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Jac Naylor

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Portrayed by
  
Played by
  
TV show
  
Children
  
Emma Naylor

Created by
  
Jac Naylor Jac Naylor Wikipedia

First appearance
  
"Bird on a Wire" (Holby City)22 November 2005

Spinoff(s)
  
HolbyBlue (2008)Casualty (2016)

Occupation
  
Consultant Cardiothoracic surgical, director of cardiothoracics, Clinical lead (Darwin ward)

Family
  
Paula Burrows (mother)Jasmine Burrows (half-sister)Henry Burrows (grandfather)

Significant others
  
Similar
  

Jacqueline "Jac" Naylor MBBS MS FRCS (Eng) FRCSTh is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, portrayed by actress Rosie Marcel. She made her first screen appearance during the series eight episode "Bird on a Wire", which was originally broadcast on 22 November 2005. In August 2014, Marcel became pregnant and in the latter quarter of the year, went on maternity leave. Marcel made her on-screen temporary departure, alongside Michael Thomson, who made his indefinite departure, from the show in April 2015 when Jac took the maternity leave she didn't take when Emma was born. Both Jac and Jonny made a brief appearance on 23 June through Skype, before Jac made an additional brief appearance on 22 September. She made a full-time return on 24 November. Alongside her appearances in Holby City, Marcel has played Jac in the show's sister shows, HolbyBlue and is a recurring character in Casualty, Jac appeared in 2008 and February, August & September 2016 respectively.

Contents

Jac Naylor Jac Naylor Holbytv

Storylines

Jac Naylor Jac Naylor Holbytv

Jac arrives at Holby City Hospital as part of a team performing a hemicorporectomy. She is initially unsuccessful in securing a permanent position as a registrar, but returns to the hospital in this capacity several weeks later. Jac develops a rivalry with her fellow registrar Diane Lloyd (Patricia Potter), which intensifies when they both apply for the same consultant post. Neither are successful, but Jac is disappointed when Diane is later promoted above her, to locum consultant and later to permanent consultant.

Jac Naylor Jac Naylor Fans JacNaylorFans Twitter

Unable to cope with the pressure of his job, cardiothoracic surgical registrar Joseph Byrne (Luke Roberts) accidentally overdoses, and is saved by Jac. She becomes romantically involved with him, hoping to ingratiate herself with his influential father, Lord Byrne (Ronald Pickup). Taking this further, Jac later lies to Lord Byrne, claiming that she and Joseph have separated, resulting in Jac sleeping with Lord Byrne. She attempts to blackmail him into securing her a consultancy. Lord Byrne falls in love with Jac, and confesses their affair to Joseph, who pleads with her to dump him and offers her the chance to resume their relationship. Jac declines, choosing to be with his father. Diane commits suicide, and Lord Byrne attempts to use his influence to secure her position for Jac, but has a stroke before succeeding. After a failed attempt at making amends with Joseph, he has a heart attack and dies. Jac refuses to show remorse for destroying Joseph's family, resulting in him hitting her. She uses the resultant bruising to garner sympathy and secure a position on a stent trial, She is attacked by patient Alan Clooney during the stent trial (James Weber Brown), who unsuccessfully attempts to rape her. Jac declines to report it, but assaults him when he returns to the hospital six months later. At the start of series 10, she claims to be suffering from residual headaches from Joseph's attack and blackmails him to make his mother support her application for a consultant post, which backfires when she is instead granted sick leave.

Jac Naylor Jac Naylor Holbytv

When Clooney is later found stabbed through the heart, Jac is arrested for attempted murder. She is cleared when a young victim of his confesses to the attack. Suspicious of ward sister Faye Morton (Patsy Kensit), with whom Joseph has begun a relationship, Jac follows her to a secret assignation, accidentally crashing her motorbike en route. She spends some time in intensive care and has to walk, aided by a crutch for several months afterwards. Joseph and Faye become engaged, but their relationship deteriorates. An intoxicated Joseph ends up in bed with Jac, and she manipulates him into believing that she is expecting his baby. Her lie is uncovered when she is treated as a patient, having been knocked down the hospital stairs. Soon thereafter, she and Joseph are trapped in an operating theatre together, when it is discovered that their patient had been transporting contaminated waste. They declare their love for one another, but Joseph states that he has moved on with Faye, leaving Jac distraught.

