Casualty’s Dylan Keogh (played by William Beck) has appeared to

struggle in recent weeks as he clashed with the new Clinical Lead Patrick Onley

(played by Jamie Glover). In tonight’s episode (April 6) it appears that

the newcomer has pushed him too far as Dylan quits, handing back his ID and saying: “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

His departure will come as a shock to fans of the long-running BBC medical drama and happens shortly after Patrick suggests he is autistic. However, actor William, who plays the beleaguered medic, is keen to clarify it isn’t this alone which leads to his resignation.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk the actor, who joined the show in 2011, said: “I want to qualify that. I want to make clear that Dylan’s frustration isn’t at the suggestion of autism or anything else. His frustration is the way that Patrick conflates it with not being able to do the job.

“I mean, obviously, the relationship between Dylan and neuro divergence is one, that if I’m entirely honest, and probably in common with people who are neurodivergent anyway, it’s something that is the subject conversation for other people in a way that I hope is really beneficial.

“But it’s [Dylan’s neuro divergence] not something that I give a name to. Because why exclude everybody else? We are all to a degree capable of understanding each individual decision, and the pattern of Dylan’s decisions certainly I would say is eccentric.

Dylan Keogh quits his job in the latest episode of Casualty (Image: BBC)

“But the fact that Patrick chooses to use that – professionally I don’t think Dylan can be faulted. There were many things which you’d wish you’d done differently, but with the medicine on the whole I think he is pretty good.

“So when Patrick conflates this, this idea of autism – it could have been any other word equally – but when he conflates that with not being able to do his work….Given the fact that he’s Clinical Lead, given the fact that Max was similarly disparaging of his ability to do the job, I think he just doesn’t know what’s left.

“I think in those situations anybody [would crack]. I mean, I know that occasionally I have had fever dreams about jobs where I imagined being able to say stick your job. It’s a lovely fantasy. It doesn’t work out so well in reality I’m told,” the actor laughed.

Whether or not Dylan can be persuaded to return remains to be seen but in real life William has a much better realtionship with actor Jamie Glover than their characters have. Indeed, he admitted that he almost “fangirled” over him when he joined the cast.

Stevie Nash and Dylan Keogh are both unsure of the new Clinical Lead (Image: BBC)

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While Dylan may not gel with Patrick, William can understand where he is coming from and believes that he has issues of his own. “We’ve had the departure of Max and then obviously of Charlie which leaves such a kind of a gap in the engine room of the way department runs. I suppose in a way you could say that the only option for somebody like Patrick is to come in and set about making sure that nobody has time to be resentful of the new guard.

“But the way that he does it is, saying brash is probably the wrong word, but it’s strident perhaps. The frustrating thing for the staff, but the entertaining thing for the viewers is just how inconsistent he can be. On the one hand, praising and then you know, almost immediately following up with a little pop here and there.

“I think, especially in the world that we know now, there are lots and lots of people who will be familiar with somebody who is charismatic, charming, but maybe a little bit dangerously inconsistent from time to time. And so, I think trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on with Patrick is probably something that a lot of people would have had to do for themselves with other people they know.”

Thankfully away from screen the two actors get on much better than their alter egos. “Jamie is such a fantastic actor. It’s so much fun to have somebody – you know apart from anything he’s played Harry Potter,” William enthused. “This is really important information because I’ve got two nine-year-old boys and it is hugely significant information for them. It was all I could do not to fangirl really!” he confided.