Alicia Munroe

Alicia Munroe (born 19 September) is a foundation trainee doctor who currently works in the Emergency Department of Holby General Hospital. She initially joined the department in September 2015 and was due to work there as part of her 4-month rotation as a part of her foundation training. However, she departed in mid-November after less than two months due to Lily Chao's bullying.

In August 2016, she returned to the ED just as the staff were preparing to celebrate Charlie's 30th anniversary. Although she was only there on a locum shift, Connie informed her that she was welcome to stay on for the remainder of her placement, something which she later decided to do.

Early life
Alicia lived in Newcastle with her parents during her childhood and teenage years. She initially went into medicine as she wanted to make a difference for people. Growing up, her father showered her with attention, one of the reasons why she stayed in Newcastle to study so she could live at home.

2015
On her first shift, Alicia was paired with Lily to act as a mentor to her. When Alicia appeared to have had a good impression on the rest of the staff, Lily became annoyed as she had failed to do so when she was an F2. At the end of Alicia's shift, Connie revealed to Lily that she thought Alicia was a "breath of fresh air", which further angered Lily.

The following week, some extremist attackers spread into the ED, stranding Alicia in resus with Max and Louise while the building was evacuated. Alicia managed to perform a risky operation which saved the patient, and Lily was annoyed that she had done it as she wasn't experienced enough, but the rest of the team were pleased with her efforts.

Following Lily's father's death in October, she was especially temperamental at work and it was Alicia who felt the wrath of this. When Lily was trying to realign a patient's broken ankle, she made a mistake which resulted in Lily calling Connie in. However, Lily soon became jealous when Alicia was praised for her quick thinking. The following week, Connie expressed optimism to Alicia about her medical career and advised her to take her MCEM exams as soon as possible. She later asked for a senior member of staff to file a report on Alicia, and Lily was quick to volunteer. During her shift, Alicia performed an unfamiliar procedure to relocate a man's shoulder who'd been run over in a scam which had gone wrong, which irritated Lily. Later in the day, Alicia once again showed her instinct and was correct which caused Lily's jealousy to peak. When Connie asked Lily if everything was okay, she told her that she though Alicia wasn't ready for her exams and was overconfident. Connie later informed Alicia that she should perhaps wait a little longer before taking her MCEM exams.

In November 2015, Alicia walked out of the ED in search of a young boy who had gone missing whom she was meant to be looking after, but soon found herself embroiled in a hostage situation. She ended up in the back of a van treating a young man for severe bleeding whilst the man who did it was outside trying to get in. She was eventually able to get the patient back into the ED safely, although Connie and Lily were both extremely annoyed with her. She later decided to email Connie informing her about her immediate resignation, emotionally overwhelmed and distraught as she reflected on her time in the ED. Her resignation was down to Lily's harsh manner towards her which quickly turned nasty and despite Lily perhaps having been oblivious to the extent, Alicia at least regarded it as bullying.

2016-
Alicia returned to the department in August 2016 for a locum shift just as the staff were getting prepared for Charlie's 30th anniversary celebrations. When Connie noticed Alicia, she informed her that she was welcome to stay on to complete the rest of her placement which she'd never completed. Alicia was paired up with Lily once again and although she was initially dreading it, Lily was exceptionally friendly to her. Later in the shift Alicia confronted Lily and told her that although she could put what happened behind her, they were never going to be friends.

Alicia later told Charlie that she'd take up Connie's offer, and decided to continue working there. Louise was delighted with her decision to stay in the department, as was Charlie. Alicia was also relieved that her and Lily were able to get along through their shift, although Lily wasn't aware that Alicia would be staying on.

Alicia attended Charlie's 30th anniversary party across the road at The Hope & Anchor later in the day along with other staff members. Ethan attempted to flirt with her, but was unsuccessful as she left to go and get a drink at the bar. Cal encouraged him to show her his vulnerable side. After the news of Connie's accident got back to the staff and they were waiting for Grace to arrive, Alicia went to wait outside the ED and Ethan followed. However, shortly after the helicopter carrying Grace was hit by a drone and crashed down near the entrance of the department. It sent an ambulance rushing forwards which crashed into some scaffolding which collapsed on Alicia and Ethan. Alicia was initially fearful for Ethan when he was unresponsive, but she was relieved when he just had a leg injury. She was able to treat him there, at the same time he told her the origin of his nickname from Cal, "Nibbles", something which she wasn't even aware of. They were eventually able to get a long pole and activate the siren from inside the ambulance which was also under the scaffolding, and Cal and the paramedics came to their rescue. Later in the day as the staff were preparing to stay and help clear up, Ethan told Cal that showing his vulnerable side had backfired, but Cal proved him wrong when he showed Ethan how Alicia was looking at him.

