Casualty@Holby City
Encyclopedia
Casualty@Holby City is the name given to special crossover episodes of BBC
medical drama
s Casualty
and Holby City
. While Casualty was launched on 6 September 1986, and its spin-off
Holby City was first aired on 12 January 1999, the first full crossover episode between the two programmes was not broadcast until 24 December 2004. As of 27 December 2005, four crossover specials have been aired, comprising nine episodes total. Although further crossovers of storylines and characters have since occurred, they have not been broadcast under the Casualty@Holby City title.
Mervyn Watson, and Holby City Tony McHale
. The writer and producer for the first, two-part crossover were selected from the Holby City crew. Logistical difficulties arose from the fact the two series are usually produced 120 miles apart, with Casualty based in Bristol
and Holby City in Elstree
. Both series are usually in continuous production 52 weeks a year, so in order to produce the first crossover, work on both shows has to be halted for two weeks to release a number of cast members to appear in the special. Once regular production began again, the availability of cast members set to appear in the crossover was limited, and both series had to rely for the most part on the remaining characters who were not in the special. Filming took six weeks to complete, and occurred for the most part at Casualty emergency department
in Bristol. Additional filming took place at the Holby City set in Elstree, as well as the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children
, a Barratts office block in Brentford
and an ex-MOD
tank testing site in Chobham
. A theme tune was devised, consisting of both the Casualty and Holby City theme tunes played over one another in sync. Terry Ramsey of the Evening Standard
described it as "shambolic", opining: "it sounds like it was produced with The Big Boy's Box of Sound Mixing software by a seven-year-old on Christmas Day while playing his PlayStation
with the other hand."
A second crossover was commissioned in 2005 as part of the BBC's DoNation season. In August 2005, the station ran a week-long campaign to raise public awareness of organ donation
, aiming to help viewers make an informed decision about whether to sign up to the Organ Donation Register. An interactive episode of Casualty@Holby City was one of the headlining shows of the season, allowing viewers to vote by phone to determine the outcome of a fictional organ donation. The episode was part documentary, and a segment presented by Robert Winston
both detailed the guidelines for matching organ donors with recipients, and dispelled common myths about organ donation. Viewers were then invited to vote for one of two characters to receive a heart transplant. 98,800 viewers voted, with a 65 percent majority favouring that the organ be received by Lucy, a young cystic fibrosis
patient, over Tony, a widow twenty years her senior. Two different endings were filmed, to account for both possible outcomes of the public vote. The alternative ending was made available on the Casualty@Holby City DoNation Interactive website.
The third Casualty@Holby City crossover was aired in October 2005, two months after the interactive special. The four-part storyline tackled the issue of youth violence, following the events of a turbulent A&E demonstration at an inner-city school. The crossover was broadcast in the same week that the BBC launched a new adaptation of Charles Dickens
' Bleak House
starring Gillian Anderson
and Charles Dance
, and Phil
and Grant Mitchell
returned to the station's soap opera
EastEnders
. BBC1 controller Peter Fincham
explained: "We have got three very different dramas playing this week that emphasise the breadth and depth of what we have to offer. Changing the scheduling of established favourites and the format for presenting period drama is exactly what I want BBC1 to be doing, challenging our audiences with top quality programming."
Based on the success of the 2004 Casualty@Holby City Christmas special, another crossover was ordered for Christmas 2005. Rather than dividing the episodes between the two series' crews as had previously been standard, this crossover operated as an entirely separate production, with Diana Kyle producing and Paul Harrison directing. A large proportion of the crossover was filmed in a road tunnel in Caernarfon
, Wales
. Watson commented: "It was the only one that we could hire for two weeks without causing huge traffic jams. The whole shoot was five weeks long. Staging stunts like car accidents is difficult and stressful at the best of times, but doing all that in a tunnel doubled it. The great advantage was that there was no problem with the weather, it was a totally controlled environment with excellent parking facilities for the unit, and a warm welcome from the locals, which is always nice."
consultant
Harry Harper (Simon MacCorkindale
), consultant paediatrician Jim Brodie (Maxwell Caulfield
), Clinical Nurse Manager Tess Bateman (Suzanne Packer
), paramedic
s Luke Warren (Matthew Wait) and Josh Griffiths
(Ian Bleasdale
) and receptionist Bex Reynolds (Sarah Manners
). Holby City characters who appear are cardiothoracic
consultant Connie Beauchamp
(Amanda Mealing
), general surgical
consultant Ric Griffin
(Hugh Quarshie
), midwife Rosie Sattar (Kim Vithana
), obstetrics
registrar
Mubbs Hussein (Ian Aspinall
), staff nurse Donna Jackson
(Jaye Jacobs
), and cardiac consultant Alistair Taylor (Dominic Jephcott
).
The interactive episode again stars MacCorkindale, Bleasdale, Packer and Wait. Additional Casualty characters who appear are paramedic Comfort Jones (Martina Laird), senior staff nurse Abs Denham (James Redmond), Emergency Medical Technician
Nina Farr (Rebekah Gibbs) and specialist registrar
Maggie Coldwell (Susan Cookson
). Holby City critical care consultant Lola Griffin (Sharon D. Clarke) and matron Lisa Fox (Luisa Bradshaw-White
) also star.
