Casualty@Holby City Halloween 2005

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“Teacher's Pet/Crash and Burn”
Casualty episode
Comfort's ambulance is hijacked by youths
Episode no.	Season 20 Episode 9a/b
Written by	Jason Sutton
Directed by	Rob Evans
Guest stars	James Gaddas James Anthony Pearson Jason Maza Anthony Shuster Ricci McLeod Kate Scott Red Madrell Rege Page Robert Craigs William Ingham Alex Varney Rebecca Clarke Simon Frost Ade Sapara Nikki Amuka-Bird Tricia Kelly John Betts Iain Fletcher
Production no.	504
Original airdate	24 October 2005 part a 25 October 2005 part b
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "For Better or Worse" "Big Bang Theory"
List of Casualty Episodes, Series 20

“Test Your Metal/Great Leap Forward”
Holby City episode
Comfort is rushed into theatre having been stabbed.
Episode no.	Season 8 Episode 2a/b
Written by	Suzie Smith
Directed by	Rob Evans
Guest stars	Ian BleasdaleC Martina LairdC Matthew WaitC James Anthony Pearson James Gaddas Kate Scott Ade Sapara Nikki Amuka-Bird Jason Maza Louis Mahoney Anthony Shuster
Production no.	265
Original airdate	26 October 2005 part a 27 October 2005 part b
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "The Outsiders" "Crimes and Misdemeanors"
List of Holby City episodes, Series 8

Casualty@Holby City Halloween 2005 refers to the third Casualty@Holby City crossover of BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City. The crossover special totals four half hour episodes, first broadcast daily during the week beginning 24 October 2005. The episodes concentrate on the theme of youth violence, beginning with a paramedic demonstration visit to a struggling secondary school on Holbys notorious Farmead Estate. During the course of the crossover, two female students fall victim of an acid attack, a group of youths steal and joyride an ambulance, Paramedic Comfort Jones is stabbed, and the school's headmaster is murdered. The first two episodes were produced by regular Casualty crew members, and the second two by Holby City. The special was generally well received in the press, however attracted the lowest ratings of any Casualty@Holby City crossover to date.

Contents 1 Plot 1.1 Teacher's Pet 1.2 Crash and Burn 1.3 Test Your Metal 1.4 A Great Leap Forward 2 Production 3 Reception 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Plot

[edit] Teacher's Pet

"Teacher's Pet" begins with Paramedics Josh Griffiths and Comfort Jones giving a demonstration in Holbys Farmead Secondary school. The pupils are rowdy and non-co-operative, and Headmaster Carl O'Leary is forced to apologize for their behaviour. As the paramedics prepare to leave, Comfort inadvertently walks in on teacher Nick Bond kissing one of his sixteen year old pupils, Emma. As the school's Halloween disco gets underway, Emma and her friend Shania are talked into bobbing for apples by fellow pupil Adrian. Unknown to them, Adrian has spiked the bobbing water with acid, and both are badly burned. As they receive emergency treatment, Emma calls out for Nick, leading her boyfriend Kris to discover her infidelity. He and his friends attack their teacher, leaving him badly beaten. Comfort and fellow paramedic Luke Warren begin to transport him to Holby City Hospitals Emergency Department when Kris's gang hijack the ambulance, kicking Luke out, and taking Comfort and Nick hostage. Meanwhile, the ED tackle cases of a Parkinsons sufferer, and a sword swallowing gone wrong.^[1]

