Megan McKenna, whom he dated for a year and a half in 2016 before breaking up amid accusations that he’d been ‘sexting’ an ex.
This came after Maura shared an Instagram photo with Parisian fashion influencer Michael Coste, only days after Olivia had done the same.
A source told The Sun: ‘Olivia is obviously going through a lot at the moment and trying to piece her life back together, but she has been left bemused that Maura has continued to mirror her playbook. She even jokes with her friends that Maura is her stalker.
‘There is no love lost between them and they have become very skilled at ignoring each other on the red carpet and at parties. Olivia is just amazed that these things keep happening, although she knows that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.’
This article was originally published on March 23, 2026.
Hannah and Octavia Spencer as besties in an action-packed comedy that actually makes me belly laugh? Inject it into my veins.
Ride or Die, the high-octane Amazon Prime series that launched this week, follows two friends who are forced to fight for their lives when they become embroiled in a criminal conspiracy.
Debbie (Octavia) is an upstanding citizen, the wife of MP David (Jamie Parker), who writes all of his speeches and is clearly the brains behind his entire political career.
Judith (Hannah) is a forensic accountant… or so she says. Unbeknownst to most of the world (including Debbie), she’s actually a deadly assassin who’s been in operation for 30 years, ever since she was recruited by her boss, The Director (Bill Nighy), as a teenager.
Debbie knows Judith as the woman who she bonds with over antiques, and who she has a giggle with at bookclub. Then one night, her world is turned upside down when they wind up at the same gala, where Judith is meant to assassinate the criminal Billy Donovan (Ed Skrein).
Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer are a dream duo (Picture: Prime Video)
Key details on Ride or Die
What’s Ride or Die about?
The official Amazon Prime synopsis reads:
‘Ride or Die follows best friends Debbie Claybourne (Octavia Spencer) and Judith Burton (Hannah Waddingham) who thought they knew everything about each other, except Judith turns out to be an international assassin.
‘When a mysterious figure emerges from Judith’s past and a hit goes horribly wrong, both of their worlds are turned upside down as they’re forced to go on the run together. It’s a race against time and a road trip across Europe, with law enforcement, highly trained assassins, and some very dangerous criminals at their heels.’
Who’s in the cast?
Octavia Spencer as Debbie
Hannah Waddingham as Judith, Debbie’s best friend and an elite assassin
Ed Skrein as Billy Donovan
Calam Lynch as Sam
Savannah Steyn as Queenie
Jamie Parker as David
Sylvia Hoeks as Ana
Bill Nighy as The Director
Jacky Ido as Jacques
How many episodes are there and how to watch?
All eight episodes are available to stream on Amazon Prime.
The women go on the run after the hit goes wrong, despite Debbie feeling deeply hurt by her friend’s betrayal, and Judith exposing a vulnerability that she’s never had on a mission before: the risk of losing someone she loves dearly.
Hannah, 51, and Octavia, 56, are comedy heaven together. It was a stroke of genius to have Tessa Coates create this series, a writer, actor and comedian who’s performed at Edinburgh Fringe and as part of the sketch trio Massive Dad.
The show strikes a fantastic balance of comedy and action, especially when Debbie and Judith are bickering or gossiping like real friends would. Sign me up to that wine and cheese night right now.
Their story feels rooted in authenticity, and much of that is down to Tessa’s light-hearted touch. I think of my closest girlfriends as my soulmates (thanks to Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones for putting that thought into my head years ago), and I could see that unbreakable bond in Judith and Debbie, too.
Thelma and Louise. Rachel, Monica and Phoebe in Friends. Jess and Cece in New Girl. Annie and Lillian in Bridesmaids. Female friendship is a very special thing, and amidst the action in Ride or Die (which goes to gruesome extremes that I wasn’t expecting), it is beautiful to behold.
If you thought Liam Neeson had an impressive set of skills, wait till you meet Judith (Picture: Dušan Martinček/Prime)
Up Next
If you thought that this series would pull its punches when it comes to the violence, think again.
I physically winced watching someone have part of their ear bitten off, and Hannah is absolutely stellar in her fight sequences, having performed nearly all of her own stunts.
