79 Facts About Rita Freeman

Rita Freeman is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty, played by Chloe Howman.

Rita Freeman attended multiple auditions against other actresses for the role.

Rita Freeman is characterised as fun, feisty, blunt and excellent at her job, which means patients are at ease around her.

Joel Beckett was cast as Rita Freeman's estranged husband Mark Richie, who is a convicted child abuser.

Rita Freeman is introduced a year after Rita's arrival when she files for divorce and he is admitted to the ED.

Producers reintroduced the character on two further occasions to challenge Rita Freeman and develop her other stories.

Rita Freeman has been generally well received by critics who liked her strong and feisty personality.

Rita Freeman's introduction was then previewed in a trailer released on the official Casualty website on 3 August 2013.

Rita Freeman is introduced as a staff nurse in Holby City Hospital's emergency department.

However, Rita Freeman lacks in self confidence and does not make personal relationships with others at risk of being hurt.

Rita Freeman is a strong character and holds the opinion that "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger".

Howman explained that while Rita Freeman is direct, she is not horrible and manipulative and is still popular amongst her colleagues.

The actress thought that she shared similar personality traits to her character, explaining that Rita Freeman is "feisty and tactile with a passion for truth", a trait they share.

Rita Freeman compared the character to a Jack Russell Terrier due to her "terrier-like" status, explaining that she is resilient and courageous.

Howman told Tricia Welch of the Daily Express that Rita Freeman is a true-hearted and caring person.

In January 2015, Rita Freeman is appointed the ED's clinical nurse manager.

Rita Freeman explained that Rita does not follow the idea of "hierarchy" and prefers to work as a team rather than giving orders.

Rita Freeman has a different uniform for her new job, which Howman found exciting.

Rita Freeman liked the dark blue colour and described it as "complimentary".

Rita Freeman goes to find out what happened and learns that her neighbour Jane's hoarding has caused the collapse.

The trio later attend to a man stuck in machinery at a junkyard, who Rita Freeman connects with and chats to as they wait for the fire crew.

However, in a "heartbreaking" twist, Rita Freeman is told that the man will die when he is released.

Rita Freeman teased, "life hasn't been particularly easy for Rita".

However, Rita Freeman is actually estranged from her husband, Mark Richie, who is alive.

Mark denied the allegations and Rita Freeman believed him, defending him at his trial.

Howman explained that Rita Freeman believed Mark because she "loved him, trusted him and genuinely believed him".

Rita Freeman felt ashamed by her actions and changed jobs as she did not want anyone to find out about her past.

Rita Freeman expressed her compassion for anyone in a similar situation with the character.

Howman told Elaine Reilly of What's on TV that Rita Freeman wanted to start afresh, but Mark's arrival has disrupted that.

Rita Freeman wants to have Mark treated fast and leaving soon, so she decides to speak with him.

Howman wanted it to be clear that Rita Freeman still loves Mark, which she called "the fundamental flaw in the situation".

Howman told Sarah Ellis of Inside Soap that some of Rita Freeman's colleagues feel "hurt" by the revelation because everything that Rita Freeman had told them has become "this massive lie".

Rita Freeman told Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy that Rita would "face a really tough time and be pushed to her emotional limit".

Howman described the storyline as "a really nice journey for Rita Freeman" and said that she enjoyed exploring the character's backstory.

Rita Freeman thought that the storyline would be fascinating as the character has not been explored.

Rita Freeman was thankful that the bigger storylines were spread between cast members.

Howman said that Rita Freeman is dealing with her problems how she finds best and added that Mark's appearance has had "quite dire consequences" for Rita Freeman.

Rita Freeman later recovers from her problems and regains control of her life.

Howman told Reilly that Rita Freeman sees her new position as "a chance to prove her professionalism" following Mark's first appearance.

Mark wants to reconcile with Rita Freeman and tells her that he is a better person than he was, leaving Rita Freeman conflicted.

Howman called the situation "shady" and said that although Rita Freeman believes that Mark is not responsible, she does question whether Mark is "even darker than she thought he was".

Rita Freeman chooses to deal with the problem alone, but soon realises that she cannot.