Jac Naylor BBC One Holby City Jac Naylor

Jac shares a kiss with foundation doctor Oliver Valentine (James Anderson), but their relationship doesn't go any further. When her estranged mother, Paula Burrows (Julie Legrand), is admitted with kidney damage, Jac reveals that she was abandoned aged twelve and placed in foster care. She agrees to a kidney transplant to save her mother, who deserts her again following the operation. Jac discovers that she has a younger half-sister but detaches herself from her family for good. Having transferred back to general surgery, Jac develops a reluctant friendship with locum registrar Sacha Levy (Bob Barrett), who successfully recommends her for a locum consultant position. Afraid of being demoted after making a clinical error, Jac blames the mistake on ward sister Chrissie Williams (Tina Hobley), the mother of Sacha's son, which leads to the termination of their friendship.

Faye becomes pregnant with Joseph's child but has a breakdown and refuses to leave the psychiatric unit she has admitted herself to when she goes into labour. Jac convinces her to receive proper medical care, saving Joseph's son. Grateful for her intervention, Joseph shares a kiss with Jac and they resume their relationship. Jac intercedes upon discovering that Faye is planning to leave the country with the baby, named Harry and takes them back to the hospital, where Joseph convinces her to leave Harry with him. He decides to move to the countryside and become a general practitioner, so he will have more time to spend with Harry. Jac declines to accompany him, valuing her career over a quiet family life, but is devastated by Joseph's departure. She briefly resigns when her locum consultancy is rescinded, but upon failing to find work elsewhere as a result of her reputation, returns once more as a cardiothoracic registrar. She begins a rivalry for a cardiothoracic consultant position with new registrar Sahira Shah (Laila Rouass). A position that she later wins, Jac receives a box containing fancy stilettos and a bottle of champagne from Connie Beauchamp, with a note about the shoes saying "Fill them! x".

Jac helps Sahira set up a Cardiac Trauma Unit as a way of saving cardiothoracics when Darwin Ward is threatened with a merger with St. James' in. In the wake of the plastics scandal, Jac and Sahira continue to use CTU until Hanssen dismantles the project, following Sahira's departure. In Jac helps Sacha rekindle his love for Chrissie by giving him a lift to the airport. When Jac berates new F1, Tara Lo (Jing Lusi), in Hanssen refers her onto a people skills course and she is forced to publicly apologise to Tara. On the course, Jac meets future transplant nurse Jonny Maconie who claims to be a neurosurgeon from St. James. Despite their different work attitudes, Jac and Jonny end up in bed together. However, Jac tells Jonny afterwards that this "never happened." Jac is shocked when Jonny turns up at Holby working as a nurse however they continue their relationship. Jac is offered a six-week research post in America. In Jac assists Mo Effanga when she gives birth. Jac continues to be a brutal mentor towards Tara but is taken aback when she discovers Tara's condition and she was upset when Tara died. With her relationship with Jonny intensifying, Jac worries that the hospital is gossiping about her private life and takes out her issues on Mo. Towards the end of Series 14, Jac worries that she might be pregnant with Jonny's baby and, following pressure from Jonny to take a pregnancy test, and later tells him that it was a false alarm. Jac is invited to Sacha's stag do and makes no secret of her opinion of Sacha's bride-to-be, Chrissie.

Following the negative publicity bombarding Holby in the wake of Hanssen's press release, Jac becomes concerned that he is not the leader she thought he was and makes her concerns known to Terrence Cunningham. In Jonny is caught between Jac and Mo and, with her professional detachment called into doubt by a patient, Jac takes a drastic step in her relationship with Jonny. Jac is annoyed to discover that Jonny is coping well with their break-up and in an effort to rile him, she goes out with a new man. In Jac begins to rekindle her relationship with Jonny but their drink is called off when new acting CEO, Imelda Cousins lets slip that it was Jac who voiced her concerns about Hanssen to Cunningham.Jonny and Jac get back together however Jac once again messes things up, when she hears that Joseph is getting married, by sleeping with the paediatrician Sean. Jac tries to do the right thing and tells Jonny about her on night stand before he found out any other way but he still gets mad so Jac decided to travel to Japan to do some training on new medical techniques. Jac comes back to work a day early to put her training in to use and catches Jonny of guard after Jac has an accident on the ward she tells Jonny that she loves him and they continue with their relationship. However Jac starts to experience abdominal pains that she worries is something to do with her kidney but when the ultrasound comes back clear she refers herself to obs and gynie and is diagnosed with endometriosis. Jac keeps her diagnosis to herself and after a confrontation outside theatre Jonny dumps her.

When Tara Lo sends an email to everyone, informing them of her brain tumour and that she will be undergoing surgery to have it removed, Jac is extremely surprised and upset by the news. When Tara dies in surgery after complications, Jac is deeply saddened despite the fact she had acted very cold towards her throughout her time at Holby. That night, Jac sleeps with Jonny and later discovers that she is pregnant. A few weeks later, Jonny discovers Jac's pregnancy when he finds Mo's drawing. Although Jac is convinced she's miscarried, Jonny convinces her to take a pregnancy test. Jac finds out that she is still pregnant. In episode 33 of Series 15 Jac tells Jonny about her endometriosis and he performs an ultrasound on Jac and they see their baby for the first time. In episode 40 of series 15, Jac has her next ultrasound scan booked at a private clinic on the other side of town. However, it is cancelled and Jonny Maconie begs the midwife at Holby City General Hospital for an appointment. Jac has her scan and it reveals everything is fine, this leads to Jonny finally announcing Jac's pregnancy publicly to the entire ward.