The four-part October 2005 crossover again stars MacCorkindale, Bleasdale, Packer, Wait, Laird, Redmond, Gibbs, Mealing and Quarshie. It also features Casualty paramedic Paul "Woody" Joyner (Will Thorp
), staff nurse Kelsey Phillips (Janine Mellor
), senior staff nurse Bruno Jenkins (Mark Bonnar
), neurology
associate specialist
Selena Donovan (Elizabeth Carling
) and SHO
Guppy Sandhu (Elyes Gabel
). Holby City characters who appear are registrar Diane Lloyd (Patricia Potter
), matron Chrissie Williams
(Tina Hobley
), consultant obstetrician
Owen Davis (Mark Moraghan
), medical student Matt Parker (Adam Best
), staff nurse Tricia Williams (Sharon Maughan
) and cardiothoracic consultant Ed Loftwood (Graeme Garden
).
"Deny Thy Father", the two-part December 2005 crossover, stars Casualty MacCorkindale, Bleasdale, Packer, Wait, Cookson, Thorp, Mellor and Carling, as well as Clinical Nurse Specialist
Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson) and receptionist Sam Bateman (Luke Bailey
). Mealing, Quarshie, Jacobs and Clarke of the Holby City cast also star, along with general surgical registrar Nick Jordan (Michael French) and midwife Mickie Hendrie (Kelly Adams
). Thorp's character was killed off during the second episode. The actor praised the crossover, commenting: "Filming it was like filming a feature film. Massive stunts and good storylines. There was a really good buzz on set all the time... As an actor, you couldn't wish for a better exit. It was absolutely brilliant."
The crossover episodes include numerous guest stars, typically as patients and their friends and relatives. In the December 2004 crossover, John McArdle
and Kerry Peers
play husband and wife Frank and Sarah Morgan, whose daughter Danielle (Zoe Morgan) receives a heart transplant. René Zagger
appears as Bob Smith, a tanker driver who crashes into the hospital, and Nicola Stapleton
plays his wife Shirley. Freema Agyeman
plays Kate Hindley, a patient trapped under rubble following the collision, and Keith-Lee Castle
appears as isolation ward
doctor Phil. Annette Badland
and Hywel Bennett
guest-star in "Something We Can Do" as Wendy and David Winters, whose son Matt (David Alderman) dies following a car accident. Emily Hamilton
acts as his wife Sarah. Steven Pinder
plays Tony Harvey, a potential recipient of Matt's donated heart, and Nina Wadia
appears as his girlfriend Jean. Yvonne O'Grady plays Carol Beddows, whose daughter Lucy (Sarah Bedi) is also a potential recipient. The interactive segment of the episode is presented by Robert Winston
.
In the four-part Halloween crossover, James Gaddas
guest-stars as Carl O'Leary, the headmaster of a failing school. James Pearson
plays Adrian Lucas, a pupil who puts acid in the water used in apple bobbing. Jason Maza
appears as Kris Burrows, whose girlfriend Emma Blakely (Kate Scott) is burned by the acid, and Red Madrell
plays Shania Campbell, Emma's best friend who is also burned. Ade Sapara
appears as Edgar Muzenda, a poet and political refugee involved in a car accident, and Nikki Amuka-Bird
plays his pregnant wife Moji. Louis Mahoney
appears as their friend Raymond Opoku. The December 2005 crossover features Iain Fletcher
as fire officer Iain Bain, Julia Hills
as Woody's mother Caroline Joyner, Fiona Glascott
as Tara Doyle, a girl trapped when a tunnel collapses, and Gary Whelan
as Tara's father Bernie.
, while Terry Ramsey of the Evening Standard
selected the first episode as a televisual "Pick of the Day". The inaugural crossover was named one of the "Best TV shows for Christmas & New Year" in The Mirror, receiving generally favourable reviews by Mirror writers Jane Simon and Jim Shelley
—despite the former lambasting the realism of the plot: "The building collapses, there's a little girl upstairs about to have a heart transplant, the tanker's leaking fuel and there's a velociraptor
loose in radiology
. Sorry, I made that last one up."—and the latter commenting that "Casualty@Holby City was deeply weird, like watching Casualty on acid." Similarly, Daniel Davies of The Western Mail also selected the episodes as dramatic highlights of the Christmas season, despite going on to discuss the aptness of the BBC's press release describing the two episodes as "thrown together."
Other reviews were more openly negative, with Charlie Brooker
of The Guardian
describing the episodes as "two virtually identical and rubbish shitcasts for the price of one." Frances Traynor of the Daily Record
commented similarly that: "It can be quite difficult to tell these medical drama twins apart. After all, they're both rubbish", while the Liverpool Echo
Paddy Shennan suggested "the blood should instead be flowing in the BBC boardroom" for commissioning the crossover. Thomas Sutcliffe of The Independent
called the crossover "the funniest programme on television", with a "sublimely cloth-eared script", describing it as: "A masterpiece of sustained comic timing [which] had this casual viewer of the dramas that spawned it scrabbling wildly for an explanatory hypothesis."
The interactive episode was deemed "a horrible mess" by Shelley, while Garry Bushell of The People
kept his criticism brief, limiting his review to: "Casualty@Holby City? Takings up@pub." Paul Hoggart of The Times
was dubious about the episode's purported "interactive" element, given the limited choices involved. He commented: "The twin hospital dramas have never been afraid of didactic storylines, but this example, constructed to illustrate the ethical dilemmas of those involved, is about as didactic as it gets. Let's hope this benevolent propaganda works." The Sun, however, selected the episode as a televisual "Pick of the Day", while the Daily Mail
reported that John Evans, chairman of the British Organ Donor Society, had received the episode positively.
The four crossover episodes which broadcast in November 2005 were generally well received by the press. The opening episode was a recommended "TV Choice" of The Daily Telegraph
Chris Riley, a "Pick of the Day" of The Mirror Simon, and a "Pick of the Night" of the Evening Standard Ramsey. The crossover was also a "Drama Choice" of Sarah Moolla of The People, who commented that: "There's something weirdly thrilling when these two medical shows collide."
