Casualty (series 6)

Casualty series 6
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes 15
Broadcast
Original channel BBC One
Original run 6 September 1991 – 27 February 1992

The sixth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 6 September 1991 and finished on 27 February 1992.

The final episode of the series was the only episode to be screened after Christmas; it had been scheduled for 20 December 1991 but was delayed by two months as its original airing date was the day before the third anniversary of the Lockerbie disaster in the Scottish borders in which 270 people had been killed.[1]

Cast

Continuing into Series 6 were nurses Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson), Lisa "Duffy" Duffin (Cathy Shipton) and Martin "Ash" Ashford (Patrick Robinson), registrar Julian Chapman (Nigel Le Vaillant), senior house officer Beth Ramanee (Mamta Kaash), paramedics Josh Griffiths (Ian Bleasdale) and Jane Scott (Caroline Webster) and porter Jimmy Powell (Robson Green).

Joining the regular cast were staff nurse Sandra Nicholl (Maureen Beattie), student nurse Kelly Liddle (Adie Allen), receptionist Norma Sullivan (Anne Kristen) and social worker Trish Baynes (Maria Friedman).[2]

Episodes

Episode No.[nb 1] Series No. Episode Director Writer Original airdate
661"Humpty Dumpty"Jim HillGinnie Hole6 September 1991

A group of young outward bounders tackle a sheer rock face and fall to a cliff base. Julian and Duffy are winched to the scene by helicopter and Julian performs an emergency amputation on a boy's foot. Jane abseils down to help the other victim. Back at Holby, Beth respects the wishes of a dying cancer sufferer by not prolonging his life. His daughter arrives after he dies and accuses her father's partner of murder and Beth of negligence.

Kelly Liddle and Norma Sullivan are introduced.

Guest starring Felicity Montagu, Marc Warren, Christien Anholt, David Neilson and Roderick Smith.[3]
672"Judgement Day"Margy KinmonthBarbara Machin13 September 1991

Beth faces a coroner's inquest on the cancer patient she didn't resuscitate. No negligence is found but the daughter intends to sue privately. Jimmy, moonlighting at a market stall brings a child with burns into casualty caused by a portable gas fire. An athletics coach brings in his star sprinter who has a sprained ankle and palpitations. A policewoman collapses in the street. The cause, Duffy finds is a retained tampon.

Guest starring Tom Georgeson, Sophie Okenedo, Michelle Fairley and Felicity Montagu.
683"Dangerous Games"Charles McDougallRobin Mukherjee20 September 1991

Julian hears on the grapevine he has a chance at getting the consultants job. Charlie takes a liking to social worker Trish Baynes after they meet at a bereavement counselling session. The team helps a young man and runaway girl suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. An 18 year old man is brought in after almost drowning in a swimming pool trying to impress a girl. Kelly comforts a shoplifter only to learn her baby died as a result of neglect. A child is patched up after tumbling from a playground slide but her father has an epileptic fit when he visits her. Trish Baynes is introduced.

Guest starring Jim Carter and Tilly Vosburgh.
694"Hide and Seek"Jim HillDavid Richard-Fox27 September 1991

While Julian worries about competition for the consultancy, Jimmy chases a snake which has escaped from a patient's bag who has come in with a snake bite. Two children, Kasha and Jamie are rushed in after being trapped in a fridge dumped by Kasha's father. Jamie, an asthmatic is taken to ITU in a critical condition. A heavy drinking antiques dealer dies in CRASH after a massive haemorrhage which covers Beth in blood. Kelly allows Jimmy to practice first aid on her, much to Duffy's disapproval.

Guest starring Benjamin Whitrow.
705"Joy Ride"Steve GoldieBill Gallagher4 October 1991

Three drunk teenagers play traffic-light jumping in a stolen car. They crash, one is hurled through the windscreen and dies in CRASH. The second is badly injured and the third faces the police at Holby. A bride-to-be arrives with the two fingers she lost at work in an abattoir. Luckily, they can be reattached. A neurotic wife confesses to Trish that her real problem is her husband's sex demands. A workaholic almost blinded by molten plastic is brought in. A man is brought in after being found in the street by a policeman. He has lost his memory. Later police discover he may be connected to a fatal stabbing. Kelly is reprimanded by Duffy after giving a tetanus jab without permission.

Guest starring Paul Barber, Rebecca Lacey, Polly James, Ian Talbot and Vincent Brimble.[4]
716"Something to Hide"Steve GoldieStephen Wyatt11 October 1991
A car bomb planted by an Animal Rights activist causes chaos in a suburban street. An injured girl. Judy, reveals she is the bomber when she realises the intended target is not the seriously injured man, who later dies. Kelly and Duffy argue over the girl's right to confidentiality. Charlie urges a teacher beaten up after cruising in a gay area to contact the police, but he is too afraid. Beth suspects MS in a young man who comes in with numbness in his arms. Two members of Norma's amateur dramatics society arrive after the show's star has twisted his ankle.
727"Beggars Can't Be Choosers"Alan WareingGinnie Hole18 October 1991

A man suffering from severe kidney pain is refused a bed by the medical registrar, much to Beth's annoyance. He is later rushed back in with septicaemia. A teenage drug addict, Chris is brought in after overdosing on Temazepam. His supplier turns out to be his Aunt Grace, who believed the tablets were harmless. Julian warns Chris's parents at the risk of hepatitis and AIDS and the father attacks the aunt. Beth hears the negligence suit is being dropped. Relieved, she breaks down and Charlie cuddles her. Kelly upsets Duffy yet again by being late for her shift. Julian is in a happy mood, he has got the consultancy job.

