The recent special feature-length episode of Casualty, that aired on August 14, marked both the show’s 35th anniversary and the beginning of the 36th Series.
And what an incredible 35 years it has been! Thrilling, thought-provoking and often heart-breaking, the show has gained a reputation for its combination of powerful, intimate, emotional storytelling; alongside huge stunts and one-take specials, which has gained us multiple award nominations and wins and critical acclaim.
First broadcast on BBC One on 6th September 1986, Casualty has gone on to become the world’s longest running medical drama. Moving from our original Bristol base to our current home at Cardiff’s Roath Lock studios in 2011, the show goes from strength to strength.
To mark the 35 years, we’ve mined our archive to bring you our choice of Ten Memorable Episodes; ranging from Series 4 back in 1989 up to the BAFTA winning first episode of the last series, broadcast on 2nd January 2021, which focussed on the devastating effects of the Covid pandemic on the staff and patients of the Holby-set hospital. Also included in the ten episodes is the unforgettable and controversial finale to Series 7, which saw a riot reduce the hospital to a smouldering ruin and the opening episode of Series 18 (previously voted the ‘Best Ever’ for our 25th anniversary) as a double train crash causes devastation.
The BBC Writersroom have made the scripts for these ten episodes available in their online script library and have also asked all the writers involved to introduce their own episode.
Please let us know if you agree with our choice and share your own memorable episodes in the comments below.
Series 4, Episode 11 (Episode 51) ‘Banking for Beginners’ written by Bryan Elsley (original broadcast 24/11/89)
Alex is left with lots to think about when she is offered a new job in banking, but can she leave the hospital? Meanwhile Jimmy annoyed that nobody considers his opinions and tells Alex that he is considering a career in nursing.
I think Banking For Beginners was my first script for Casualty. I can confidently say that I had no earthly idea how to go about writing it. There was no Writersroom to upskill you in those days. Luckily for me, my script editors were Sally Haynes and Jane Tranter; to this day the best script people I ever worked with. I went on to write for I think 3 or 4 further series of Casualty. I’d love to say it got easier, but it never did. I always struggled with it, but now and then I got it right. Casualty is one of the most demanding technical writing gigs you can be on. But the rewards were massive, I believe my last ever episode got 18 million viewers. Not bad. Everybody on Casualty was absolutely lovely, even when Jane Tranter was on my Ansaphone saying “Pick up Bryan, we know you’re there!”, when my script was 5 days late. I used to put the script on the train at Oxenholme in the Lake District to send it to London, Red Star. That’s how you delivered before the internet. Things have changed a bit.
Congratulations to everyone at Casualty. I was and am extremely proud to have participated in some way. It showed me how to become a professional screenwriter.
Bryan Elsley
Series 7, Episode 24 (Episode 104) ‘Boiling Point’ written by Peter Bowker (original broadcast 27/2/93)
It's Rob's last day and he has a surprise patient. It looks like the end of the road for Holby City Hospital when a riot ends up in casualty.
My first episode of Casualty and the first ever thing I had on telly went out in November 1992. Under the brilliant guidance of Sally Haynes and Laura Mackie, I was then commissioned to write three further scripts, the final one of which was to be the season finale for the new extended run of 24 episodes. The area I lived in in Leeds had suffered a crime wave driven by mainly bored adolescents and after they broke in and stole my new telly while I was in the house, I wanted to write about the feelings of violence and desire for vigilante justice that their actions aroused in me - a liberal teacher who had only stopped running down the road after them when I realised I was wearing slippers . . . This became a story of how revenge just escalates violence and in my story this culminated in the burning down of the hospital. I think Pete Salt had spoken about increasing threats of violence in A & E so that fed in to the idea. But most of all, I wanted to write about what happens when people stop communicating. There are parts of the script I now cringe at - I think some of the dialogue is on the nail and I think I would like to contextualise the perpetrators a bit more. But I am on the whole proud of this. There was such a fuss in the papers that my Dad rang me after three days - this was a man who normally only used the phone after a football match or on Christmas Day, “They’re not going to sack you, are they? Only I saw that Yentob feller on Right To Reply and he didn’t seem to be sticking up for you."
Peter Bowker
Series 15, Episode 36 (Episode 320) ‘Breaking the Spell, Part Two’ written by Katharine Way (original broadcast 28/4/01)
Concluding the two-part story. Holly regains consciousness, only to find she's been kidnapped by Tom, and seizes a dangerous opportunity to escape. Patrick makes a grave error once he realises she's missing, and blames rival suitor Ed, while Colette pulls out all the stops to salvage her relationship with daughter Natalie.
Writing the final episode of any Casualty Series is a real thrill. Characters get killed off and/or written out. In this case, Holly's crazed anaesthetist stalker, Tom, made an unexpected (and, for some, lethal) reappearance. I had a blast writing this episode. The characters did not have quite such fun inhabiting it. But hey...that's drama.
Katharine Way
Series 18, Episode 1 (Episode 401) ‘End of the Line, Part One’ written by Ann Marie di Mambro (original broadcast 13/9/03)
First in a two-part story which sees emergency staff members involved in a devastating train crash. Still full of excitement following their recent engagement, Fin and Comfort escape from a compromising situation in a toilet cubicle during the derailment to find a train full of panicking commuters. Meanwhile, a passenger struggles to keep calm as the full horror of her predicament becomes clear.
Writing for Casualty and being lead writer on it are highlights of my writing career, as I've always loved that show. The End of The Line was the first time I got to write the opening episode of a series, which is very exciting as the production team really do push the boat out. When I delivered the first draft, Mal Young who was then head of drama series, decided it should be a two-parter and not a single episode. It meant a major re-write but he was right as the train crash was so ambitious and the stories it generated so impactful that it needed to breathe over two episodes. I've always loved writing for Comfort, the paramedic, who features in one of the stories. It was the producer, Steve Lightfoot's idea to see the actual crash from inside the toilet on the train where Comfort is having a sexually charged moment with her new fiancé. I am proud to have been part of the team that brought that episode to the screen.
Ann Marie Di Mambro
Series 20, Episode 44 (Episode 538) ‘Perfect Day’ written by Gaby Chiappe (original broadcast 29/7/06)
Nathan goes on the warpath after his needle-stick injury. Maggie's Hep B clinic is abused. Kelsey takes bets on Greg's sexuality. An innocent prankster becomes trapped in the boot of a stolen car.
The year I spent on Casualty was the most stable period I’d had as a writer to that time. Working to deadline is always stressful, but I remember that year as being restful - time to think and time to breathe. I loved the collaboration with the medical advisors - particularly Simon Odum and Dr Phil, fifteen years on I still remember certain conversations I had with them. Re-reading this script now I can tell was enjoying myself.
Gaby Chiappe
Series 26, Episode 8 (Episode 789) ‘Charlie’s Angels’ written by David Bowker (original broadcast 8/10/11)
Scarlett doubts her nursing abilities, and her resolve is tested during her shift. When faced with a stab victim, does she have what it takes to save their life?
If not for the loyalty of my executive producer Johnathan Young, and my brilliant script editor, Ailsa Macaulay, this Casualty episode might never have been made. Back in 2011, a couple of our BBC colleagues were of the opinion that angels had no place in a medical drama. But the angels were only ever a device to reel viewers in - the story was really about grief and how human beings need to mourn in order to heal. And although it’s lovely that the episode is still remembered, to me, the most memorable thing about Charlie’s Angels was not the writing, but Derek Thompson’s marvellous performance as Charlie.
David Bowker
Series 31, Episode 1 (Episode 1005/06) ‘Too Old for this Shift’ written by Matthew Barry and Andy Bayliss (original broadcast 27/8/16)
Feature-length episode. As Charlie celebrates his 30th anniversary, the department is thrown into chaos, and the team face their biggest challenge yet.
What an honour and a privilege to be trusted to write such an iconic moment in this great show's history. And more importantly, what an amazing team of people who turned some words on a page into something so visually spectacular. That will always be the overriding memory for me - how everyone on set and behind the scenes, put every last ounce into making it what it was. No greater satisfaction than that. Never been so proud to be part of such a thing.
