Where The Royal cast are now from Emmerdale to fathering love child

Yorkshire-based drama The Royal dominated Sunday evening TV for almost a decade. A spin-off from popular show Heartbeat, the medical drama focused on things happening at St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital. The show ran from 2003 to 2011 with 87 memorable episodes.

The drama was accompanied with moments of laughter to heavy, heart-wrenching scenes which captivated us and left us wanting more when the beloved show eventually ended.

Filming took place across Yorkshire at locations including Whitby (main hospital), Scarborough and Bradford. Below, we’ve taken a look at what the actors who played some of The Royal’s best-loved characters are up to these days. A lot of cast members have gone on to secure various acting gigs from soap land, Midsummer Murders, and even Shakespeare.

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Robert Daws - Dr Gordon

After The Royal, actor Robert Dawn, went onto appear as Dr Watson in The Secret of Sherlock Holmes.

He starred in TV shows such as Roger Roger and starred in Coronation Street. He has also played Dr Choake in Poldark while also having roles in Midsomer Murders, Holby City, Casualty and New Tricks.

During the year The Royal began he married his wife Amy Robbins who played his co-star Dr Jill Weatherill, and the pair have two daughters together, as well as Robert's son from his first marriage.

Linda Armstrong - Sister Brigid

Linda’s was well known for her role as Sister Brigid. After the show she has been doing the TV soap scene with parts in EastEnders, Coronation Street and Casualty.

During her time on The Royal, Linda was also starring in rival medical drama Doctors. She appeared on the medical soap for numerous appearances from 2004 to 2019. Emmerdale fans will have noticed her recurring appearance as DI Dent in the beloved ITV programme.

She has the full house of soap dramas, albeit some relatively small roles, in Casualty, Emmerdale, The Bill, EastEnders, Doctors. Linda played Sister Brigid in Heartbeat before her role was reprised in The Royal.

Denis Lill - Mr Rose

Denis has enjoyed a very varied career on the small and big screen. Before appearing in The Royal he starred in Tim Burton's Batman alongside Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton.

He also appeared in sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf and played Cassandra’s dad in iconic comedy Only Fools and Horses. He has also dabbled in radio theatre, acting as the brother in Ron Blair's play The Christian Brothers.

Wendy Craig - Matron

Wendy Craig has had quite the career in acting, and has even been award a CBE for her achievements. She also made an appearance on Emmerdale after the Royal with her playing Maisie. She’s also appeared in Death in Paradise, Waterloo Road, Marple, and Not in Front of the Children. Wendy has also starred in popular drama Unforgotten, and CBBC programme The Worst Witch.

But the drama sadly didn't leave her life after filming... The successful actress was married to scriptwriter and journalist, Jack Bentley, but he sadly died in 1994.

The pair share two sons, but it later turned out the youngest belonged to John Mortimer following a year-long affair. Bentley became aware in 1961 and agreed to father the child as his own.

Michelle Hardwick - Lizzie Hopkirk

Another one you may recognise. Michelle played hospital receptionist Lizzie Hopkirk in The Royal. After the medical drama, she has appeared in The Walking Dead and Hollyoaks while millions will know her as Vanessa Woodfield in Emmerdale.

In 2018, Hardwick shared her love life on Instagram revealing she was in a relationship with Emmerdale producer Kate Brooks.

The couple got married in 2019 in Tennesse, and Hardwick later gave birth to their first son Edward Peter (Teddy) Brooks last October. She is passionate about cancer awareness after her brother's skin cancer diagnosis and often takes part in events for Cancer Research UK.

Andy Wear - Alun Morris

Andy played Alun Morris in the Royal and his character was another who crossed over into Heartbeat.

Earlier in his career, the Lancashire-born actor appeared in Coronation Street while he added to his soap CV when he joined Emmerdale in 2011.

Andy’s character Rev Jude Watson was a village regular until 2014. Since his days on The Royal he has appeared in theatre across the globe including Brasil, New York, and Germany.

Natalie Anderson - Stella Davenport

Fans of the Royal would know Natalie as nurse Stella Davenport. After leaving the show, she ended up in the Emmerdale village playing the popular Alicia Metcalfe from 2010 until 2015, and has become a very well-known cast member.

Elsewhere, she appeared in 2010 crime drama Freight. During lockdown she has been sharing fitness tips with her Instagram followers including live workouts.

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