Casualty (television)

Casualty is a long-running BBC television drama serial, first broadcast in 1986 and transmitted on BBC One. It is based in and around the fictional Holby City Hospital, situated in Holby, a fictional city bearing a close resemblance to Bristol, where the show is filmed. Bristol landmarks, including the docks and the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge, are regularly glimpsed in the outdoor scenes. The exterior shots of the hospital itself were formerly filmed at the city's technical college, but are now shot on a small industrial estate, not far from the interior set of the hospital itself.

Related Topics:
BBC - Television - Drama - Serial - 1986 - BBC One - Hospital - Bristol - Clifton Suspension Bridge

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The drama is mainly concerned with a group of doctors, nurses and administrators who work in the Accident & Emergency department. At the centre of the action is Nurse Manager Charlie Fairhead (played by Derek Thompson), a dedicated and caring man frequently at odds with the demands of hospital management. This has been a recurring theme over the years, but especially in the early series, which were frequently criticised for their perceived left-wing politics.

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The programme has traditionally been transmitted on Saturday nights, although for a period in the late 1980s it switched to Fridays. Since the early 2000s, the show has switched from a traditional seasonal format to almost year-round production and transmission. During the 18th series, the run was artificially extended with Casualty being relaced in the schedule for several weeks. The 18th series had 47 episodes, but the break between the 18th & 19th series was only 1 week. A spin-off show, Holby City, shows life elsewhere in the same hospital.

Related Topics:
1980s - 2000s - Holby City

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In December 2004, a 2-part special Casualty @ Holby City was broadcast, with the two shows combining to cope with a petrol tanker crashing into the Hospital. Pretty much all of special was shot on Holby City's interior & exterior sets, as Casualty is filmed in Bristol, where as Holby City is shot at the BBC Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. A second special (with the same name, but shot in Bristol) was broadcast in August 2005 to promote organ donation; viewers were asked to choose between two patients waiting for a heart transplant.

Related Topics:
Casualty @ Holby City - Bristol - BBC Elstree Studios - Organ donation

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