Andy Bayliss & Matthew Barry
Series 31, Episode 38 (Episode 1043) ‘Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep’ written by Dana Fainaru (original broadcast 17/6/17)
Ethan looks for answers about Cal's last moments as he plans his last goodbye.
Casualty is a show very dear to my heart. Throughout the years it's retained something pure, immediate, heartfelt - both in terms of storytelling and team of people to work with. I distinctly remember this episode because there was no story for Ethan on the table apart from a funeral. Both myself and the story editor, Roxanne, couldn't stand the thought of such a brilliant character (and actor) having to mope for an entire episode. Recently before that, we had a story conference and this amazing young woman came to talk to us about HIV in young people, I remember it touched us all so much and I was like - bagsy that story!
It really chimed so much with Ethan's own predicament so it was one of these times where things just really fell into place naturally. When I was watching this episode back one thing really shone through - just how much the cast love each other. There was so much warmth in it I'd love to take the credit for that and say it's the writing - but really, it's just the alchemy of the show and the entire bunch of people who make it.
Dana Fainaru
Series 34, Episode 36 (Episode 1175) Jade Meets her Birth Mother’ written by Charlie Swinbourne and Sophie Woolley (original broadcast 11/7/20)
Jade meets her birth mother and finally uncovers the truth behind her past, whilst Charlie is reminded of Duffy when treating a man who has recently received a heart transplant.
I’d never had the chance to write for Casualty or collaborate with Charlie Swinbourne before, so I was delighted when Loretta Preece invited me to co-write on this.
It was thrilling to see the end result – beautiful acting, John Maiden’s direction and BBC Research and Development’s innovative audio recording and design.
Sophie Woolley
This episode of Casualty stands as a marker for where the TV industry should be heading.
It is a story about a deaf nurse, which was not only written by two deaf writers, but directed by a deaf director and starring two brilliant deaf actors. I’m very proud to be one of those writers.
It all happened because the team on the show, Loretta Preece in particular, believed in us and gave us the opportunity to tell our story from an authentically deaf perspective.
Jade’s story is about how deafness has impacted on three generations of a family, and how those generations see deafness differently. It’s about a deaf nurse and how her day is different to that of those around her. It’s also a story with heartbreaking moments, and funny moments too.
We can only thank the team, and everyone involved for giving us the opportunity, as well as the BBC Writersroom for setting up the Writers Access Group, that Sophie and I were part of. I hope that people who read the script enjoy it and use it as fuel for telling their own stories in the future.
Charlie Swinbourne
Read & Download Series 34, Episode 36 "Jade Meets her Birth Mother" here
Read more about Charlie & Sophie’s experience writing this episode
Series 35, Episode 1 (Episode 1182/3) Covid Special written by Kevin Rundle (original broadcast 2/1/21)
Connie struggles to protect her team when the coronavirus pandemic hits Holby ED, Will becomes disillusioned with his work and Fenisha rushes to keep her baby safe.
From the very first conversations, this felt like it was going to be a special episode to be a part of - the ambition was to convey what the first period of lockdown was like for NHS staff in an emergency department. The storyline I was given was exceptional, the sort of outline that gives you tingles... And the first research discussion with the medic, who had lived through pretty much every event that was eventually portrayed on screen, was eye-opening and awe-inspiring. The challenge for me was; don't muck this up!
Thanks to the support of a very gifted script editor, the guidance of the entire production team, headed up by Mat McHale and Loretta Preece, a phenomenal director in Steve Hughes and a cracking cast who were all on fire... we seemed to do an alright job. When the episode was shot, it felt a bit like a retrospective on the pandemic, it was late August, early September 2020 and things were returning to normal... it eventually transmitted a few days before the third, and longest period of lockdown. We had no idea things would continue to be so tough for the incredible staff of the NHS.
Kevin Rundle
Watch Casualty’s 35th Anniversary Episode on BBC iPlayer
Read more Casualty scripts here
Find more blog posts about writing Continuing Drama here
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