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By Derek Robins 29/09/02
Casualty actress Christine Stephen-Daly found it "harrowing" when she flimed hard-hitting rape scenes for the latest series.
Her character Dr Lara Stone faces a murder charge after killing her attaker.
She says: "I had to shoot flashback scenes of the attack and they were very scary as I did them with a huge stunt guy. It was harrowing to do and I got loads of cuts and bruises."
Fans will be shocked when Lara is jailed for three years.
BBC drama chief Mal Young says "it's perhaps the first time on UK TV that we see a doctor arrested for murder."
"A jail sentence on top of that is a huge crisis for someone in the medical profession. There are a lot of moral questions to be asked and viewers may not agree with out view."
Christine, 29, says "It was very emotional doing the court scenes day after day."
"We shot the prison scenes at the old jail in Oxford used by Bad Girls. it is an amazing Victorian, gothic place with all these horrible little cells and it wasn't very pleasant filming in them."
The actress thinks there may be a fans' campaign to "Free The Holby One" when her character is jailed.
She says "I get an incredible amount of fan mail, especially from teenage girls who will be crying for Lara to be freed."
"But I am hoping she will be freed as she will appeal and is relying on her attacker's wife to give evidence that he raped her."
Christine is confident that Casualty fans will see a great deal of Lara in the future
She says "I have recently bought a place in Bristol and I have more than a year on my contract and I want to see that out. but I may be tempted to move by the end of 2003. I love Bristol and I want to stay for a long time."
The Aussie-born actress also spends time in London where her marketing consultant boyfriend Simon lives.
She says she hopes for happier times for Lara in the coming months.
"Lara has had a difficult time in the last few months. She has gone from losing her fiance Patrick Spiller (Ian Kelsey) who was killed by the man who tried to rape her." <--NOT TRUE! he died after a car crash.
"She's now in court for killing her attacker. She has a rough time ahead, but I hope she has found some happiness by Christmas."
Christine landed the part of Dr Lara after she played a stripper in Eastenders.
She says "I was the entertainer at Steve Owen's stag night, then I got the call from Casualty. Doing all the stuff as Lara has been great.
"We share a passion for life but she is more bloody-minded than me. But I would be like her if I was attacked. I would fight for my life if someone was trying to rape me."