The Christmas 2005 episodes were less favourable received, described by David Chater of The Times as: "Intentionally or not [...] one of the comic highlights of Christmas." Paul English of the Daily Record
deemed the crossover: "Two turkeys for the price of one", while Terry Ramsey of The Evening Standard wrote that: "even by Casualty and Holby City standards, this one is boringly formulaic. A monotoned, badly paced, cornily written, unexciting (despite its most desperate efforts), predictable, high-pitch squeal of a drama. For die-hard fans only." The Daily Post
were more positive, stating that the episodes "will have Casualty and Holby City fans glued to their TV sets over the festive period."
programme of the day. The second episode was watched by 8.82 million viewers, making it the second highest rated terrestrial programme of the day. The interactive donation episode, "Something We Can Do", attained 7.32 million viewers, again making it the second most watched terrestrial
programme of the day, and also the BBC's second best rated programme of the week, behind only EastEnders
.
The October 2005 episodes received the lowest ratings of any Casualty@Holby City crossover to date. On its opening night, the show was watched by 5.56 million viewers, in contrast to the ITV
soap opera Emmerdale
, which were shown in the same timeslot and attained 9.1 million viewers. The remainder of the Halloween crossover received similarly low ratings, with the second episode watched by 5.96 million viewers, the third instalment by 4.57 million viewers, and the concluding episode by 5.64 million viewers. The fourth Casualty@Holby City crossover saw a ratings revival, with the third episode watched by 8 million viewers, making it the third most watched terrestrial programme of the day, and the second episode watched by 8.82 million viewers, becoming the second most watched terrestrial programme of the day.
(Paul Bradley
) after suffering a heart attack were broadcast as regular Casualty and Holby City episodes, rather than under the Casualty@Holby City title.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...
s Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
and Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
. While Casualty was launched on 6 September 1986, and its spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
Holby City was first aired on 12 January 1999, the first full crossover episode between the two programmes was not broadcast until 24 December 2004. As of 27 December 2005, four crossover specials have been aired, comprising nine episodes total. Although further crossovers of storylines and characters have since occurred, they have not been broadcast under the Casualty@Holby City title.
Production
The suggestion to produce the first Casualty and Holby City crossover originated from a member of the BBC comedy department. The station's Controller of Drama approved of the idea and had the crossover commissioned, spearheaded by Casualty executive producerExecutive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
Mervyn Watson, and Holby City Tony McHale
Tony McHale
Tony McHale is a British actor, writer and director who has the dubious honour of being best known as a "stooge" to Jeremy Beadle on Game For A Laugh and later, Beadle's About. He trained at Rose Bruford College. He also enjoyed a long stint as a writer/director on the top rated BBC1 soap opera...
. The writer and producer for the first, two-part crossover were selected from the Holby City crew. Logistical difficulties arose from the fact the two series are usually produced 120 miles apart, with Casualty based in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and Holby City in Elstree
Elstree
Elstree is a village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire on the A5 road, about 10 miles north of London. In 2001, its population was 4,765, and forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree....
. Both series are usually in continuous production 52 weeks a year, so in order to produce the first crossover, work on both shows has to be halted for two weeks to release a number of cast members to appear in the special. Once regular production began again, the availability of cast members set to appear in the crossover was limited, and both series had to rely for the most part on the remaining characters who were not in the special. Filming took six weeks to complete, and occurred for the most part at Casualty emergency department
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
in Bristol. Additional filming took place at the Holby City set in Elstree, as well as the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children
Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children in London, England was formed from the 1942 merger of the Queen's Hospital for Children in Bethnal Green and the Princess Elizabeth of York Hospital for Children, Shadwell. The Shadwell site was closed in 1963. In 1996 the hospital became part of The Royal...
, a Barratts office block in Brentford
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Brent, west-southwest of Charing Cross. Its former ceremonial county was Middlesex.-Toponymy:...
and an ex-MOD
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
tank testing site in Chobham
Chobham, Surrey
Chobham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, about 15 minutes drive from the London railway line stations at Woking to the south and Sunningdale to the north...
. A theme tune was devised, consisting of both the Casualty and Holby City theme tunes played over one another in sync. Terry Ramsey of the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
described it as "shambolic", opining: "it sounds like it was produced with The Big Boy's Box of Sound Mixing software by a seven-year-old on Christmas Day while playing his PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
with the other hand."
A second crossover was commissioned in 2005 as part of the BBC's DoNation season. In August 2005, the station ran a week-long campaign to raise public awareness of organ donation
Organ donation
Organ donation is the donation of biological tissue or an organ of the human body, from a living or dead person to a living recipient in need of a transplantation. Transplantable organs and tissues are removed in a surgical procedure following a determination, based on the donor's medical and...
, aiming to help viewers make an informed decision about whether to sign up to the Organ Donation Register. An interactive episode of Casualty@Holby City was one of the headlining shows of the season, allowing viewers to vote by phone to determine the outcome of a fictional organ donation. The episode was part documentary, and a segment presented by Robert Winston
Robert Winston
Robert Maurice Lipson Winston, Baron Winston is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and politician.-Early life and education :...
both detailed the guidelines for matching organ donors with recipients, and dispelled common myths about organ donation. Viewers were then invited to vote for one of two characters to receive a heart transplant. 98,800 viewers voted, with a 65 percent majority favouring that the organ be received by Lucy, a young cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
patient, over Tony, a widow twenty years her senior. Two different endings were filmed, to account for both possible outcomes of the public vote. The alternative ending was made available on the Casualty@Holby City DoNation Interactive website.