I don’t feel the need to make a big song and dance of Hannah’s age, but it is still worth acknowledging how epic and rare it is to see a 51-year-old woman in a powerful action role like this one.
She’s not the first – Michelle Yeoh was sensational in Everything Everywhere All At Once, as was Viola Davis in The Woman King and Robin Wright as the Amazonian General Antiope in Wonder Woman. More of this, please! (My fingers are already crossed for a second season).
You don’t want to mess with The Director (Bill Nighy) (Picture: Dušan Martinček/Prime)
Verdict on Ride or Die
You will have an absolute blast watching Ride or Die. Trust me – you don’t want to miss it.
Ride or Die is an entertaining buddy comedy… but it goes much further than that. In a world centred around assassins, this series ventures to some vicious places.
This isn’t just a jolly where you know that all of your favourite characters are going to make it out alive. A character who’s introduced for comic relief one minute could be shot in the head the next.
Bill Nighy is purely Bill Nighy, starring as the stoic, understated head of the assassination agency, while Calam Lynch and Savannah Steyn have a magnetising dynamic in their secondary roles as Judith’s handler Sam and tech whizz Queenie.
The series might veer into clichés every now and then, but who cares? It’s rip-roaring fun, and fans will find it hard to resist bingeing it all in one go.
Chloe Madeley and James Haskell shared a meal together with their daughter (Picture: @madeleychloe)
Chloe Madeley has celebrated her 39th birthday with her ex-husband, James Haskell, and their three-year-old daughter.
The fitness coach shared a glimpse of her birthday weekend on social media, posting photos of the former couple while enjoying lunch with their daughter, Bodhi.
Chloe can be seen smiling while cuddling Bodhi alongside the former England rugby players as they tucked into what appeared to be tacos at a restaurant terrace.
Donning a white blouse, Chloe also celebrated her birthday with her parents, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan.
The 39-year-old added a picture of the pair also enjoying a meal, along with a few glasses of wine together.
Chloe posted this picture of her daughter, Bodhi on social media (Picture: @madeleychloe)
The former couple enjoyed a family day out for Chloe’s birthday (Picture: @madeleychloe)
Captioning the post, she wrote: ‘Birthday weekend,’ as fans took to the comments section to send her well wishes.
At the time of their split, James and Chloe both said that their daughter was their ‘sole focus’ and they would be co-parenting ‘with nothing but love’.
Since then, the pair have regularly spoken about their friendly co-parenting relationship and have often been seen spending time together with Bodhi despite no longer being a couple.
The TV personality said: ‘When you tell people that you are divorcing, everyone sees it as such a negative thing. They say: “This is going to be so hard for you.” And, yes, it is, but the hardest bit was when we were married.
‘The last year of the marriage was awful. It was so dark, painful, and one of the worst periods of my life. It’s a good thing we ended it.’
Chloe’s parents, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, were also out (Picture: @madeleychloe)
Chloe has previously opened up about her split from James (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX)
‘I’m not sure where he’s gone wrong because prior to his marriage, I met lots of lovely girlfriends,’ Susie said during a dinner party.
‘Each of them just loved me, which is a bonus. I do have quite a strong opinion on why I think it went wrong.
‘You can’t have two stars because you have them competing for the floor space the whole time.’
She then continued: ‘In the past he’s been extremely popular. I’ve seen at rugby matches where elderly ladies have got very close to him.
‘He needs someone who can see the softness of him, coupled with quite a brilliant intellect. He’s written seven books. Three of them are on The Times best-seller list.’
Messi has never taken to the pitch against England (Picture: Getty)
There are very few things that Lionel Messi hasn’t done in his illustrious 22-year career.
But Wednesday night’s colossal World Cup semi-final showdown between England and Argentina will be the first time Messi has played against the Three Lions despite amassing 205 caps for the South American giants.
The two fierce rivals have not faced each other since a friendly in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2005.
Messi was suspended for that game, having been sent off with a straight red card in Argentina’s previous match against Hungary.
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Incredibly, the clash with Hungary was Messi’s international debut for Argentina, and even more remarkably, the red card came just under a minute after the then 18-year-old entered the pitch as a substitute.
