Casualty@Holby City
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Casualty@Holby City | |
|---|---|
 Still from the opening titles of Casualty@Holby City |
|
| Format | Medical drama |
| Created by | Mervyn Watson Tony McHale |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 9 (as of 27 December 2005) (List of episodes) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Original airing | 26 December 2004 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Casualty Holby City |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Casualty@Holby City is the name given to special crossover episodes of BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City. While Casualty was launched on 6 September 1986, and its spin-off Holby City first aired on 12 January 1999, the first full crossover episode between the two programmes was not broadcast until 24 December 2004. There have been four crossover specials under the title of Casualty@Holby City to date, comprising nine episodes total. The last crossover episode aired 27 December 2005, and there are currently no immediate plans to produce another.
Contents |
[edit] Production
[edit] Origins
From the launch of Holby City, various characters from both shows have made occasional crossover appearances in the other. Casualty characters Chloe Hill and "Sunny" Sunderland appeared regularly throughout the first series of Holby City, while the first continuing crossover storyline saw a homosexual romance develop between Casualty's Nurse Tony Vincent and Holby City's midwife Ben Saunders. These minor crossovers were limited, however, by the two shows' differing production schedules and locations. Although both set in the same fictional city of Holby, Casualty is filmed in Bristol, while Holby City is filmed in the BBC's Elstree studios in London. As a result of this, scheduling characters from one show to appear on the other has proved problematic - in one instance resulting in paramedic Luke Warren making a guest appearance in Holby City despite having been seen to be suspended from duty in the episode of Casualty screened the week previously.
Mervyn Watson, Executive Producer of Casualty, has commented on the origins of the idea to fully cross the two sister shows over for the first time: "I think the idea came from somebody in the comedy department, who casually said to the Controller of Drama "Wouldn't it be a good idea if...." The Controller did think it was a good idea, spoke to myself and Holby's Executive Producer, got it commissioned by the Head of BBC ONE and the rest is history."[1]
[edit] Development
For the first, Christmas 2004 crossover, the episodes producer and director were both selected from the Holby City crew, with the first episode of the two-part special broadcast in the usual Casualty slot, and the second was broadcast in the week's Holby City slot. Crossing the two shows over for the first time presented a number of scheduling problems - largely resulting from the fact the Casualty and Holby City cast regularly work 120 miles apart, in Bristol and Elstree. Watson has commented:
- "At the heart of it was the problem of two large shows which work continuously 52 weeks of the year, being interrupted and brought to a halt for a short period (two weeks). This released a number of characters to appear in the special, but then we had to restart the two shows, sometimes using those characters when available, but mainly using the other characters who weren't in the special. The schedulers from both shows had a nightmare time, but kept smiling as ever and deserve medals for making it all possible."[1]
The second, Interactive crossover was commissioned as part of the BBC's DoNation season. Week beginning 22 August 2007 saw the BBC launch a week long organ donation campaign, in order to "raise awareness, explain the facts, dispel myths and encourage people to make an informed decision about whether to add their name to the Register."[2] The Interactive Casualty@Holby City special was one of the headlining shows of the season, putting viewers in the place of doctors in order to decide the recipient of a fictional heart transplant. Despite being billed as a Casualty@Holby City crossover, the episode was written, directed and produced by Casualty crew members, and shot on location at the Casualty studios in Bristol. Only two Holby City characters actually appeared in the episode - Matron Lisa Fox and Critical Care Consultant Lola Griffin. The episode was also broadcast in the usual Casualty time slot, on a Saturday evening.
The first two episodes of the Halloween crossover were produced by the Casualty team, on its Bristol set, while the second two episodes were produced by the Holby City team, in Elstree, London. In fact, no actual crossover of characters from the two shows occurs in the first two episodes, which feature solely regular Casualty cast, and guests.[3][4] In reporting the announcement of the Halloween crossover, both The Stage and The Guardian commented on the BBCs attempt at reviving its reputation of commissioning top quality dramas:
- "The two hit shows joined together last month for a joint venture to promote organ donation with the DoNation season. The joint episode will air in the week beginning October 24, the same week the Corporation launches its adaptation of Dickens’ classic Bleak House starring Gillian Anderson and Charles Dance. EastEnders is also set to receive a boost with the Mitchell brothers returning to screens.