The third Casualty@Holby City crossover was aired in October 2005, two months after the interactive special. The four-part storyline tackled the issue of youth violence, following the events of a turbulent A&E demonstration at an inner-city school. The crossover was broadcast in the same week that the BBC launched a new adaptation of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' Bleak House
Bleak House
Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in twenty monthly installments between March 1852 and September 1853. It is held to be one of Dickens's finest novels, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon...
starring Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
and Charles Dance
Charles Dance
Walter Charles Dance, OBE is an English actor, screenwriter and director. Dance typically plays assertive bureaucrats or villains. His most famous roles are Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown , Dr Clemens, the doctor of penitentiary Fury 161, who becomes Ellen Ripley's confidante in Alien 3 ,...
, and Phil
Phil Mitchell
Philip James "Phil" Mitchell is a long-running fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Steve McFadden.Phil first arrived in Albert Square on 20 February 1990, and was soon joined by his brother, Grant, sister Sam and mother Peggy...
and Grant Mitchell
Grant Mitchell (EastEnders)
Grant Anthony Mitchell is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by Ross Kemp. Grant first appeared in 1990, introduced by producer Michael Ferguson to revamp the show. Kemp remained until 1999 when he opted to leave...
returned to the station's soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. BBC1 controller Peter Fincham
Peter Fincham
Peter Fincham is a British television producer and executive, currently the Director of Television for the ITV network. He was also formerly the Controller of BBC One, the primary television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation, until his resignation on 5 October 2007, following...
explained: "We have got three very different dramas playing this week that emphasise the breadth and depth of what we have to offer. Changing the scheduling of established favourites and the format for presenting period drama is exactly what I want BBC1 to be doing, challenging our audiences with top quality programming."
Based on the success of the 2004 Casualty@Holby City Christmas special, another crossover was ordered for Christmas 2005. Rather than dividing the episodes between the two series' crews as had previously been standard, this crossover operated as an entirely separate production, with Diana Kyle producing and Paul Harrison directing. A large proportion of the crossover was filmed in a road tunnel in Caernarfon
Caernarfon
Caernarfon is a Royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the northeast, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and southeast...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Watson commented: "It was the only one that we could hire for two weeks without causing huge traffic jams. The whole shoot was five weeks long. Staging stunts like car accidents is difficult and stressful at the best of times, but doing all that in a tunnel doubled it. The great advantage was that there was no problem with the weather, it was a totally controlled environment with excellent parking facilities for the unit, and a warm welcome from the locals, which is always nice."
Main characters
Casualty@Holby City focuses on the medical staff at Holby General, with main roles filled by regular Casualty and Holby City cast members. The first crossover, broadcast in December 2004, features Casualty emergency medicineEmergency medicine
Emergency medicine is a medical specialty in which physicians care for patients with acute illnesses or injuries which require immediate medical attention. While not usually providing long-term or continuing care, emergency medicine physicians diagnose a variety of illnesses and undertake acute...
consultant
Consultant (medicine)
In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, and parts of the Commonwealth, consultant is the title of a senior doctor who has completed all of his or her specialist training and been placed on the specialist register in their chosen specialty...
Harry Harper (Simon MacCorkindale
Simon MacCorkindale
Simon Charles Pendered MacCorkindale was a British actor, film director, writer and producer. MacCorkindale spent much of his childhood moving around due to his father's commission with the Royal Air Force. Poor eyesight prevented him from following a similar career in the RAF, so he instead...
), consultant paediatrician Jim Brodie (Maxwell Caulfield
Maxwell Caulfield
Maxwell Caulfield is a British film, stage, and television actor who is based in the United States, known for his roles as Michael Carrington in Grease 2 and as Miles Colby in The Colbys and its parent show Dynasty . He has more than 70 film, stage and television credits. He starred in Ronald F...
), Clinical Nurse Manager Tess Bateman (Suzanne Packer
Suzanne Packer
Birth Name: Suzanne JacksonBirth Date: June 20th 1958Birth Place: Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales.Suzanne Packer is the stage name of a Welsh actress who is best known for playing the role of Tess Bateman in the long running television series, Casualty...
), paramedic
Paramedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
s Luke Warren (Matthew Wait) and Josh Griffiths
Josh Griffiths
Josh Griffiths was one of the longest-serving fictional characters in the popular BBC drama Casualty, played by Ian Bleasdale since 1989. He worked for the fictional Holby Ambulance Service.-Storylines:...
(Ian Bleasdale
Ian Bleasdale
Ian Bleasdale is a British actor and television presenter. He was born in Upholland, Lancashire and divides his time between Haworth in West Yorkshire and Bristol...
) and receptionist Bex Reynolds (Sarah Manners
Sarah Manners
Sarah Manners is an English actress best known for her work on British television. She was born in Birmingham and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.-Career:...
). Holby City characters who appear are cardiothoracic
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of diseases affecting organs inside the thorax —generally treatment of conditions of the heart and lungs .-Cardiac / Thoracic:...
consultant Connie Beauchamp
Connie Beauchamp
Constance "Connie" Beauchamp is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, portrayed by actress Amanda Mealing. She first appeared in the series six episode "In at the Deep End", broadcast on 1 June 2004, and remained in the programme until its thirteenth series, departing in the...
(Amanda Mealing
Amanda Mealing
Amanda Jane Mealing is a British actress best known for playing Connie Beauchamp in the BBC One medical drama series Holby City.-Early life:...
