CASUALTY star Cathy Shipton has described her return to the show like long-running science fiction series Doctor Who.

The 59-year-old actress, who played nurse Duffy between 1986 and 2003, likened filming on the landmark special to “being a Time Lord”.

As Doctor Who fans will know, previous anniversary episodes have seen a number of previous incarnations coming together for a special adventure.

Most recently, the Doctor Who 50th anniversary episode saw David Tennant and Matt Smith ‘s Time Lords teaming up, while the fourth Doctor Tom Baker had a cameo as the mercurial and mysterious Curator.

Casualty’s 30th anniversary instalment, entitled Too Old For This Shift, will see Cathy reunited with veterans Ian Bleasedale, who played paramedic Josh, and mainstay Derek Thompson as Charlie Fairhead.

Speaking at a special screening of the 30th anniversary episode tonight in Cardiff, Cathy said: “Look at us: the three amigos. It’s funny, we were down the road from the Doctor Who experience and we were like Time Lords walking through the episode.

She continued: “For us, it was just like a day at work as usual because we know each other and we’ve kept in touch. The thing that had the most impact was people’s faces when they saw the characters and what it meant in their viewing of Casualty over all the years.”

Not only did her alter ego make an appearance in the 1000th episode but she is going to be an important part in Too Old For This Shift and some episodes following on from it.

The episode follows on directly from the aftermath of the series finale, which saw ED head Connie (Amanda Mealing) and her daughter Grace (Emily Carey) plunge of the edge of a cliff following a tense car chase.

Viewers were left screaming at their televisions after the episode was recently broadcast and left fans on the tense cliff-hanger.

Along with Duffy making a comeback, Casualty diehards will be in for a treat with other familiar faces set to be making an appearance.

Too Old For This Shift will centre around lead character Charlie Fairhead and will celebrate his 30 years service to the NHS, however there will be plenty of tense medical drama to keep audiences gripped.

Derek, 68, who was also at the event expressed his fears about the future of the NHS, lambasting politicians over the past three decades for failing to deliver on pledges they had made and branding it “bulls***”.

He was he “always” had concerns about the future of the British health service.

“There are so many promises that are made, that are made just to be eye-catchy and to fill out an election tome,” Derek explained.

He added: “They make promises that are vague or give promises that are with great clarity and great intentions behind them, but they always know that there’s a trapdoor that that can fall down.”

The Casualty 30th anniversary special will air on BBC One on August 27.