Sam Nicholls

Samantha "Sam" Nicholls (formerly Kent) is a registrar in emergency medicine. She worked in the emergency department of Holby City Hospital from 2011 to 2013 as a registrar in emergency medicine. She became romantically involved with Tom Kent, when the couple ended up kissing after a night out in the pub. They married in December 2013, before leaving the ED together to start fresh.

Early life
Prior to joining the ED, Sam Nicholls worked as an army medic alongside corporal Iain Dean. In July 2011 they were positioned in Afghanistan together which led Sam to have an affair with him whilst married to Dylan. Sam was due to leave in 2011 but the medic who was due to replace her broke his leg so she decided to stay on for a bit longer. However, an incident occurred during a bombing where Sam mistook an injured man's inhaler for a bomb and shot him. This left her feeling guilty and she told Iain that she was going to leave after all to go and work at Holby ED. Knowing this was where Dylan worked, he realised she wanted to get back to her husband after all.

Time in the emergency department (2011-13)
Due to arrive for her first shift on 16 October, she arrived a day earlier planning to be able to spend a day out with the paramedics to gain more experience. Clinical Lead Nick Jordan was surprised to see her a day early but permitted her to go out with the paramedics. She went with Dixie and Jeff to the scene of the stabbing of a priest. The man who stabbed him thought he was to blame for his brother's suicide. They were eventually able to get him away from the scene, but the man who stabbed him rammed the ambulance off the road in his car, as they were on their way to the hospital. Sam later spoke to the man who stabbed him and it soon transpired that the priest had abused his brother.

The following week, Zoe soon caught on to the fact that Dylan and Sam had some kind of history when she mocked his attempts to be the Sherlock Holmes of the medical world. In November, Sam and Dylan put their differences aside whilst treating a teenage mother with a mystery condition.

In December during the ED fire, Noel was in the process of calling Zoe and Dylan's next of kins as they were trapped in resus. However, when he rang Dylan's, Sam picked up her phone and walked in, identifying herself as Dylan's wife. Dylan was angry that this had been revealed, and Zoe was surprised that he hadn't confided in her.

In January on the day that the ED re-opened following the renovation work, Sam and Dylan found themselves at the centre of the department's jokes. In an attempt to distract herself from life in the ED, she went out with the paramedics to the scene of a major pile-up on a motorway. However, whilst they were treating the injured, a large explosion occurred at the Silverton Estate. Sam teamed up with fire officer Jon Marston and she was the first medic to reach the scene. Sam was horrified when Jon later sustained chemical burns from toxic gas at the explosion site and returned to the ED after her stressful shift. At the same time, Dylan was being confronted by Keith Parr, the angry son of a female patient in the ED. When he began to show signs of violence towards Dylan, Sam forcibly restrained him in a headlock, forcing him to leave.

In February, Keith Parr was admitted to the ED following a car crash caused by neck pain. Upon examining him, Zoe realised that he had a small fracture in his neck. Things only got worse for Keith when it transpired that his girlfriend had hepatitis C, and had probably passed it on to him. Realising that Sam was probably to blame for the neck injury, Keith blamed her for the whole thing. Keith threatened that Sam's actions could result in her losing her job. Three weeks later, Keith lodged a formal complaint about Sam to the GMC. Sam was notified of this, but instructed to not let it distract her from work by Jordan.

In March, the GMC visited the ED as the start of the formal investigation. Staff members were called out one by one to discuss Sam's behaviour. Sam managed to distract herself whilst treating an old soldier, who softened to her upon finding out that she'd served in the forces too. Sam thanked Dylan for his support when he was uncooperative with the GMC, and gave them a written statement instead. At the end of the day, Jordan revealed to Sam that Zoe would be called to the official GMC hearing to give evidence.

At the start of April, Sam and Dylan worked together at the site of an accident at a woodland cave system. They were able to save the woman, Amanda Franks, although the man, David, didn't survive. After the shift, Sam called her solicitor to begin the divorce proceedings, realising that she couldn't be trapped in the relationship forever. A few weeks later, Sam was furious to learn that Zoe had been called to give evidence against her at the GMC hearing. Sam was more angry with Scarlett when a patient was mistakenly identified and reacted badly to penicillin. Lloyd later spoke to Sam about her harsh treatment of Scarlett and she apologised.