), general surgical
General surgery
General surgery, despite its name, is a surgical specialty that focuses on abdominal organs, e.g., intestines including esophagus, stomach, small bowel, colon, liver, pancreas, gallbladder and bile ducts, and often the thyroid gland . They also deal with diseases involving the skin, breast, soft...
consultant Ric Griffin
Ric Griffin
Kobina Eric "Ric" Griffin MBBS MD PhD FRCS FRCS is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, portrayed by actor Hugh Quarshie. The character first appeared on-screen on 9 October 2001 in episode "Rogue Males" - series 4, episode 1 of the programme...
(Hugh Quarshie
Hugh Quarshie
- Early and Personal Life :Quarshie is of mixed Ghanaian, English and Dutch ancestry and was born in Accra, Ghana, to Emma Wilhelmina and Richard Quarshie, and emigrated with his family to the United Kingdom when he was aged three...
), midwife Rosie Sattar (Kim Vithana
Kim Vithana
Kim Vithana is a British actress who played Rosie Sattar in Holby City from 2003 to 2005, Doctor Bannerjee in Coronation Street, Yvonne in Always and Everyone, and she has also been in Casualty, Cracker, Love Hurts, Dangerfield, Specials and North Square...
), obstetrics
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
registrar
Specialist registrar
A Specialist Registrar or SpR is a doctor in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland who is receiving advanced training in a specialist field of medicine in order eventually to become a consultant...
Mubbs Hussein (Ian Aspinall
Ian Aspinall
Ian Aspinall is a British actor who is well known for his role on Holby City where he played Mubbs Hussein from 2001 to 2005. He has been in City Central, The Bill, Silent Witness, Peak Practice, and Casualty. He also had a role in East is East playing eldest son Nazir Khan...
), staff nurse Donna Jackson
Donna Jackson
Donna Jackson is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, played by actress Jaye Jacobs. She appeared in the programme from its sixth series in 2004, to its thirteenth in 2011. Donna entered the series as a staff nurse, characterised as a wild-child with a chaotic personal life...
(Jaye Jacobs
Jaye Jacobs
Jaye Jacobs is a British actress.-Career:She is most famous for her role as fun loving nurse, turned Ward Sister, Donna Jackson in the BBC medical drama series Holby City from 2004 to 2011...
), and cardiac consultant Alistair Taylor (Dominic Jephcott
Dominic Jephcott
Dominic Jephcott is a RADA-trained British actor.He has played in several roles, including Sir Andrew Ffoulkes in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Mount in Good and Bad at Games, Reggie in The Jewel in the Crown, Det. Sgt. Hobson BA in The Beiderbecke Affair Dominic Jephcott (born 28 July 1957) is a...
).
The interactive episode again stars MacCorkindale, Bleasdale, Packer and Wait. Additional Casualty characters who appear are paramedic Comfort Jones (Martina Laird), senior staff nurse Abs Denham (James Redmond), Emergency Medical Technician
Emergency medical technician
Emergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...
Nina Farr (Rebekah Gibbs) and specialist registrar
Specialist registrar
A Specialist Registrar or SpR is a doctor in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland who is receiving advanced training in a specialist field of medicine in order eventually to become a consultant...
Maggie Coldwell (Susan Cookson
Susan Cookson
Susan Cookson is an English television actress. She lives in Sheffield with her husband, actor Malcolm Scates, and her two children Ruari and Dan. She also has two sisters....
). Holby City critical care consultant Lola Griffin (Sharon D. Clarke) and matron Lisa Fox (Luisa Bradshaw-White
Luisa Bradshaw-White
Luisa Bradshaw-White is an English actress, best known for her roles on Holby City and This Life.-Career:...
) also star.
The four-part October 2005 crossover again stars MacCorkindale, Bleasdale, Packer, Wait, Laird, Redmond, Gibbs, Mealing and Quarshie. It also features Casualty paramedic Paul "Woody" Joyner (Will Thorp
Will Thorp
Will Thorp is an English actor.-Early life:Living in Frome as a youngster, Thorp attended a Catholic college in near-by Trowbridge, Wiltshire. He studied at Bath College and joined Musical Youth Theatre Company at an early age. Thorp was also a member of the National Youth Theatre...
), staff nurse Kelsey Phillips (Janine Mellor
Janine Mellor
Janine Mellor is an English actress. She is best known for playing Kelsey Phillips in BBC One's BAFTA-winning drama Casualty...
), senior staff nurse Bruno Jenkins (Mark Bonnar
Mark Bonnar
Mark Bonnar is a Scottish actor who is best known is playing Bruno Jenkins in Casualty. He has also acted in afterlife, Taggart and Wire in the Blood. He has appeared in Nuclear Secrets and The Bill in 2007. In 2009, he starred in the BBC One series Paradox...
), neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
associate specialist
Associate Specialist
In the United Kingdom, an associate specialist doctor is one who is appointed to a permanent position in the middle ranks. The rank is the highest that a doctor not seeking to be made a consultant may achieve, and is usually conferred upon staff grade doctors after several years experience In the...
Selena Donovan (Elizabeth Carling
Elizabeth Carling
Elizabeth Carling is an English actress and singer best known for her performances in Boon, Goodnight Sweetheart, Barbara, and Casualty...
) and SHO
Senior house officer
A senior house officer is a junior doctor undergoing training within a certain speciality in the British National Health Service or in the Republic of Ireland. SHOs are supervised by consultants and registrars, who oversee their training and are their designated clinical supervisors...
Guppy Sandhu (Elyes Gabel
Elyes Gabel
Elyes Gabel is a British Asian actor who played Dr Gupreet "Guppy" Sandhu in the BBC medical drama, Casualty. He starred as PE teacher Rob Cleaver in BBC drama, Waterloo Road and appeared in the ITV Drama Identity...
). Holby City characters who appear are registrar Diane Lloyd (Patricia Potter
Patricia Potter
Patricia Caroline Potter is an English actress. Best known for her role as Diane Lloyd in the popular BBC medical drama Holby City, Potter has acted on stage, television, and in film. She married her partner, doctor Jim Down, in May 2007.- Personal life :Potter grew up on a farm in Kent with her...
), matron Chrissie Williams
Chrissie Williams
Christine "Chrissie" Williams a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, portrayed by actress Tina Hobley. The character first appeared on-screen on 5 June 2001 in episode "The Road Less Traveled" - series three, episode 30 of the programme. Chrissie briefly left the show in April...
(Tina Hobley
Tina Hobley
Tina Hobley is an English actress.-Early life:Very shy as a child, Hobley was sent to speech and drama classes in an attempt to counter her introversion...
), consultant obstetrician
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
Owen Davis (Mark Moraghan
Mark Moraghan
Mark Moraghan is a British actor and singer. He has appeared in many British drama series including Peak Practice and Heartbeat...
), medical student Matt Parker (Adam Best
Adam Best
Adam Best is an Northern Irish actor who trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for 3 years. He attended Donaghadee Primary School and Bangor Grammar School and gained experience with the Ulster Youth Theatre and Drama School.He is probably most famous for his role as Matt Parker on...
), staff nurse Tricia Williams (Sharon Maughan
Sharon Maughan
Sharon Maughan is a British actress.-Life and career:Maughan was born in Kirkby, Liverpool, one of five siblings in an Irish Catholic family...
) and cardiothoracic consultant Ed Loftwood (Graeme Garden
Graeme Garden
David Graeme Garden OBE is a Scottish author, actor, comedian, artist and television presenter, who first became known as a member of The Goodies.-Early life and beginnings in comedy:...
).
"Deny Thy Father", the two-part December 2005 crossover, stars Casualty MacCorkindale, Bleasdale, Packer, Wait, Cookson, Thorp, Mellor and Carling, as well as Clinical Nurse Specialist
Clinical nurse specialist
A clinical nurse specialist is an advanced practice registered nurse, with graduate preparation from a program that prepares CNSs. According to the APRN Consensus Model for Regulation "The CNS serves a unique APRN role in integrating care across the continuum and through three spheres of...
Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson) and receptionist Sam Bateman (Luke Bailey
Luke Bailey (actor)
Luke Bailey is a British actor best known for playing Sam Bateman in the long-running medical drama series Casualty, and comprehensive school pupil Marley Kelly in Waterloo Road, both on BBC One.-Television:...
). Mealing, Quarshie, Jacobs and Clarke of the Holby City cast also star, along with general surgical registrar Nick Jordan (Michael French) and midwife Mickie Hendrie (Kelly Adams
Kelly Adams
Kelly Adams is an English actress.A pupil of North Kesteven School in North Hykeham, Adams trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in Wood Green, London....
). Thorp's character was killed off during the second episode. The actor praised the crossover, commenting: "Filming it was like filming a feature film. Massive stunts and good storylines. There was a really good buzz on set all the time... As an actor, you couldn't wish for a better exit. It was absolutely brilliant."
Guest stars
John McArdle
John McArdle is an English actor. He is most notable for playing Billy Corkhill in the soap-opera Brookside, with many other smaller appearances in other soaps and dramas...
and Kerry Peers
Kerry Peers
Kerry Peers . She is a British actress who is best known for her role in The Bill where she played Suzi Croft from 1993 to 1998. She has also been in Casualty, Doctors, Holby City and Brookside. Nowadays she does mainly plays.- External links :* from Internet Movie Database....
play husband and wife Frank and Sarah Morgan, whose daughter Danielle (Zoe Morgan) receives a heart transplant. René Zagger
René Zagger
René Zagger is an English actor, probably best known for playing PC Nick Klein in The Bill from 1999 to 2004. He has also made several guest appearances in Casualty, and Wycliffe.- Background :...
appears as Bob Smith, a tanker driver who crashes into the hospital, and Nicola Stapleton
Nicola Stapleton
Nicola Kathleen Stapleton is an English actress. Stapleton began her career at an early age. She is most famous for her work on British television, in particular her roles as Mandy Salter in BBC's EastEnders and Janine Nebeski in ITV's Bad Girls.-Early life:Stapleton grew up off East Street, which...
plays his wife Shirley. Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman is a British actress who is best known for playing Martha Jones, former companion of the Tenth Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and itsspin-off series Torchwood...
plays Kate Hindley, a patient trapped under rubble following the collision, and Keith-Lee Castle
Keith-Lee Castle
Keith-Lee Castle is a British actor, particularly known for playing villains and vampires.He has guest-starred in numerous television shows, mostly British...
appears as isolation ward
Isolation ward (medicine)
In hospitals and other medical facilities, an isolation ward is a separate ward used to isolate patients suffering from infectious diseases. Several wards for individual patients are usually placed together in an isolation unit.-Design:...
doctor Phil. Annette Badland
Annette Badland
Annette Badland is an English actress best known for her work in children's television.-Biography:Her training took place at East 15 Acting School, London...
and Hywel Bennett
Hywel Bennett
Hywel Thomas Bennett is a Welsh film and television actor. Bennett is best known for his recurring title role as James Shelley in the television sitcom Shelley from 1979 to 1984 and its sequel The Return of Shelley from 1988 to 1992....
guest-star in "Something We Can Do" as Wendy and David Winters, whose son Matt (David Alderman) dies following a car accident. Emily Hamilton
Emily Hamilton
Emily Miranda Hamilton is a British actress.-Early life:Born Emily Miranda Beevers, she was a pupil at Notting Hill and Ealing High School before going on to study English at Wadham College, Oxford. Emily is married to fellow actor Tristan Gemmill.-Career:Hamilton's notable roles include:*The Bill...
