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The first new episode of ER to air since the WGA strike halted production of the show hits screens in the US tonight. The seemingly endless speculation about the medical drama's future has also been ended following statements from the network and ER producers.'Owner Of A Broken Heart' is the first of six new episodes produced to conclude a slightly foreshortened Season 14 with a complete new run, to be the show's swansong, returning in September.
Best news of all for Neela fans, Parminder is one of the current main cast members confirmed to be returning for this final season!
Many names from the legendary roster of characters to have walked the corridors of County General since 1994 are expected to return in order to bring ultimate closure to various story arcs from the drama's history. The most discussed of those from our heroines point of view has been the tragically unresolved relationship between Neela and her former 'roomie', Ray Barnett.
Jennifer Godwin of E Online has been pressing ER head honcho John Wells on the subject, and 'Reela' fans take heart - his response is encouraging!:
John says Shane's character, double-amputee Dr. Ray Barnett, is absolutely a candidate to return next season! John says: "I love Shane, and we would love to have him come back for some episodes. What we're doing now is beginning the planning for the final season, which will go on the air next September. And as part of that, we'll be contacting pretty much everybody, [inviting them] to come back and do a little spin."
Unfortunately, all that is in the works for season 15, and Shane won't appear in any of the remaining six episodes of season 14. Says John: "We haven't set anybody that you don't already know about [for the remainder of this season]."
Is there any chance John remains unaware of the intense online fandom devoted to Ray's relationship with Parminder Nagra's character, Neela Rasgotra? "You know...I'm on my third or fourth email address, so that would be my way of answering that question." (Hee!).
UK Parmaniacs rejoice!
A positive to come out of the WGA strike (other than a fairer deal if you're a writer) is that for once you won't be weeks behind in catching the latest episodes of your favourite medical drama. The final pre-strike Season 14 episode (Atonement) goes out on channel 4 at 8:00pm on Saturday 12th with the next (post strike) show ('Owner of a Broken Heart') scheduled to air on Thursday 17th at 10pm on More4 (Digital) and Channel 4 (Terrestrial) at 8:00pm on Saturday 19th.
Check out Neela's ER Diary here to refresh you memory of the most recent events at County General here and some striking stills here (pun intended).
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