Howman pointed out that while Rita Freeman has learned from past errors, Grace's disappearance has massive consequences.

However, Rita Freeman realises that she cannot trust Mark again and cuts ties with him.

When Fiona ends her relationship with Mark, he confronts Rita Freeman alone, leaving her "shaken".

Beckett sympathised with Rita Freeman and told a reporter from Inside Soap that Mark ends the episode as "a pathetic man who's had his comeuppance and runs out of Holby with his tail between his legs".

Rita Freeman opined that the rivalry would be "electric" and better than Connie's previous feud, suggesting that there could be a violent altercation between the characters.

The storyline begins when Connie sparks a feud with Rita Freeman following Grace's decision to leave Connie and live with her father.

Connie berates Rita Freeman, calling her "incompetent and a danger to the hospital".

Howman told Reilly that Connie completely blames Rita Freeman for losing her daughter, which has made her lose "all perspective".

Outside of her feud with Rita Freeman, Connie develops a close friendship with former surgeon Alfred Maxwell, who is dying from motor neuron disease.

Rita Freeman is later admitted to the ED and Connie does not allow anyone else to treat him.

Mealing thought that Rita Freeman sees this as her chance to "get rid of Connie".

Rita Freeman discovers a drug in Alfred's blood system and after finding out that Connie was visiting Alfred the previous night, she reports Connie to the police for euthanasia.

Hospital staff are questioned by the police as part of the investigation and Rita Freeman is pleased with Connie's absence.

Rita Freeman tells the police that the remaining drugs are in her office.

Senior nurse Charlie Fairhead soon realises that Rita Freeman has framed Connie and pressures her into letting him return the drugs to the police without incriminating her.

Howman later told the reporter that Iain is the first person that Rita Freeman has loved since Mark, which is important to her following her trauma with Mark.

Rita Freeman remains angry with Iain and he tries ending the relationship but changes his mind when he finds Rita Freeman scared and upset after discovering that someone has slashed her car tyres.

Howman enjoyed exploring the psychology of Rita Freeman and portraying the character's actions.

Rita Freeman hoped that the audience would understand that Rita's behaviour stems from her difficult marriage to Mark.

The actress opined that Rita Freeman was still "redeemable" because she is "human".

Rita Freeman develops a black eye and blames the incident on Mark, claiming that he assaulted her.

Rita Freeman's colleagues are shocked by her lies and give her a "frosty reception" when she attends work.

Rita Freeman only receives support from consultant Elle Gardner, who had experienced a similar incident recently.

Rita Freeman tries to apologise to Iain, but he rejects her and tells her to resign from her job.

Nurse Rita Freeman has been part of the team for months, yet we know little about her private life.

Radio Times critic David Brown predicted that Rita Freeman would be "the dynamic yet sensitive type" upon viewing her introduction.

Haasler thought Rita Freeman proved that "she has both a cool head in a crisis and a head for heights" in her introduction.

Reilly thought that Rita Freeman's life "hit rock bottom" when Mark arrives at the hospital, while a South Wales Echo reporter named the moment in their "3 to see" column of the day.

Brown's colleague, Alison Graham, expected that Rita Freeman would be promoted to senior staff nurse due to her empathetic nature.

Haasler reflected on the darker element to Rita Freeman following the exploration of her backstory in a review.

Rita Freeman deemed the story "a somewhat depressing storyline for a woman who was formerly as competent and assured as Rita".

Graham thought it was obvious that Rita Freeman was struggling as she appeared "hunched on her sofa drinking too much red wine and watching Countryfile" after a challenging shift.

Rita Freeman described the character as someone who "never misses a chance to try to improve the life of a hapless stranger".

Haasler enjoyed Ash's friendship with Rita Freeman and sympathised with Rita Freeman's dependence on alcohol.

Reilly noted that Rita Freeman is placed "in the doghouse with clinical lead Connie" when Grace goes missing.

Rita Freeman thought Rita appeared foolish and opined, "I'm cross about that because Rita is worth ten of Iain".

Reilly observed that Rita Freeman went to "extreme and sinister lengths" to save her relationship with Iain.