acts as his wife Sarah. Steven Pinder
Steven Pinder
Steven Pinder is an actor.-Early life:Pinder was born on March 30, 1960, and comes from a small family with just one younger sister, Catherine, who is 11 years younger and works in agriculture. He grew up on Downham Avenue in Great Harwood...
plays Tony Harvey, a potential recipient of Matt's donated heart, and Nina Wadia
Nina Wadia
-Television and film:Wadia first came to prominence in BBC sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, playing characters such as Mrs "I can make it at home for nothing!" and one half of The Competitive Mothers...
appears as his girlfriend Jean. Yvonne O'Grady plays Carol Beddows, whose daughter Lucy (Sarah Bedi) is also a potential recipient. The interactive segment of the episode is presented by Robert Winston
Robert Winston
Robert Maurice Lipson Winston, Baron Winston is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and politician.-Early life and education :...
.
In the four-part Halloween crossover, James Gaddas
James Gaddas
James Gaddas is an English actor probably best known for playing Governing Governor Neil Grayling in ITV's Bad Girls between 2002 and 2006. Prior to this he played Vinnie Sorrell in Coronation Street between 1999–2000, and had a supporting role in ITV's Medics...
guest-stars as Carl O'Leary, the headmaster of a failing school. James Pearson
James Pearson (actor)
James Anthony Pearson is a British actor who lives in Glasgow. He was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.Pearson is best known for his performance as Bernard Sumner in Anton Corbijn's film Control. He also stars in the 2009 British film New Town Killers, an action thriller for which Pearson...
plays Adrian Lucas, a pupil who puts acid in the water used in apple bobbing. Jason Maza
Jason Maza
- Early life :Born and brought up in London, he played semi-professional football before turning to an acting career. At 18 Maza gained a place at Central School of Speech and Drama; however, he turned down his place in order to continue working as an actor....
appears as Kris Burrows, whose girlfriend Emma Blakely (Kate Scott) is burned by the acid, and Red Madrell
Red Madrell
Red Madrell is a British actress who is best known for her role as Alisa in the 2006 British film Kidulthood, as well as Adulthood which was released June 2008...
plays Shania Campbell, Emma's best friend who is also burned. Ade Sapara
Ade Sapara
Adé Sapara is an English actor.Thin to now, he has recited in different roles, especially in drama films.-Filmography:*Sammy and Rosie Get Laid , ;*Crusoe, ;*Riff-Raff, [1991);...
appears as Edgar Muzenda, a poet and political refugee involved in a car accident, and Nikki Amuka-Bird
Nikki Amuka-Bird
Nikki Amuka-Bird is a Nigerian born British actress of the stage and screen. Her theatrical credits include Welcome to Thebes ; Twelfth Night ; World Music ; Top Girls ; A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest and The Servant of Two Masters Nikki Amuka-Bird is a Nigerian born British actress of the...
plays his pregnant wife Moji. Louis Mahoney
Louis Mahoney
Louis Mahoney is a Gambian-born British actor.He has been seen most frequently on television in series such as: Danger Man, Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, The Troubleshooters, Menace, Special Branch, Doctor Who , Quiller, Fawlty Towers Louis Mahoney (born 8 September 1938) is a Gambian-born British...
appears as their friend Raymond Opoku. The December 2005 crossover features Iain Fletcher
Iain Fletcher
Iain Fletcher is a British television actor, best known for his role as DC Rod Skase in the ITV1 drama series The Bill. He served on the show for 9 years.Other acting credits include Family Affairs, Casualty and Doctors....
as fire officer Iain Bain, Julia Hills
Julia Hills
Julia Hills is a British actress, known for being a member of the cast of the Channel 4 late-night comedy sketch show Who Dares Wins in the 1980s. She also played the character of Rona, the man-hungry neighbour, in eight series of the BBC hit sitcom 2point4 children...
as Woody's mother Caroline Joyner, Fiona Glascott
Fiona Glascott
Fiona Glascott is an Irish actress. She was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in Film/TV for 2003's Goldfish Memory....
as Tara Doyle, a girl trapped when a tunnel collapses, and Gary Whelan
Gary Whelan
Gary Whelan is an Irish actor, known for his work on British television.Although born in Ireland, Gary relocated to London when he was ten years old.-Acting:He has portrayed several roles in the police force...
as Tara's father Bernie.
Episodes
| Episode # | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Original airdate | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|
Critical response
Casualty@Holby City episodes have received mixed reviews from critics. The 2004 Christmas crossover was named the season's "Best Christmas Drama" by The SunThe Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
, while Terry Ramsey of the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
selected the first episode as a televisual "Pick of the Day". The inaugural crossover was named one of the "Best TV shows for Christmas & New Year" in The Mirror, receiving generally favourable reviews by Mirror writers Jane Simon and Jim Shelley
Jim Shelley (TV critic)
Jim Shelley is a British television critic who writes a column for the Daily Mirror each Monday titled Shelleyvision. Prior to writing for the Daily Mirror he wrote for The Guardian and his collection of reviews "Interference: Tapehead vs. Television" was published by Atlantic Books...
—despite the former lambasting the realism of the plot: "The building collapses, there's a little girl upstairs about to have a heart transplant, the tanker's leaking fuel and there's a velociraptor
Velociraptor
Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
loose in radiology
Radiology
Radiology is a medical specialty that employs the use of imaging to both diagnose and treat disease visualized within the human body. Radiologists use an array of imaging technologies to diagnose or treat diseases...