In episode 48 of series 15, it's the day of Jac's 20-week scan. She's stunned to find out that her baby girl has congenital diaphragmatic hernia and only a 50% chance of survival after birth. Jonny tells Jac he will support her in any decision she makes. In the same episode Jac decides to have an abortion. Soon after Jonny finds out about Jac's plans and tries to stop her. Unfortunately for Jonny, Jac has already left the clinic. Later, Jonny finds Jac back at the hospital and asks if she's okay. Jac then reveals she's still pregnant, confirming she didn't go through with the termination. In episode 50 of series 15, Jac and Jonny have their first pre-natal class. The next week Jonny tells Jac that he's visited a couple with a child who has CDH. Jac gets furious, because she feels that Jonny is doing things behind her back. It is obvious though that Jac is just as scared about the future as Jonny. At the end of episode 51, Jonny asks Jac to move in together and the episode ends with a stunned Jac unable to say anything. A couple of days later Jac throws her flat keys at Jonny and tells him to move in with her. Later, Jonny's old friend Bonnie appears on the ward. Jac gets jealous of Bonnie and threatens to fire her. Jonny, feeling sympathetic for Bonnie, returns the keys on Jac's desk. A couple of weeks later Bonnie tells Jac she and Jonny are dating and living together.

In episode 13 of series 16, Jac goes into labour a week early and is forced to have an emergency caesarian. The baby shows signs of distress and isn't breathing right after birth. However, the doctors are able to stabilise her, and the little girl pulls through. At first, Jac has a hard time bonding with her daughter, but after seeing Bonnie hold the baby, Jac's maternal side comes rushing to the fore. Jac decides to name her daughter Emma. Little Emma's birth softens Jac, but it also complicates things between Jac and Jonny. Jac wants to hire a nanny, whilst Jonny is keen on having the baby christened. As Jonny and Bonnie's relationship develops Jac gets increasingly jealous and attempts to rile Jonny. On the day of Jonny and Bonnie's wedding Jac delays Jonny by agreeing to perform surgery on Bonnie's brother in an attempt to prevent the marriage. The surgery is successful yet Jonny informs Jac he and Bonnie will be leaving after the wedding as he is unable to get Jac out of his head. Jac then kisses Jonny in an attempt to get him to stay, but after being unable to tell him she loves him, Jonny leaves to marry Bonnie. However, Bonnie dies after being hit by a truck shortly before the wedding.

Jonny blames Jac for Bonnie's death and they becomes locked in a custody battle for Emma. Jac's mother, Paula, is admitted to the hospital with terminal cancer. Jac pays Paula to leave and she gives the money to Jonny. After learning about Jac's past with Paula, Jonny apologises to Jac. They bond over a patient and Emma's brief hospitalisation. However, Jac then learns that Paula is staying with Jonny, despite him knowing about their past. In series 16 episode 36, Jac's mum health gets worse and starts going badly wrong, and Paula dies. The morning after, Jac and Emma watch the sun rise and they both meet Johnny at the hospital and Jac gives Emma to him for him to look after as she is going to Sweden. As Jac goes to the airport Johnny carries Emma asking her to reconsider. But Jac boards the plane.

Jac returns prematurely after learning of Elliot Hope's worsening health to help with the Herzig 5 (artificial heart) project which leads to her having to take the lead halfway through the crucial operation being used to market the device. Guy then attempts to tempt Jac into taking Elliot's place; leading the Herzig 5 project and running Darwin ward. During episode 42 of series 16 ("One Small Step"), Jac is reunited with Connie by Guy for an endarterectomy procedure, pushing Jac into accepting Guy's offer of taking over Elliot's work.

After the departure of Jonny, Jac also takes extended maternity leave and ends her brief fling with hospital CEO, Guy Self. In the time that she is gone, Henrik Hanssen is reappointed CEO following the decision of Guy to step down in order to maintain his surgical timetable, and the creation of his "Neuro Centre". Jac briefly returns to aid Elliot, Oliver and Zosia in the treatment of previous hospital nurse/junior doctor Freida Petrenko. She eventually gives Elliot the advice to follow his heart with his old flame Brigitte Nye in order to help those with tuberculosis in Pakistan.