- BBC1 controller Peter Fincham said: “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.”[5][6]
On the decision to produce a second Christmas crossover, Casualty's Executive Producer Mervyn Watson has commented that: "the last one was so successful that the Channel Controller ordered another!"[1] As with the 2004 Christmas crossover, the cast of both Casualty and Holby City were involved in both parts of this special, however for the first time in producing a Casualty@Holby City crossover, the episodes were not divided up between the Casualty and Holby City teams as had always been standard in the past - with the first half of the special produced by regular Casualty staff and the second by Holby City. Instead, Diane Kyle was appointed to produce the entire episode, with Paul Harrison brought in to direct both parts for greater continuity.[1]
[edit] Filming
The majority of the first, Christmas 2004, crossover was filmed at Casualty's Emergency Department in Bristol, over the course of six weeks. Additional filming occurred 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.[1]
The following three crossovers were divided between the sets of both Casualty in Bristol and Holby City in Elstree. The Interactive special was filmed exclusively on the Casualty set, and large proportion of the Christmas 2005 crossover episodes were also filmed in a road tunnel in Caernarvon, Wales.[7] Mervyn 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."[8]
[edit] Theme tune
The theme tune used for crossover Casualty@Holby City episodes consists of a shortened version of both the Casualty and Holby City theme tunes, played over one another in sync. The Mirror has criticised it as "basically both theme tunes played at once",[9] while The Evening Standard , after the broadcast of the DoNation Interactive episode, went as far as to state:
- "If you think the title for this joint series is just Sellotaped together, wait until you hear the opening music. A shambolic combination of both series' theme tunes, 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."[10]
[edit] Future
Interviewed prior to broadcast of the Christmas 2005 crossover, Executive Producer Mervyn Watson commented on the future of Casualty@Holby City: "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."[8] However, there have been no announcements regarding the production of any further Casualty@Holby City crossovers to date.
[edit] Characters
The following characters appear in the crossover specials, listed chronologically by number of appearances.[11]
[edit] Casualty
[edit] Holby City
[edit] Episode listing
| Crossover | Description | No. of episodes | First broadcast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas 2004 | A fuel tanker lorry crashes into the Accident & Emergency department of Holby City Hospital. Casualty character Jim Brodie dies rescuing his colleagues from the burning hospital building. | 2 | 26 December 2004 |
| Interactive | As part of the BBC's DoNation season, raising the profile of organ donation issues, an interactive mini-series allows viewers to vote for one of two patients to receive an organ donation on the show. The plot was designed to raise awareness of the scarcity of organs and encourage viewers to consider joining the NHS Donor Register. | 1 | 27 August 2005 |
| Halloween 2005 | A week-long Halloween crossover focusing on issues around youth violence, featuring an ambulance hijack and an assault on character Comfort Newton by pupils at a failing secondary school. | 4 | 24 October 2005 |
| Christmas 2005 | A group of staff are involved in a road collision when a tunnel collapses en-route the hospital Christmas party. Former character Nick Jordan returns, and Paramedic Woody Joyner dies saving the life of a baby. | 2 | 24 December 2005 |
[edit] Reception
[edit] Critical reviews
Casualty@Holby City crossover specials have generally received mixed reviews in the press. Episodes have frequently been selected by tabloids and broadsheets alike as televisual 'Picks of the Day',[12][13][14][15][16][10][17] and have received a number of positive comments. The People, for instance, wrote of the Halloween crossover that: "There's something weirdly thrilling when these two medical shows collide."[17] The Interactive special received praise also from John Evans, chairman of the British Organ Donor Society, who welcomed the series, stating: "There's a continual need for positive stories to be fed to the public to highlight the desperate need for organ donation."[18]
However, criticism has also been forthcoming, from commentary on the series' "slightly clumsy heading",[19] to deeming the union of the two series little more than creating "Two turkeys for the price of one."[20] Paul English, the Daily Record journalist who made this remark also once discussed, in a feature on the British launch of Lost series three, the possibility of a Lost and Desperate Housewives crossover, commenting that: "It'd be like Casualty @ Holby City - only watchable."[21] Numerous similar comments on the quality of the conjoined series have been made, surmised by Frances Traynor in the same publication, who wrote of the Christmas 2004 crossover: "It can be quite difficult to tell these medical drama twins apart. After all, they're both rubbish."[22]
[edit] Ratings
| Crossover | Episode | First broadcast | Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas 2004 | Casualty@Holby City (Part One) | 26 December 2004 | 8.91m[23] |
| Christmas 2004 | Casualty@Holby City (Part Two) | 28 December 2004 | 8.82m[24] |
| Interactive | Something We Can Do | 27 August 2005 | 7.32m[25] |
| Halloween 2005 | Teacher's Pet | 24 October 2005 | 5.56m[26] |
| Halloween 2005 | Crash and Burn | 25 October 2005 | 5.96m[27] |
| Halloween 2005 | Test Your Metal | 26 October 2005 | 4.57m[28] |
| Halloween 2005 | Great Leap Forward | 27 October 2005 | 5.64m[29] |
| Christmas 2005 | Deny Thy Father: Part 1 | 24 December 2005 | 8.00m[30] |
| Christmas 2005 | Deny Thy Father: Part 2 | 27 December 2005 | 8.82m[31] |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Crossover Interview. BBC (December 2004). Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
- ^ Major BBC organ donation season launches in August. bbc.co.uk (28 April 2005). Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
- ^ ""Casualty @ Holby City" Teacher's Pet (2005)", IMDb. Retrieved on 2007-09-23.
