In the first few moments of the pilot, Hope-Zion Hospital’s Dr. Charlie Harris joins the ranks of on-screen ghosts that include Casper the Friendly Ghost, Beetlejuice and Patrick Swayze and his pottery-making dreaminess.

Charlie isn’t channeling Whoopi Goldberg but he is able to communicate with the dead and dying patients at Hope-Zion.

“He’s both integral and peripheral,” says actor Michael Shanks who plays the comatose doctor who roams the halls of Hope-Zion hospital. “He’s not the central character, per se, but his story is the spine of the show.”

“He’s not the preachy sort of ghost, but he’s definitely a spiritual energy – he’s a slightly cynical sage,” muses actor Daniel Gillies who plays “Saving Hope’s” cocky orthopedic surgeon. “There’s a sardonic quality of humour that he tosses about.”

Kristopher Turner, who plays psychiatry resident Gavin, loves that Charlie’s ghost character represents the sometimes difficult shift when doctors become patients. “I love that they’re letting the audience discover the hospital through the eyes of this spirit, who was a doctor,” he says.

“We’re doing something really unique, we’re taking the path less travelled,” reflects Shanks. “It’s really fun.”