The game in Switzerland was won by England, who scored twice in the final four minutes through Michael Owen to complete a dramatic turnaround after Argentina had twice led in the match.
Since then, the luck of the draw and early eliminations at major tournaments have kept the two teams apart.
England beat Argentina in 2005 (Picture: Getty)
The closest they have come since then to playing against one another at a World Cup was in 2010, when England would have played Argentina in the quarter-finals had the Three Lions beaten Germany in the Round of 16.
There was also a near-miss in 2022, when Argentina played Italy in the Finalissima at Wembley.
The game pitted the Copa America 2021 winners against the Euro 2021 champions, meaning England would have contested the match against Argentina had they not lost against Italy in the Euros final on penalties.
How could England stop Lionel Messi?
‘Could Djed Spence do a job on Lionel Messi? He could, so long as he keeps control of himself and doesn’t try any reckless tackles against him.
‘I like Spence because he’s quick and reads the game well but playing against Messi is a different thing to playing against other players. It all depends on where Messi lines up for Argentina. He looked more dangerous to me when he moved out wide against Egypt.
‘You don’t see it very often now but if the managers just put a man marker on him to try and mark him out of the game if plays more centrally. Could Declan Rice shut him down like that?
‘The only thing with putting a player on to man mark someone is that you then lose them from the other side of the game, and I’m not sure we’d like to lose what Declan offers with the ball.
‘Elliot Anderson could be capable of playing that role. It just depends where Messi plays. But first we need to beat Norway!’
Ex-England captain Bryan Robson speaking to Hajper
While the two countries have not faced each other at a major tournament since Messi’s debut, there is nothing to say they couldn’t have organised a friendly game between them in the years since.
However, for whatever reason – perhaps in part because of the off-field hostilities between the two nations – a friendly game has failed to materialise.
Messi: ‘It’s going to be a special match’
Messi, who has scored 125 times for Argentina, is relishing the opportunity to finally have a date with England.
‘The truth is, yes, it is always special to play against the big teams,’ Messi said after the quarter-final win over Switzerland.
‘It never happened to me against England, it’s the first time, so it’s going to be a special match, a World Cup semi-final.
Messi will be looking to help Argentina reach the World Cup final (Picture: Getty)
‘Now we’ll rest and prepare for that. We’ve come from a lot of effort, playing a long game and, well, sometimes it shows.’
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner added: ‘Obviously, everything I saw and remember is from videos and images that Argentinians constantly watch and relive [from 1986]. But I think this group is used to playing football matches regardless of the opponent.
‘Obviously, playing against England is special because they are a powerhouse, and matches against powerhouses are always special.
‘Personally, it’s the first time I’m going to play against them. I’ve played against everyone except England, so it’s going to be nice for that reason too.
‘And to experience it for what it is – a World Cup semi-final against a powerhouse, a great team, and we will try to arrive in the best possible shape to compete again.
Storied World Cup history
The last time England played Argentina in a competitive match was at the 2002 World Cup.
The group stage game in Japan was won by England courtesy of a penalty by David Beckham, after Michael Owen was brought down in the box by future Tottenham and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Beckham’s penalty was the difference between the two sides in 2002 (Picture: Getty)
England’s win was something of a revenge for the events of the previous four years, when Argentina beat the Three Lions on penalties in the Round of 16 stage of the 1998 World Cup.
The game is infamous for Beckham being given a straight red card for kicking out against Diego Simeone while lying on the floor shortly after half-time.
Another history-defining game between the two came in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup, with Diego Maradona scoring a brace to dump England out of the tournament.
The Maradona goals are unquestionably two of the most iconic ever scored in football history.
The first, the ‘Hand of God’, was followed by the ‘Goal of the Century’; Maradona picked the ball up in his own half and carried it 50 yards up the pitch before rounding Peter Shilton to double Argentina’s lead.
The game at the Azteca was a reversal of the result from the quarter-final of the 1966 World Cup, which England won 1-0 on their way to winning the tournament on home soil.
The first World Cup meeting between England and Argentina, meanwhile, was in the group stage of the 1962 edition, which England won 3-1.
In total, England lead the head-to-head record with four wins compared to Argentina’s two.
