Characters of Casualty - Tess Bateman

Tess Bateman played by Suzanne Packer, is a Clinical Nurse Manager who first appeared on the 13th of September 2003. Since Martina Laird, who played Paramedic Comfort Jones, left the show in 2006, Tess is the longest serving female character.

Following her husband's paralysis and their subsequent separation, she struggles to come to terms with her son Sam's bi-polar condition, and is reluctant to see him gain his independence. She has a strong friendship with fellow nurse Abs Denham. After budget cuts, Tess considers taking redundancy, leaving Charlie Fairhead to run the department, but these plans are stymied when Charlie temporarily leaves the department after attacking a patient. Over the course of the show, Tess has several near-fatal encounters. In series 20, she is drugged and left for dead by Sam's unstable girlfriend, Fleur. In series 22, she is injected with a paralysis drug by Bank nurse Lewis, and in series 23, she trips in a building site, impaling herself through the abdomen on a metal pole.

In series 25, Henry tried to persuade Tess to take the blame for the death of a young boy. Angry and upset by the unfairness, she resigned from Clinical Nurse Manager and has since worked in the ED as a Staff Nurse and Ward Sister however in series 26 she regained her place as Clinical Nurse Manager from Linda Andrews and Linda then became a staff nurse.

The BBC described her as "a traditionalist dedicated well-balanced". They expand: "She may be viewed as a kill-joy and inflexible but her immaculate, business-like front masks a wicked, dry, sense of humour. She's a control freak, not to be messed with". In 2012, Inside Soap described Charlie and Tess as 'the mum and dad of Casualty'. Current producer Nikki Wilson talked about the importance of Charlie and Tess saying, "I think it's really crucial that we keep them around. Charlie has been in the show for 25 years, and he's such an iconic character. It's fantastic he's still here. His relationship with Tess is quite important - as you say, they're like the parents of the whole department - so long may it continue."