Ethan Hardy

Ethan Hardy (born Michael; 28 November 1986) is a specialist registrar who has worked at Holby City ED since 2014. The week after he joined, his brother Caleb Knight also started working in the department. Since they started working together, there's been a constant friction between the two in a constantly competitive battle to better one another.

Since starting work at the ED Ethan has seen the arrival of various staff members including the current Clinical Lead Connie Beauchamp, Ben "Lofty" Chiltern and Jacob Masters. During this time several staff members have also departed, including Martin Ashford and Tess Bateman as well as Jeff Collier, due to his sudden death. He currently lives in a flat in Holby with his brother.

Early life
Ethan was born in November 1986 to Emilie Groome. At a young age, Ethan and his older brother were taken away from Emilie due to her poor mental state as a result of her early symptoms of Huntington's disease. Shortly after they were adopted by another couple. Prior to the adoption, Ethan's name was Michael.

Prior to joining the ED, Ethan completed a year of work experience working with the HEMS in London. In January 2014, having grown up not knowing they were adopted, their mother, Matilda, passed away.

Time in the Emergency Department (2014-)
Ethan had his first shift in the ED on 11 January 2014. On his first day, he arrived late due to the fact he was waiting for his brother to arrive to be with their seriously ill mother. He helped treat a school teacher with Lily in an attempt to find out what was really wrong with her. Lily was appointed by Zoe, who was the Clinical Lead then, to teach Ethan the basics of working in the ED at Holby. During his shift, he received a call to tell him that his mother had died. He later visited her, to find that his brother had been there by her side, which annoyed Ethan as he felt that he should have been there as he had been for a long time before.

The following week, his brother Cal started working at the ED. He attempted to avoid Ethan for the day, due to the fact that they still didn't get along. When they eventually faced each other, they both expressed their shock and annoyance. However, before long they were both paired up in treating a patient and together managed to be successful. It's likely that they were hired as replacements for Tom Kent and Sam Nicholls who left the ED the previous month.

In March, Ethan was left angry with Cal when he began flirting with Jenny, the nurse who cared for their mother before she died. Rita later encouraged Ethan to step out from under Cal's shadow and stand up for himself more. In June, Ethan punched Cal outside the ED after he heard that he had been badmouthing her to Fletch, which caused the brothers to once again grow apart. Ethan told him that he didn't care about himself but wouldn't let Cal hurt the people he cared about. Lily oversaw the incident and was angry at first but they reconciled the following week.

In August, Cal stole Ethan's idea for cost cutting and blood transfusions, but with some help from Lily, Ethan was able to expose him. The following month, Charlie sent out Ethan and Robyn to the scene of an accident where a floor had collapsed at a wedding party. In October, Ethan was driving the minivan with several other members of staff as passengers as they were on their way to another hospital to give advice. However, another vehicle crashed into the side of it and caused their minivan to tip over. Ethan had serious injuries, but was treated and saved by Cal back at the ED. This accident ultimately brought the two brothers closer together.

In November during a night shift, Ethan took charge as he was the most senior member of staff on shift. The shift was successful under his command, and the team presumably thought it was a nice break from Mrs Beauchamp. Later in the month, Ethan discovered that Honey worked as a pole dancer at a club at night to earn more cash, which left her embarrassed. Ethan became more involved in the new year when Honey called him asking for assistance at the club when she injured her ankle. After finding this out, he attempted to distance himself from her, which ultimately led to her leaving in February to look after her grandmother.

Ethan was left furious with Cal that April when he discovered that he'd stolen £15,000 from him to give to his girlfriend, Taylor Ashbie, for her charity. However, Taylor was exposed as a con artist who was just after Cal for the money, which left Cal feeling like a fool. Later in the month, Ethan was called by Cal who had found Taylor in a public toilet with a knife in her leg. Reluctantly, he arrived to assist her but he made an agreement with her that she'd get out of Cal's life once and for all and run away. When she did, Cal found out that Ethan was the one who told her to and was furious.

In August after her return to the ED, Honey admitted to Noel that she had a crush on Ethan, but was clearly jealous of Lily's relationship with him. The following week whilst treating Charlie's son Louis, Ethan accidentally pricked himself with the contaminated needle, which gave him a scare that he may have contracted HIV from it, but the results luckily came back negative. Later in the month, Ethan and Cal failed their FCEM exams to become consultants but Lily passed hers to become a registrar. He attended Zoe and Zoe's wedding on 23 August 2015, and was one of the people who attempted to extinguish the fire which broke out.