- ^ ""Casualty @ Holby City" Crash and Burn (2005)", IMDb. Retrieved on 2007-09-23.
- ^ "Holby’s hospital dramas to unite against violence", The Stage, 16 September 2005. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ "Casualty and Holby reunited for youth violence special", The Guardian, 16 September 2005. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ “TV drama in North Wales tunnel”, The Daily Post (Liverpool, England), 23 December 2005
- ^ a b Crossover Interview. BBC (December 2005). Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
- ^ Jim Shelley Goes For The Jugular 03/01/2006. The Daily Mirror (3 January 2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ a b Ramsey, Terry, “PICK OF THE NIGHT”, The Evening Standard (London, England), 22 October 2005
- ^ "Casualty @ Holby City" TV-Series. IMDb. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
- ^ What to watch this Christmas. The Sun (24 December 2004). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ Ramsey, Terry, “PICK OF THE DAY”, The Evening Standard (London, England), 24 December 2004
- ^ What to watch this weekend. The Sun (27 August 2005). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ Today’s TV choices. The Daily Telegraph (24 October 2005). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ We Love Telly: DRAMA CASUALTY@HOLBY CITY BBC1, 7pm. The Daily Mirror (24 October 2005). Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
- ^ a b Moolla, Sarah, “TV Guide: DRAMA CHOICE”, The People (England), 23 October 2005
- ^ Donate your kidney while you watch TV. The Daily Mail (29 April 2005). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ Holby City walks the thin blue line. The Guardian (22 April 2006). Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
- ^ English, Paul, “The Queen”, Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland), 29 December 2005
- ^ English, Paul, “Series proves all is not Lost”, Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland), 23 November 2006
- ^ Traynor, Frances, “TURN OFF”, Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland), 30 December 2004
- ^ S19 E17 Casualty @ Holby City - Part One by Johanne McAndrew - 26/12/04. Holby.tv Database. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ S7 E11 Casualty @ Holby City - Part Two by Johanne McAndrew - 28/12/04. Holby.tv Database. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ Casualty @ Holby City - Interactive Something We Can Do by Robert Scott-Fraser - 27/08/05. Holby.tv Database. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ S20 E9 - Part 1 Casualty @ Holby City Special - Teacher's Pet by Jason Sutton - 24/10/05. Holby.tv Database. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ S20 E9 - Part 2 Casualty @ Holby City Special - Crash and Burn by Jason Sutton - 25/10/05. Holby.tv Database. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ S8 E2 - Part 3 Casualty @ Holby City Special - Test Your Metal by Suzie Smith - 26/10/05. Holby.tv Database. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ S8 E2 - Part 4 Casualty @ Holby City Special - A Great Leap Forward by Suzie Smith - 27/10/05. Holby.tv Database. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ S20 E17 Deny Thy Father (Part 1) Casualty@Holby City by Alun Nipper & Pete Hambly - 24/12/05. Holby.tv Database. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ S8 E11 Deny Thy Father (Part 2) Casualty@Holby City by Gaby Chiappe - 27/12/05. Holby.tv Database. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
[edit] External links
- BBC Official Casualty@Holby City specials website
- BBC Official Casualty website
- BBC Official Holby City website
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