Casualty (series 1)

The first series of the British medical drama television series Casualty aired between 6 September and 27 December 1986 on BBC One.

Development

Originally titled "Front Line", Casualty was the then BBC Head of Drama Jonathan Powell's choice out of two potential new dramas being developed to fill the gap left by the police drama series, Juliet Bravo on Saturday nights. The other idea was considered the safer option, a cottage hospital series; however, Powell decided to go for the more off-the-wall idea and gave the greenlight to develop a new drama series based around the work of A&E departments. On his decision, Powell commented: "I went for Casualty because there was a feeling of life and passion and, well I was anxious for new young people to create something." On the creators, Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, he remarked: "I put them with a very experienced producer, Geraint Morris, and hoped for the best."

Casualty eventually aired on UK television for the first time on 6 September 1986 and ran for an opening series of 15 episodes. Whilst on screen the major storyline to hit Holby's A&E department that year was the fight to keep the night shift open despite managerial attempts to close it down; however, off screen the picture wasn't so different: Casualty soon found itself being condemned by Margaret Thatcher's government as well as being slammed by the Royal College of Nursing and real life nurses objecting to how they were portrayed on screen. After just 8 episodes had aired, co-creator, Brock found himself hauled in front of BBC Management to defend the series. Various changes were implemented such as cutting down on the excessive amounts of smoking in the series (perhaps reflecting the falling number of British people who were giving up smoking in real life during the 1980s) but the series remained true to its form and continued to portray storylines concerning NHS funding and poor hospital conditions.

Amid all of the controversy surrounding the series, it was beginning to appear as if the groundbreaking hospital drama would meet an unjustified early end. Work on a second series had already begun, however, and with 15 new scripts prepared and paid for, the BBC continued with the series. It is still running more than 25 years later^[1][2]

Cast

The first series of Casualty featured an ensemble cast of characters in the medical profession, who worked in the hospital's emergency department. The original characters were consultant Ewart Plimmer (Bernard Gallagher), Senior house officer Baz Samuels (Julia Watson), nurses Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson), Megan Roach (Brenda Fricker), Clive King (George Harris) and Lisa "Duffy" Duffin (Cathy Shipton), paramedics Sandra Mute (Lisa Bowerman) and Andrew Ponting (Robert Pugh), receptionist Susie Mercier (Debbie Roza) and porter Kuba Trzcinski (Christopher Rozycki). Nigel Anthony and Sonia Woolley had recurring roles as Ted Roach and Ros Plimmer respectively.^[3]

Thompson has continued in the show from its inception to the present date. Shipton remained in the role of Duffy until 1993, then returned from 1998 to 2003. She returned to the show as a guest-star in 2006, for two special episodes set in Cambodia.^[4] Fricker continued as Megan until series five, episode 13. Since then, the character has made guest returns in series 12 and series 21, and returned for four episodes in series 24, when the character was killed off.^[5] Watson remained in the show until the end of the first series. She made a comeback in series nine, episode 20, and continued as a regular until series 12, episode 26, when Baz married Charlie. After this, Baz would not be seen in the show again until series 18, episode 12. Watson made her final in series 18, episode 19, when Baz was killed off following a road accident. Bowerman's character, Sandra Mute, was killed off in series two, episode 4. However, Bowerman made a return to the series in 2007 for a cameo role as a patient.

The series also featured a number of guest stars. Graham Cole played a doctor in the opening episode, and Michael Garner appeared as a policeman in episode four. Also in episode four, Alfred Molina played Harry Horner and Vas Blackwood appeared as Bob. Stella Gonet played anaesthetist Clare Wainwright in episodes four and seven, and would later go on to become a main cast member in Holby City, playing CEO Jayne Grayson. Perry Fenwick appeared in episode nine as Marvin Osborne.^[2] Blackwood would later play the role of receptionist David Sinclair from series eleven, episodes 21 to 24. Maggie McCarthy appeared in episode four, and would later play the guest role of receptionist Ada in series four episode twelve, before being cast as receptionist Helen Green in series five, from episodes one to thirteen.

Key storylines

The key storyline of the show's first episode was a toxic gas outbreak at Holby docks. Subsequent major storylines included the collapse of Ewart's marriage to Roz, the beginning of Baz's affair with Charlie, Megan's cancer diagnosis, Duffy falling victim to rape, and the threat of the department being shut down.^[6]

Episodes

Notes

1. ↑ "Episode No." refers to the episode's number in the overall series, whereas "Series No." refers to the episode's number in this particular series.

References

External links

• Casualty series 1 at the Internet Movie Database
• Casualty series 1 at TV.com