Just a week later, Alicia's parents were in the ED as her mother Jackie was suffering from stomach pains. By this time, her parents had moved down to Holby from Newcastle. She encouraged Alicia to give it a go with Ethan, but her father Howard advised her to be more cautious. Alicia informed Ethan that her parents had only just got back together after going through a rough patch. It later transpired that Jackie had contracted gonorrhoea, which left Alicia upset. She shared a deep conversation with Ethan on the roof of the hospital which brought them closer together. Howard later confessed to Alicia that it was him who was having the affair, not her mother. She was furious and her father later said he'd leave this time. After their shift, Ethan and Alicia had drinks in the pub and he informed her that he'd been able to secure her a place living with Jez and Max in their flat. However, she left him heartbroken when she left the pub with another man.

Later in the month, Ethan and Alicia were once again thrown into work together when Elle requested that they go along together to the scene of a fall. They arrived to find that they'd have to be lowered into a confined dark underground cave system together, something which Alicia showed apprehension about. However, Ethan was able to calm her down when some rubble started to fall down and as they were being taken to the surface the pair almost shared a kiss. Once back at the ED, Lily treated Alicia's small arm injury and saw that she had taken an interest in Ethan. After work, Alicia suggested that they went back to her place, where they opened a bottle of wine. Despite Ethan's hopes that they would be spending a quiet night in, Alicia drank too much and ended up being sick and Ethan was left to get her into bed.

The following day, Alicia attempted to avoid Ethan at work. However, she soon caught onto the fact Max and Jez had a competition between themselves about who could kiss her first. Taking the opportunity for revenge, she took a drunken Max and put him in bed next to Jez naked. The next morning, Jez and Max woke up confused much to Alicia's amusement. It was also Alicia's birthday, and Ethan had planned a party for the evening after work. However, when he overheard her saying how she was enjoying being single, he told her he couldn't come to the party. Despite this, he later decided to go to the party when speaking to the patient whom he had rescued from the cave just days before. When he arrived, he was distraught to find Alicia kissing Cal and they later had a one night stand.

By early-October, things were still awkward between her and Cal following their one night stand. However, he was offended when she was so opposed to the idea of doing it again and rated him six out of ten. However, he later got back at her and said she wasn't that good either. Alicia's day didn't get any easier as she was trying to contact Lily to apologise for lying to her about the party but couldn't get a response. She saw Iain in reception and he called her up on how she treated Lily. Towards the end of the day, Lily arrived at work and Alicia got the chance to apologise in person. Although Lily accepted her apology, Alicia told Lily that she thought Iain had a thing for her. Alicia also discovered an old image of Jacob during the shift and it soon spread around the department.

Later in October, Elle gave Ethan two tickets to the hospital's awards ceremony for that evening and hinted that he take Alicia. Although Cal tried to get the tickets from Ethan so he could ask Alicia to go with him, Alicia later accepted to go with Ethan. However, a chat with a patient made Ethan reconsider his decision and he let Cal go instead. Alicia was surprised to find Cal waiting for her in the taxi but ended up going nevertheless.

Later in October after spending a night together, Alicia declined to meet up with Cal that evening. He took it personally and was offended, so he bluntly made her realise that she hadn't been serious about anyone recently. Cal later found her crying and comforted her assuming that it was what he said that had upset her, but it transpired that she'd just been on the phone to her mum who was upset about her dad. Later in their shift, Alicia and Cal managed to work together to save a patient, and later agreed to meet at the pub after work. Once there, they decided to try to give their relationship a go.

Personal life
A romance blossomed between Alicia and Ethan following the helicopter crash in 2016. However, at all opportunities for the relationship to move forward something seemed to get in the way. Towards the end of September, Alicia ended up kissing Cal and having a one night stand which left Ethan upset although he hid his emotions. In October, Ethan was going to take Alicia to the hospital's awards night with him but Cal did instead in the end when Ethan opted out at the last minute.

Trivia

 * Alicia went to medical school in Newcastle and stayed at home.
 * Her favourite karaoke song is "Hit Me Baby One More Time".
 * The tips of Alicia's hair were dyed pink when she first worked at the ED in 2015.
 * On her first day in the ED, she brought lemon cake with her, something which she thought would help her get on the good side of the staff.
 * In 2015, she revealed to Lily that she'd love to eventually get a job specialising in paediatrics.
 * Alicia took a break from her F2 rotation and travelled to Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Behind the scenes
Alicia Munroe is currently portrayed by Chelsea Halfpenny on Casualty. It was confirmed that Halfpenny would reprise her role as Alicia in summer 2016, as she was seen in the trailer released in May 2016. She returned in the series 30 finale "Sticks and Stones". Initial reaction to the character was positive, and fans and critics alike were mostly happy to hear of her return to the show in 2016.

Appearances

 * See also: Character appearances and Category:Alicia centric.

In total, Alicia appeared in eight episodes of Casualty from September to November 2015. She made her first appearance in "Cradle to the Grave" and her final appearance seven episodes later in "Avoidable Harm". Her only centric episode is "Cradle to the Grave" which was also her first appearance. She returned at the end of the series.