Guest starring Edna Doré, Annie Hulley and Miranda Forbes.[5]
738"Living in Hope"Margy KinmonthRobin Mukherjee25 October 1991

Julian celebrates landing the consultant's job while Duffy's boyfriend Paul pressures her to leave nursing. A young woman riding her bike down a country lane collides with a heavy goods lorry. The team cannot save her severely damaged right leg. Ash is punched and insulted in reception whilst trying to settle an argument between a young couple. Two student backpackers are brought in with heroin smuggled in swallowed condoms. The boy collapses and is saved in casualty. The girl collapses and dies in the department toilets after persuading Kelly to let her go. Duffy and Charlie warn Kelly about her lax attitude but she snaps back and walks out.

Guest starring Jerome Flynn Julia Sawalha, Geraldine Alexander and Geoffrey Toone.[6]
749"Making the Break"Jim HillJacqueline Holborough1 November 1991

An old drunk upsets the team with his attitude after he injures a leg falling down the pub steps. His other leg is wooden. Trish is involved with a boy with human bite marks on his leg. It's the result of a human 'dog fight' that his father's friend forced him to take part in. Two nuns arrive one with a fractured nose after the other hit her with a pudding spoon in the convent kitchen during a row. A young blind girl is hit by a messenger on a bike. She regains her sight. A young girl finds her alcoholic mother collapsed in her bedroom. She dies in CRASH. Her workaholic father arrives and is unemotional at the loss of his wife. Charlie gives Kelly another talk, but Kelly becomes more fed up throughout the shift and ends up crying in the toilets. At home, Kelly takes a cocktail of pills and vodka.

Kelly Liddle commits suicide.

Guest starring Jimmy Jewel, Nicholas Le Prevost, Selina Cadell and Janet Henfrey.[7]
7510"Sins of Omission"Alan WareingBryan Elsley8 November 1991

The team are devastated by the news of Kelly's suicide, especially Duffy and Ash, who are shocked to learn she was on antidepressants. Duffy blames herself for being too critical. An elderly lady with a heart condition arrives in a cheery mood. Ash is on half hourly obs but it gets busy in the department. When he finally goes to see her, she's had a seizure and dies. Jimmy befriends a vagabond who is living in the hospital basement, posing as a porter at mealtimes. A kit-car designer with money problems takes an insurance man on a test run in his prototype car. It crashes. He suffers a broken leg but his passenger has multiple injuries. Duffy's babysitter calls in sick, leaving Paul to look after her son. They argue after her shift because he couldn't get any work done.

Guest starring Peggy Mount, Jack Galloway, Neil Dudgeon, Charlotte Cornwell, Charlie Condou and Timothy Walker.[8]
7611"The Last Word"Michael Owen MorrisBarbara Machin15 November 1991

The team welcome back experienced staff nurse Sandra Nicholl, back at work after having a daughter, Laura. Both Jimmy and Julian are attracted to her. Sandra treats a woman with a bleeding forehead and she also has HIV. She didn't use gloves and asks Charlie about the risks. A lorry with three workers, Michael, Cliff and Mal, swerves to avoid a car and crashes. They have been drinking, but the driver, Michael, is found to be under the limit. Cliff, who was to be getting married the next day, is more seriously injured. He is about to go up to surgery, but has a cardiac tamponade. Julian keeps him in CRASH to operate on him, which is successful, however he later dies. A ballet dancer arrives with rectal bleeding. Ash learns of her efforts to remain slim, a diet of tissues and laxatives. Duffy refuses to quit nursing and ends her relationship with Paul.

Sandra Nicholl is introduced.

Guest starring Minnie Driver, Hermione Norris, Chris Gascoyne, Gareth Armstrong and Zienia Merton.[9]
7712"Pressure! What Pressure?"Michael BrayshawArthur McKenzie29 November 1991

A woman with self-inflicted cigarette burns discharges herself but goes home only to be beaten up by her husband. She has violent abdominal pains on revisiting the department and Beth diagnoses ectopic pregnancy. Beth is enraged by the woman's husband and slaps him across the face in the interview room. An obese man with a sprained ankle pleads to have his jaw wired to stop his over-eating. Two young men experiment with glue sniffing. One dies in CRASH after being dumped at the entrance by the other. Charlie and Julian clash over the ethics of organ donation.

Guest starring Siobhan Redmond, Michael Attwell, Wendy Gifford, Daniel Peacock, Pamela Cundell and Mary Healey.[10]
7813"Facing Up"Bill PrydeBill Gallagher6 December 1991

A young boy finds his father's revolver and shoots his grandmother. She later dies in CRASH from the wound. Paramedics Josh and Jane have trouble enticing a mentally ill man into the ambulance who has spilled hot fat over himself. A retired gardener dislocates a rival gardener's jaw after he suspects him of ruining his prize winning leeks. Trish is attacked in her office by an angry client whom she's powerless to help. She feels she must move on. Ash is visited by his sister who has had a row with their mother. Beth has an interview for a GP's job but finds racism present.

Guest starring Kathy Burke, Nicholas Farrell, David Ryall, Geoffrey Bayldon and Valerie Hunkins.[11]
7914"Allegiance"Alan WareingDavid Richard-Fox15 December 1991

A tabloid photographer crashes through the glass conservatory roof of a womanizing MP trying to take a photo. The MP's wife is crushed and the two men end up fighting in casualty. A middle aged gay businessman faces life without his partner who has suffered a fatal heart attack. The partner's daughter turns up, making her hostility to their lifestyle clear. An aging rock guitarist electrocutes himself on an amplifier. His injuries are superficial but his career is over. Beth gets her GP's job.

Guest starring Brian Hibbard, Gary Olsen, Simon Shepherd, