Global InformationList of Casualty specials information
Casualty is a British medical drama television series that premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 6 September 1986.[1] It is the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world,[2] and the most enduring medical drama broadcast on primetime television in the world.[3] Casualty is set in the fictional Holby City Hospital and focuses on the staff and patients of the hospital's emergency department (ED).[4] The drama was created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, while Geraint Morris produced the first three series.[5] The drama has aired for 36 series and a 37th series currently airs. Over 1,000 episodes have aired in total.[6] Holby City, a spin-off of Casualty, was commissioned in 1998 and began airing on 12 January 1999.[7][8] The two shows are closely related with several crossover events occurring between them. Some crossovers broadcast between December 2004 and December 2005 are styled as episodes of Casualty@Holby City.[9] A British police procedural drama and spin-off to Casualty, HolbyBlue was announced on 27 April 2006.[10] It began on 8 May 2007 and was cancelled in August 2008 after 2 series and 20 episodes were broadcast.[11][12]
Casualty has produced 19 special episodes, including the first webisode commissioned for a BBC continuing drama.[13] Belinda Campbell, who executively produced the drama between 2007 and 2011, thought that webisodes would be a "new [way] to add value for our loyal fans", something which the team constantly look to do.[13] Casualty filmed a sketch for charity telethon Children in Need in 2009, featuring charity mascot Pudsey Bear. In 2010, cast members on the show filmed a tribute to BBC soap opera EastEnders and Blue Peter presenter Joel Defries presented a segment of the show from the Casualty set. To celebrate Casualty's thirtieth anniversary, original cast members Derek Thompson and Cathy Shipton filmed a special episode, "Back to Ours", showing moments from their careers on the show.
Webisodes have been created to explore characters in more detail: "The Parting of the Ways" focuses on Alistair (Joe McFadden); "Under Fire" details Sam Nicholls' (Charlotte Salt) backstory; and "Scars and Nightmares" explores the backstory of Iain Dean (Michael Stevenson). Other webisodes are designed to help progress storylines on the main show: "Short Story" explores Ruth Winters' (Georgia Taylor) stay at the hospital's psychiatric ward; "Mistletoe and Rum" follows the secret relationship between Tess Bateman (Suzanne Packer) and Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher (Alex Walkinshaw); "Nurse Factor" supports the introduction of four new student nurse characters; "Gone in Sixty Seconds" gives an insight into a bus crash; "Mrs Walker-To-Be" explores the night before Zoe Hanna (Sunetra Sarker) and Max Walker's (Jamie Davis) wedding; and "On Call" starts a storyline featuring Caleb Knight (Richard Winsor) being told he has a daughter. Some webisodes have been standalone and not followed in the main show: "The Kids Aren't Alright" focuses on Jeff Collier's (Matt Bardock) estrangement from his children; "The Spirit of Christmas" and "The First Noel" are Christmas specials; and "Radio Holby" sees Noel Garcia (Tony Marshall) become the hospital's radio DJ.
- ^ "CASUAL+Y". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
- ^ Love, Ryan (16 September 2010). "'Casualty' enters Guinness World Records". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 1 April 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
- ^ "Longest-running TV medical drama". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
Casualty (BBC, 1986–present) is the world's most enduring primetime medical drama series.
- ^ Pryer, Emma (25 June 2016). "Casualty celebrates 1,000 episodes, 30 years and 2,500 gallons of fake blood". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
- ^ Hayward, Anthony (15 July 1997). "Obituary: Geraint Morris". The Independent. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
- ^ "Episodes". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
- ^ "Salmon quits as head of BBC Sport". BBC News. 21 April 2005. Archived from the original on 17 February 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ Smithies, Sandy (12 January 1999). "Television Tuesday". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ^ Plunkett, John (27 April 2006). "Holby City walks the thin blue line". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ^ "Police spin-off planned for Holby". BBC News. BBC. 27 April 2006. Archived from the original on 12 May 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ^ Green, Kris (17 April 2007). "'HolbyBlue' pushed back a week". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ^ "BBC axes police drama Holby Blue". BBC News. BBC. 6 August 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
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