[edit] Crash and Burn

"Crash and Burn" picks up with Comfort in peril as the youth gang joyride in the ambulance, while Kris continues his assault on Nick. When Comfort tries to intervene, he attacks her as well, despite being called off by his friends. Josh catches up with them and forces the vehicle to slow, but the boy at the wheel loses control and crashes into a nearby car. The car's occupants are distinguished poet Edgar Muzenda and his wife Moji. Edgar suffers from cardiomyopathy and needs treatments following the crash. When transferred to the Emergency Department, Moji discovers that she is pregnant. Adrian arrives at the hospital, concerned about the condition of Emma and Shania. When Carl suspects he may have been behind the acid attack, he panics and threatens the staff in Resus with a small vial of acid. Carl tackles him and no one is injured. Although Comfort initially appears only superficially wounded from the attack in the ambulance, after having a cut to her head stitched, she is later found collapsed and barely conscious in the department staff room.^[2]

[edit] Test Your Metal

As "Test Your Metal" begins, Comfort is rushed into theatre and operated on by Diane Lloyd, Ric Griffin and Matt Parker. They discover that during the attack, Comfort was evidently stabbed, though manage to stabilize her condition. Kris arrives at the hospital and becomes angered when Emma reveals she is leaving him for Nick. She also mentions that Adrian was behind the attack on her, prompting Kris to makes his way to the Intensive Care Unit, where he finds Adrian at Nick's bedside. He discovers that Adrian's motivation for the attack was a crush on their teacher, and threatens him with a blade. Elsewhere, Edgar's heart condition is treated by Connie Beauchamp, who commends a risky but pioneering procedure.^[3]

[edit] A Great Leap Forward

"A Great Leap Forward" begins with Carl and Diane talking Kris into surrendering his weapon. Carl agrees to let him speak with Emma once more before involving the police, and Emma reveals that the headmaster had known about her affair with Nick all along. Feeling betrayed, Kris attacked Carl in the toilets, and left him for dead. Up on Darwin ward, Edgar receives his operation, and tells Moji of his plans to return to Africa. She reveals her pregnancy to him, and tells him she will not return to the country which saw him imprisoned and her badly beaten. However, when a mutual friend from their home country reveals that his family have been murdered, she agrees that they should return and fight for stability. Although Carl is quickly discovered by Adrian, and rushed into theatre by Diane and Matt, he passes away during surgery. Now wanted for murder, Kris makes his way up to the hospital roof, but is eventually talked down by Josh. As the episode ends, Matt apologises to Diane for his uncertainty throughout the tough day, and she agrees to be his mentor.^[4]

[edit] Production

The first two episodes of this 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.^[5][6] 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.”^[7][8]

[edit] Reception

The four episodes were generally well received by the press. The opening episode was a recommended 'TV Choice' of The Daily Telegraph,^[9] a 'Pick of the Day' of The Daily Mirror,^[10] and a 'Pick of the Night' of The Evening Standard.^[11] The crossover was also a 'Drama Choice' of The People, who commented that "There's something weirdly thrilling when these two medical shows collide."^[12]

However, reviews were not exclusively positive. Despite recommending the episodes for viewing, The Evening Standard commented that:

""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. And the plots? Well, same old, same old really."^[11]

Ratings also were the lowest of any Casualty@Holby City crossover to date. The Guardian wrote of the opening episode's overnight ratings:

"As a warm-up for soap fans, BBC1 aired the opening salvo in another tie-up between Casualty and Holby City. In an attempt to return fire against ITV1's Emmerdale big guns, BBC1 has combined its ammunition with Casualty @ Holby City, which is running throughout the week. But Emmerdale tore strips off the Beeb's medical drama - winning 9.1 million to Casualty @ Holby's 5.2 million."^[13]

Once final ratings were calculated, it was revealed that the opening episode received in total 5.56m viewers,^[14] the second episode 5.96m viewiers,^[15] the third installment 4.57m viewers,^[16] and the concluding episode 5.64m viewers.^[17] In comparison, the next lowest rated Casualty@Holby City episode was the Interactive special, broadcast two months previously, which brought in 7.32 million viewers,^[18] with every other crossover episode receiving at least eight million viewers.^{[19][20][21][22]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• BBC Official Casualty@Holby City specials website
• BBC Official Casualty website
• BBC Official Holby City website

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