. Sorry, I made that last one up."—and the latter commenting that "Casualty@Holby City was deeply weird, like watching Casualty on acid." Similarly, Daniel Davies of The Western Mail also selected the episodes as dramatic highlights of the Christmas season, despite going on to discuss the aptness of the BBC's press release describing the two episodes as "thrown together."
Other reviews were more openly negative, with Charlie Brooker
Charlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
describing the episodes as "two virtually identical and rubbish shitcasts for the price of one." Frances Traynor of the Daily Record
Daily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...
commented similarly that: "It can be quite difficult to tell these medical drama twins apart. After all, they're both rubbish", while the Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
The Liverpool Echo is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Saturday, and is Liverpool's evening newspaper while its sister paper, the Liverpool Daily Post, is the morning paper...
Paddy Shennan suggested "the blood should instead be flowing in the BBC boardroom" for commissioning the crossover. Thomas Sutcliffe of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
called the crossover "the funniest programme on television", with a "sublimely cloth-eared script", describing it as: "A masterpiece of sustained comic timing [which] had this casual viewer of the dramas that spawned it scrabbling wildly for an explanatory hypothesis."
The interactive episode was deemed "a horrible mess" by Shelley, while Garry Bushell of The People
The People
The People, previously known as the Sunday People, is a British tabloid Sunday-only newspaper. The paper was founded on 16 October 1881.It is published by the Trinity Mirror Group.In July 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 806,544....
kept his criticism brief, limiting his review to: "Casualty@Holby City? Takings up@pub." Paul Hoggart of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
was dubious about the episode's purported "interactive" element, given the limited choices involved. He commented: "The twin hospital dramas have never been afraid of didactic storylines, but this example, constructed to illustrate the ethical dilemmas of those involved, is about as didactic as it gets. Let's hope this benevolent propaganda works." The Sun, however, selected the episode as a televisual "Pick of the Day", while the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
reported that John Evans, chairman of the British Organ Donor Society, had received the episode positively.
The four crossover episodes which broadcast in November 2005 were generally well received by the press. The opening episode was a recommended "TV Choice" of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
Chris Riley, a "Pick of the Day" of The Mirror Simon, and a "Pick of the Night" of the Evening Standard Ramsey. The crossover was also a "Drama Choice" of Sarah Moolla of The People, who commented that: "There's something weirdly thrilling when these two medical shows collide."
The Christmas 2005 episodes were less favourable received, described by David Chater of The Times as: "Intentionally or not [...] one of the comic highlights of Christmas." Paul English of the Daily Record
Daily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...
deemed the crossover: "Two turkeys for the price of one", while Terry Ramsey of The Evening Standard wrote that: "even by Casualty and Holby City standards, this one is boringly formulaic. A monotoned, badly paced, cornily written, unexciting (despite its most desperate efforts), predictable, high-pitch squeal of a drama. For die-hard fans only." The Daily Post
Liverpool Daily Post
The Liverpool Daily Post is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Friday and is published in Merseyside, Cheshire, and North Wales editions, and is a morning paper...
were more positive, stating that the episodes "will have Casualty and Holby City fans glued to their TV sets over the festive period."
Ratings
The December 2004 Casualty@Holby City crossover received strong ratings. The first episode averaged 8.91 million viewers, making it the third most watched terrestrialTerrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
programme of the day. The second episode was watched by 8.82 million viewers, making it the second highest rated terrestrial programme of the day. The interactive donation episode, "Something We Can Do", attained 7.32 million viewers, again making it the second most watched terrestrial
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
programme of the day, and also the BBC's second best rated programme of the week, behind only EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
.
The October 2005 episodes received the lowest ratings of any Casualty@Holby City crossover to date. On its opening night, the show was watched by 5.56 million viewers, in contrast to the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
soap opera Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
, which were shown in the same timeslot and attained 9.1 million viewers. The remainder of the Halloween crossover received similarly low ratings, with the second episode watched by 5.96 million viewers, the third instalment by 4.57 million viewers, and the concluding episode by 5.64 million viewers. The fourth Casualty@Holby City crossover saw a ratings revival, with the third episode watched by 8 million viewers, making it the third most watched terrestrial programme of the day, and the second episode watched by 8.82 million viewers, becoming the second most watched terrestrial programme of the day.
Future
Asked about the potential for future crossover episodes, Watson stated in 2005: "We can't guarantee any crossovers for next year, but the audience likes them. And as long as the Controller of BBC One wants them, then we'll be happy to oblige." In November 2007, Kyle re-iterated that the separate series' 52-week filming schedules make it logistically difficult to produce crossovers, but revealed that the production teams were trying to create more opportunities for the two shows to merge. A new set of crossover episodes written by Casualty lead writer Mark Catley were planned for February 2010. In the event, however, the episodes which saw Casualty Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson) operated on by Holby City Elliot HopeElliot Hope
Elliot Hope OBE is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama television series Holby City, portrayed by actor Paul Bradley. The character first appeared on 8 November 2005 in the episode "More Equal Than Others" - series eight, episode four of the programme. Elliot was introduced as a...
(Paul Bradley
Paul Bradley (actor)
Paul Bradley is an English actor. He is best known for playing Nigel Bates in the BBC1 soap opera EastEnders from 1992 to 1998 and Elliot Hope in the BBC medical drama series Holby City since 2005....
) after suffering a heart attack were broadcast as regular Casualty and Holby City episodes, rather than under the Casualty@Holby City title.
External links
- Casualty@Holby City Christmas crossover 2004 at BBC Online
- Casualty@Holby City Interactive at BBC Online
- Casualty@Holby City Christmas crossover 2005 at BBC Online