The following week, the date of the hearing arrived and Sam was shocked to learn that her ex army colleague Iain Dean had been called to give evidence against her. Overwhelmed by the situation, Sam fired her defence team and was then confronted by damning evidence from Nick, Scarlett and Dylan. Things only worsened for Sam when Iain revealed how she'd shot an innocent civilian in Afghanistan. However, Keith collapsed in the bathroom during the hearing and was admitted to the ED. Zoe treated him and realised that Keith had cancer, which explained why Sam's restraint of him resulted in a fracture. Zoe informed the GMC panel of the new evidence and Sam was cleared of the charges. After the trial, Sam kissed Dylan and thanked him for his support, giving him the idea that there was still a chance for them to reconcile their relationship.

In May, a letter arrived for Dylan about the divorce proceedings, before Sam had chance to tell him. Hoping to buy herself some time, Sam took the letter. However, Zoe soon found out that Sam was planning to divorce him and urged her to tell him. She informed Dylan that they needed to meet after work. Dylan got the wrong idea and booked a table at a romantic restaurant. Zoe gave Sam a stern talking to and urged her to tell Dylan the truth. When she eventually did, Dylan chose to take his anger out on Zoe due to the fact she'd known all along.The following week, Dylan found it impossible to work alongside Sam, and it led to Sam making a bad impulse decision.

In July, Sam was preparing to go back to Afghanistan but when she failed a training exercise she was left wondering to herself whether she would ever be ready to go back. She also treated one of her army colleagues, Captain Morrison, in the ED, after he'd crashed his car just outside the base. It soon transpired that he'd suffered from an epileptic fit, which left Sam in the difficult position of choosing whether to inform the army of this and ruin his career. By the following week, Sam and Dylan were still at a halt, with Dylan refusing to sign the divorce papers if Sam continued to work at Holby. They eventually got divorced and both remained working at Holby.

In August, Sam and Tom were working at the scene of a local outdoor festival. However, when the stage caught fire, the crowds went rushing through the exit tunnels and it resulted in a crush and a wall collapse. Tom managed to rescue Sam when she was almost crushed by the crowds. Tamzin also asked Tom if he was single.

In September, Sam and Tom worked together in treating one of Sam's old friends Melanie. They discovered that she was pregnant, but before they could tell her, she had headed off to the arena where she planned to take part in a boxing match. After the stressful shift, Sam invited Tom out for a drink and they shared a kiss in the taxi on the way home. The next day, they agreed not to talk about what had happened the night before and carry on as normal. The following month, they shared another kiss in the staff room, unaware that Dylan had walked in. After he caught site of Sam and Tom kissing, Dylan walked out like he hadn't seen anything. However, Dylan later refused to go to the Halloween party, despite Sam's efforts to persuade him to go.

In November, Amanda Franks, the woman whom Sam and Dylan saved from the cave, returned to the ED with her sick friend. Before long, she asked Dylan out, still clearly seeing Dylan as a hero. Sam encouraged him to go for a drink with her in the hopes it may turn his head off her and Tom. However, he caught sight of Sam and Tom flirting and Amanda realised that his attention wasn't on her. Sam and Tom were happily in a relationship, but still keeping it a secret from their colleagues. A few weeks later, Dylan revealed to Sam and Tom that he'd seen them kissing before the Halloween party.

In December, Sam was there to support Tom after a confrontation with a locum doctor, Dominic. Sam urged Tom to apologise to Zoe and Dominic, after Tom had punched Dominic. However, Tom became angry upon discovering that it was Dylan who had told Zoe about his run-in with Dominic. Tom confronted Dylan outside the ED, where he finally admitted that he still had feelings for Sam, before handing in his resignation and leaving Holby.