The following month, following a brief relationship, Honey and Ethan broke up and she left the ED to set up business elsewhere. After Taylor returned in October 2015 with a baby claiming it to be Cal's, Ethan encouraged him to take a paternity test to see if it was his or not. When the test came back to say Cal wasn't the baby's father, Ethan supported him. However, this discovery lead to Cal discovering that he and Ethan were adopted, and that their mother has Huntington's disease. Cal tried to find an appropriate time to tell Ethan, but in the new year, Ethan's own state of mind was going downhill, and Cal didn't think he could cope with hearing his news too. Around this time, Ethan was also annoyed with Lily for bullying Alicia which resulted in her leaving the department.

In 2016, he realised that he failed to see the signs of abuse on Jess' young daughter Olivia. He was left feeling guilty, but everyone tried to convince him that is wasn't his fault, including Lily. In mid-January when a black alert was called in the hospital, Ethan was forced to discharge a suicidal man at the start of the day. However, he later recognised a man who had died in the ED as him, and that when he left the ED he had presumably killed himself. With his emotions clearly in a mess, Cal prepared to finally tell him the truth, but just at the wrong time. The following week, many noticed that he was emotionally unstable after the events over the past couple of weeks, which caused him to lash out at Zoe during a meeting. Towards the end of his shift, he had a letter in his hand for Connie. He told Lily that he was tired of the job and that he was going to quit. However the following week Connie told Ethan that they'd already found a replacement who would be starting immediately, and that it would be Ethan's final shift. She did this to shock Ethan who eventually reconsidered following Lily's attempts to get him to stay.

In February, Ethan climbed atop a Ferris wheel to rescue an autistic girl, something which was praised by the rest of the team. However, he was also treating Emilie back at the ED, not knowing she was his birth mother. At the end of his shift, he went back to check on her and Cal told him that she was their mother. The following week, Ethan let his anger out and ended up punching Cal in the stomach in the staff room. A small fight ensued but Zoe quickly broke it up by telling them both off. At the end of the shift, Ethan told Cal that he was done with him, and that he wasn't his brother anymore.

Over the following weeks, Cal attempted to make things right with Ethan but it was clear he had no intentions of doing the same. When Emilie was admitted at the end of February 2016, Ethan grew more attached to her and they bonded. She later told Cal her wishes to go to an old holiday destination of theirs, and was later diagnosed with pneumonia. In early March, Cal and Ethan travelled with Emilie as she was going to somewhere more peaceful due to her wish not to die in a hospital. On the way there, they hijacked the ambulance leaving Iain and Andrews stranded. They narrowly avoided being arrested when a suspicious policewoman interrogated them at the roadside after they veered off into the shrubbery. They eventually arrived at Conleth Bay and prepared to open their test results. Ethan was oblivious to the fact that Cal had sent off his blood, and Cal told him that he took a sample back in January when Ethan demonstrated receiving an injection in order to put a patient at ease. Emilie died shortly after they told her that they were both negative, but after her death Ethan revealed that he had in fact inherited the disease, which left Cal in shock. Towards the end of the month, Cal and Ethan had an argument outside the ED, as Ethan had been pushing Cal away following his results.

In the following weeks, Ethan became distracted from his work as a result of his recent news. At the beginning of April, Ethan told Lily about his Huntington's news and that she wished Cal had got it instead. Cal overheard and went missing but Ethan knew that he would have gone to Conleth Bay. There, they had a conversation in Cal's car and Ethan apologised and said he would try to be more like Cal, leading a more adventurous life.

In June, Cal persuaded Ethan to flirt with a patient who worked at a local delicatessen. Although he initially messed it up, she later dragged him into the storage cupboard but he soon asked her to stop and she fainted soon after. Ethan called for Cal to help him and it soon transpired that she was just trying to use Ethan to get pregnant as she wanted a child but her husband didn't.

