Valerie Pitman
| Valerie Pitman | |||
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| Doctors character | |||
| Portrayed by | Sarah Moyle | ||
| Duration | 2012– | ||
| First appearance | "Home Free" 15 October 2012 |
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| Introduced by | Peter Eryl Lloyd | ||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||
| Profile | |||
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| Home | Letherbridge | ||
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| Other relatives | Trudy Benedict Ellie Benedict |
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Valerie Pitman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, played by Sarah Moyle. Valerie is introduced as a temporary receptionist at the Mill, and made her first appearance on 15 October 2012. It was first announced that Moyle was to play a new recurring character on her official credits in 2012. She departed on 3 December 2012 but made a return in November 2013 and departed again on 24 February 2014. She returned again in November 2014 and departing in late February 2015. She returned on 27 October 2015 as temporary receptionist in the wake of Howard's death as Mrs Tembe (Lorna Laidlaw) took over his job. Moyle was promoted to the regular cast in spring 2016, and features in the opening titles with Ruhma Hanif (Bharti Patel).
Valerie's storylines in the show have included a life-threatening battle against a type of cancer called Hodgkin's lymphoma, marrying Barry Biglow, fighting against Mrs. Tembe's new ideas for The Mill and also attempting to sue Al Haskey for malpractice.
Valerie first appears when Howard Bellamy (Ian Kelsey) phones her, needing her to be a temporary receptionist at the Mill, whilst Mrs Tembe and Karen Hollins (Jan Pearson) are on holiday. She agrees to this, and starts work four days later, offending both Mrs Tembe and Karen before they leave. Valerie finds her distant relatives by Mill medical records; Trudy (Judy Flynn) and Ellie Benedict (Eleanor Wyld). Valerie meets them, wanting them to be part of her life. However, after meeting them she reliazes that they do not want to have a real relationship with her. Valerie returns in October 2015 and gets interested in Cooks Heaven and holds a party at Karen's house, inviting Mrs Tembe, Ruhma, Emma Reid (Dido Miles), Niamh Donoghue (Jessica Regan) and Ayesha Lee (Laura Rollins) but it is a disaster, Karen burns herself and she accidentally cuts Mrs Tembe. A few episodes later, she announces her and Ashley's relationship may be over and he later storms into the surgery and starts shouting at Valerie, Mrs Tembe later came out of the office and shouted at Ashley to leave. Mrs Tembe then became increasingly concerned about Valerie as she started feeling down and had Al test her. Al diagnosed her but Valerie still thought something was wrong as she had swollen throat glands. She later sees a doctor, who refers her to someone else, leaving Valerie worried. Valerie has a biopsy done at the hospital and gets her results back, revealing that she has Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Valerie is left devastated but keeps her diagnosis a secret, with Mrs Tembe and Karen being suspicious. At a photoshoot, Valerie dresses as Marilyn Monroe but after Mrs Tembe informs her of the fact that she won't be working at the Mill for longer, she later breaks down telling everyone she has cancer and shuts herself in the toilets, crying. Daniel is left angry at Al for not noticing what was wrong with Valerie in the first place. Mrs Tembe, Karen and the rest of the surgery support Valerie through her battle. Valerie later decides to sue Al Haskey (Ian Midlane) for malpractice, but the new practice manager Anthony Harker (Adam Astill) persuades her otherwise. During her cancer battle, she grows close to Ayesha Lee (Laura Rollins). Also, Valerie grows close to police officer Barry Biglow (David Perks) and she agrees to marry him, thinking that she has not got much time to live. On their wedding day, after finding out that she is in remission, Valerie jilts Barry at the altar, leaving him heartbroken. She later helps out immensely with Mrs Tembe's Fayre. Mrs Tembe fires Valerie due to financial costs. She later starts working for a recruitment agency; however, she is left unemployed after exposing their dodgy dealings, leading to the company's downfall. Valerie is later rehired by the Mill. Her other storylines include her rebellion against Mrs Tembe's imposed sugar ban and deathboard.
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