In February 2013, Tom confided in Sam about the fact he was adopted when he was younger, but had no interest in finding out who his birth parents were. In March, Tom became jealous when another doctor asked Sam out after their relationship had grown cold. Tom was also jealous of Sam's friendship with Ash, seeing it as a further threat to their relationship. During the same shift, a violent rapist attacked Sam in the ED, which resulted in Tom punching him. At the end of the shift, Tom finally admitted his feelings for Sam and they shared a kiss in the ED in front of their colleagues.

In May, Sam became worried about Tom when he undertook tests on a baby without clearance from Zoe. Having previously failed to diagnose a baby's meningitis, he was desperate to do the right thing. The following month, Tom convinced Zoe and Sam that his irrational behaviour was in the past, but Sam still noticed that he seemed to be in a strange mood. Her suspicions were raised when Tess asked all staff to keep extra records when prescribing diazepam due to high quantities of the drug going missing. Zoe later queried his behaviour when he breached patient confidentiality regarding a baby's biological parents, which led Sam to believe Tom wasn't as content about being adopted as he'd made out. Sam spoke to him in the staff room later in the shift, at which point he admitted to her that he'd been taking the diazepam from the hospital's stock to combat his anxiety. Sam urged him to see sense and stop taking the drugs.

At the end of June, Sam and Tom clashed over a patient. The disagreement soon turned into an argument, when Tom lashed out at Sam physically. With Tom's behaviour becoming increasingly erratic, Sam began to question how much longer she could put up with it. At the start of July, Sam turned up at the ED with a bag of her belongings which she'd collected from Tom's flat whilst he was out. He accused her of bailing out on him for showing weakness, but she made him realise that their relationship ended after the incident the previous month. Whilst sorting through her things, Sam discovered a letter addressed to Tom from his biological father. It had been sent from prison and Sam immediately informed Tom, but was disappointed when he refused to discuss it with her.

In August, Tom asked Sam to move in with him after getting their relationship back on track. However, this happened on the same day Sam's ex army colleague Iain returned to the ED as the Ambulance Service's new student paramedic. When Tom found out about their past together, Sam convinced him that her relationship with Iain was long over. The following month, she told him that he could move in, but with her.

In October, Sam and Tom's relationship once again strengthened and he planned to propose to her. Whilst showing the ring to a patient, Robyn walked in and discovered Tom with it. Although she promised to keep it a secret, it wasn't long before the rumours spread among the staff. When Iain found out, he innocently questioned Sam about her and Tom's relationship. She admitted to him that they'd had their share of ups and downs in the past. Tom was furious when Iain revealed that he knew about their rough patches and put off the proposal plans. Sam was desperate to make things right with Tom and proposed to him herself in the pub.

In November, Sam and Iain visited one of their old army colleagues Kenny Archer. They were under the impression that he was at a veterans' hospital, but he was actually at a hospital for veterans suffering from PTSD. As they confronted the reality of his condition, Sam found that the experience brought her and Iain closer together. Later in the month, Tom found out about the visit Sam and Iain made together earlier in the month and called off a visit to their wedding planner. In a moment of confusion, Sam shared a kiss with Iain.

In December, Sam attempted to get back into Tom's good books as a result of her and Iain's trip together. On the day of their wedding, their plans were interrupted when they came across a man who had been electrocuted and needed help. Further interruption occurred when her betrayal with Iain came to light, but they managed to put aside their differences and go ahead with the wedding. As part of their mutual agreement of the marriage, they decided to leave the ED for a fresh start and extended honeymoon.

Personal life
Before 2011, Sam married Dylan but when she went off to Afghanistan she began having an affair with her army colleague Iain Dean. She eventually broke up and went to work in Holby with Dylan, much to his disappointment. In 2012, she entered a relationship with Tom Kent which was partially the reason for Dylan leaving that December.

The arrival of Iain Dean as a student paramedic in August 2013 put a spanner in the works for Sam and Tom, but they continued dating anyway. Tom planned to propose to Sam but when things got in the way, she proposed to him instead and they left Holby in December after getting married.

Behind the scenes
Charlotte Salt portrayed Sam on Casualty from 2011 to 2013. It was announced in April 2017 that Salt would be reprising her role as Sam. Casualty ' s Series Producer Erika Hossington revealed that Salt would begin filming at the end of May. Sam will make her on-screen return in September.