Towards the end of August 2016, Ethan was among the staff members who attended Charlie's 30th anniversary party at The Hope & Anchor across the road from the ED. He attempted to flirt with Alicia who'd returned to the department earlier that day following her brief time of working there in 2015. However, his attempts failed and Cal encouraged him to show his vulnerable side. It wasn't long after that Connie was admitted to the ED following her crash and the news got back to the department. Whilst Connie was being treated and Grace on her way via air ambulance, Ethan went to talk to Alicia who was waiting outside the ED. However, the helicopter carrying Grace was hit by a drone and it crashed down near the entrance of the ED. It pushed an ambulance forward towards the scaffolding which collapsed on Ethan and Alicia. Ethan sustained a leg injury, but Alicia was able to help at the same time Ethan revealed the source of his nickname "Nibbles", something which Alicia wasn't even aware of. After, they grabbed a long pole and managed to turn on the siren of the ambulance to alert everyone that they were in there. Cal promptly came to the rescue but was relieved when he realised how minor their injuries were. As night drew in, Alicia and Ethan were carrying food over from the pub and he told Cal that showing his vulnerable side backfired. However, he disagreed and told Ethan how Alicia was looking at him.

The following week, Ethan assisted in treating Alicia's mum Jackie who'd been admitted to the ED. When it transpired that she had an STD, Alicia and Ethan shared a deep conversation together on the roof of the hospital about how they'd almost died the previous week. After their shift at the pub, Ethan told Alicia that he'd been able to secure her a place with Jez and Max in their flat. However, he was distraught when another man came along and left with her.

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. 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.

Just days later, Gaynor was re-admitted to the ED following a fall through a greenhouse wall. However, as Ethan dug through her records he discovered that she was suffering from early symptoms of dementia. On the same day, he was busy planning Alicia's party but overheard her saying that she was enjoying being single. This prompted him to inform her that he couldn't make it. Later in the day following Gaynor's issues being resolved, she spoke to Ethan and encouraged him to make every second count as he'd said when he told her about his Huntington's. He went to the party, but saw Alicia kissing Cal from outside which resulted in him leaving the party heartbroken.

Personal life
Ethan has had several romantic encounters whilst working at the ED, including Lily Chao and Honey Wright. In August 2015, Ethan began a relationship with Honey but it ended the next month. Honey later admitted to Noel that she only dated Ethan because he was a doctor, although Ethan never discovered this. There was also something between Lily and Cal at one point, which left Ethan feeling awkward.

Outside of work, Ethan likes to spend time with his family and friends, and will often join his colleagues after their shift at The Hope & Anchor, the pub located opposite the ED. Despite generally being in good spirits, he was pushed to the edge when a black alert was called in January 2016. At this point, his mental state was still on edge due to the fact he missed the signs of Olivia Cranham's abuse when she was admitted months before. This left him questioning faith in himself, and also left Charlie and Cal worried.

In March 2016 whilst in a tourist cafe with Cal and Emilie, a waitress named Kate gave Ethan her number on a napkin. Later in the year, a romance blossomed between Ethan and Alicia, but at every opportunity something went wrong, notably her and Cal kissing at her birthday party.

Trivia

 * Caleb Knight is his brother.
 * Strengths: Naturally gifted medic, strong bedside manner, makes people laugh.
 * Fears: Forever being seen as second best.
 * Ethan was adopted.
 * Ethan will reluctantly use rock, paper, scissors with his brother to settle disputes. And more than often loses.
 * His childhood nickname is 'Nibbles' – something which Cal takes great delight in calling him.
 * Ethan had a brief romance with Honey, Noel's daughter.
 * He discovered in 2016 that he had inherited Huntington's disease from his birth mother, Emilie.
 * Ethan is scared of heights.

Behind the scenes
George Rainsford currently portrays Ethan on Casualty. He made two guest appearances as Ethan on Holby City in June 2016. Since his arrival on the show, Ethan has become a fan favourite character.

Fans through social media have often criticised the low prominence which Ethan has in most episodes, noting that Cal has become a more prominent character. In series 30, Ethan's birth name was revealed to have been Michael and Cal's Steven. This was possibly inspired by actor Michael Stevenson who plays paramedic Iain Dean.

Appearances

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

Ethan first appeared in the series 28 episode "Bad Timing" at the beginning of 2014. To date, Ethan has centric episodes; two in series 28, one in series 29, three in series 30 and two in series 31.