Jac makes her full-term return as Cardiothoracic Consultant, as well as Clinical Lead, and is hellbent on getting rid of the 'deadwood' on Darwin. She arrives to find that Guy Self has taken part of Darwin for his neurosurgery patients, to her dismay. She also questions Zosia's dedication to Cardiothoracics (having been indecisive about specialisms in the past). Zosia proves herself to Jac in theatre and Jac becomes satisfied with her team.

Agency nurse, Fran Reynolds is transferred to Darwin, having had a history in Cardiothoracics. They clash over patient Seymour Orson, a man with Asperger's syndrome refusing urgent surgery. Jac is reported for negligence by Fran to Hanssen, and compiles a file of her mortality rates in theatre. This file is shown to a patient's relative who is supposed to undergo a revolutionary and untested procedure performed by Jac. When Jac is informed of the file, and performs the surgery successfully (although facing complications in theatre, which are observed by Hanssen), she confronts Fran. Jac is slapped by Fran in front of Hanssen, leading to her immediate suspension. It is later revealed that Fran and Jac had a past at St. Bartholomew's Foster Home, where a man named 'Yates' sexually assaulted the young girls. It is revealed by Fran (on a rooftop) that she was in fact assaulted by Yates, and Jac saw him do it. Jac apologises for what she did back then and promises to never turn away again, like she did before; however, security scare Fran who is hallucinating, and she falls off the roof. Jac, Guy and Hanssen all operate on her and Fran makes a speedy recovery.

Jac later begins to notice the tension between Oliver and Zosia, and worries about how their personal feelings for each other may affect their work. She offers Zosia a fake internship in Edinburgh with immediate effect for a year, forcing Oliver to tell Zosia how he truly feels. Jac eventually walks in on them both kissing in the locker room, and is proud that her plan had succeeded. Hanssen later becomes concerned when Guy threatens his position as CEO. He asks Jac to recreate Elliot's invention of a malleable stent in order to take away funding from Guy's Neuro Centre plans. When the consultants of each ward are asked to vote between Hanssen and Guy, Jac (along with Ric Griffin and Serena Campbell) votes in favour of Hannsen.

During the press conference regarding Jac's stent (named the Digby Stent after Arthur Digby), it is discovered that someone on Darwin had leaked details of its technology, and it has already been used in Berlin, and has failed a number of times. Jac is livid, presuming Zosia was the leak, but later finds out it was Guy in a bid for her to not receive funding.

When new consultant, Matteo Rossini arrives, he develops an instant attraction to Jac. However, it is discovered that he is the one that plagiarised Jac's research, and made her stent with Guy's leaked knowledge.

When Jonny's brother Alastair arrives for a life-saving procedure, Jac collapses due to an ovarian cyst, and has urgent surgery from Mr T. Matteo performs the operation successfully, and he and Jac share a kiss in her office.

Development

According to the official Holby City website, Jac is "strong-minded" and forthright. Professionally, she is a highly ambitious "political player", determined to become a consultant and attain recognition for her surgical skills. She is willing to hurt others to achieve her goals, and has a "professional façade", developed as a result of pursuing a career in a male-dominated field. Jac demonstrates a willingness to flout rules and endanger patients to advance her own career. She develops rivalries with fellow registrar Diane Lloyd (Patricia Potter), and ward sister Faye Morton (Patsy Kensit).

Outside of work, Jac is "charming and hugely sociable". Placed in foster care by her mother aged twelve, she finds it difficult to form relationships due to an inability to commit and "let herself go". Though Jac rarely falls in love, she is not averse to using sexual manipulation to achieve her goals, and has had romances with several of her colleagues; consultant Nick Jordan (Michael French), who she let "too close and was burned", registrar Joseph Byrne (Luke Roberts) and Joseph's father Lord Byrne (Ronald Pickup), and foundation doctor Oliver Valentine (James Anderson). Noting this trait, television critic Jim Shelley described Jac as a "man-eating android". Her most recent relationship being with Nurse Jonny Maconie.

Prior to her casting, Marcel had appeared in Holby City in an unrelated role, as a drug addict named Elinor. As Jac, she was introduced to the series alongside Roberts, as Jac's love interest Joseph, and Tom Chambers, as cardiothoracic registrar Sam Strachan. In two series twelve episodes, Cydney Dubavin-Hands played a teenage Jac in flashback scenes.

Reception

Marcel has been nominated for several awards for her portrayal of Jac. She received consecutive "Best Actress" longlist nominations at the 2009 and 2010 TV Choice Awards, and later in 2010, was longlisted for the "Best Drama Performance" accolade at the National Television Awards, alongside her co-star Roberts.

David O'Neill of the Hemel Hempstead Gazette branded her a "catty heart surgeon".

References

Jac Naylor Wikipedia