Casualty (TV series)

For the current season, see Casualty series 38.

Casualty
Black text that reads: "Casualty", with the T stylised as an addition sign
GenreMedical drama
Created byJeremy Brock
Paul Unwin
StarringCurrent and former cast
Theme music composerKen Freeman
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series38
No. of episodes1,308 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Running time40–50 minutes
60–90 minutes (special episodes)
Production companiesBBC Bristol (1986–2011)
BBC Cymru Wales (2012–present)
BBC Studios Continuing Drama Productions
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release6 September 1986 (1986-09-06) –
present
Related
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Casualty (stylised as CASUAL+Y since 1997) is a British medical drama series that is broadcast on BBC One.[3] Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 6 September 1986, and has for most of its time on air, ran on Saturday nights. The original producer was Geraint Morris.[4] Having been broadcast weekly since 1986, Casualty is the longest-running primetime medical drama series in the world.[5][6]

Casualty originally aired as a weekly programme during the Autumn for its first six series, before expanding to 24 episodes a year by 1992. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the episode counts for each series began to expand, until by 2004 it was running for 48 weeks a year; with breaks over Christmas, and during sporting events and the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2023, for the first time since COVID-19 forced it off air until 2021, Casualty was excluded from BBC One's Autumn schedule, due to cost inflation in the production of dramas, a desire to preserve the quality of the show and a "busy schedule" for the BBC. Its slot was given to the revival of reality show Survivor.[7]

The programme is set in the fictional Holby City Hospital and focuses on the staff and patients of the hospital's Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department. The show had forged strong ties to its former sister programme Holby City, which began as a spin-off series from Casualty in 1999,[8] set in the same hospital, with the final episode being broadcast in March 2022, following its cancellation in June 2021. Another (indirect) spin-off from Casualty was police drama HolbyBlue, which ran between 2007 and 2008.

  1. ^ Patterson, Stephen (14 November 2023). "Casualty appoints new boss ahead of TV return". Metro. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  2. ^ "BBC Studios appoints Chris Clenshaw as EastEnders Executive Producer". BBC. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  3. ^ "BBC One – Casualty". BBC. Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  4. ^ Hayward, Anthony (15 July 1997). "Obituary: Geraint Morris". The Independent. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  5. ^ "'Casualty' enters Guinness World Records". Digital Spy. 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Longest-running TV medical drama". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Casualty confirms reduction in number of episodes per year". Digital Spy. 23 September 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  8. ^ Gibbs, Nicholas. Writing Television Drama: Get Your Scripts Commissioned, Teach Yourself.