Episode 1094

Episode 1094 is the opening episode of the thirty-third series of the British medical drama television series Casualty, and the 1094th episode of the overall series. The episode was written by Simon Norman and directed by Steve Brett, and premiered on BBC One on 11 August 2018. The plot follows an accident which sees paramedic Iain Dean (Michael Stevenson) swerve his ambulance, containing paramedic Ruby Spark (Maddy Hill) and registrar Alicia Munroe (Chelsea Halfpenny), to avoid hitting a woman who jumped off a bridge, creating a multi-car pile up and a petrol tanker exploding. The episode was announced on 24 July 2018 via the show's Twitter account. The stunt, which heavily focuses on the show's paramedic crew, marks the beginning of the new series, which was billed as "The Year of the Paramedic". Planning for the crash took place over several months and ten different explosions were created to display the fireball explosion.

The episode features the death of regular character Sam Nicholls (Charlotte Salt), which was embargoed until transmission. After Salt told producers of her intentions to leave, they decided to embed her exit into the crash. The actress was surprised to be told that Sam would be killed off and found filming Sam's death upsetting. Filming for the episode took place between late April and early May 2018 with on-location filming taking place in Bristol and on the Road to Nowhere. A footbridge across the dual carriageway was constructed for the purpose of filming. Interior scenes of the ambulance crashing were filmed on a gimbal that was fitted to the ambulance. Episode 1094 was promoted through promotional trailers, as well as the Twitter hashtag "#Casualty3006". It was watched by 5.83 million viewers in a 28-day period, and received positive reviews from critics and fans alike: Sophie Dainty of Digital Spy dubbed the episode "one of its most dramatic episodes in a long time", while Amy Hunt of What's on TV described Sam's death scene as "heartbreakingly emotional".