Martin "Ash" Ashford is a doctor and former senior consultant in the Emergency department at Holby City Hospital. In his 30s, Ash worked as a nurse at Holby City A&E from 1990 to 1996. He left to teach at a local college after he was acquitted of physically attacking a racist patient, but returned briefly later in 1996 to marry Laura, a PR officer in the hospital. In the intervening years Ash retrained as a doctor, eventually passing his exams and becoming a consultant. Ash and Zoe have differing management styles, but they soon bond in support of each other.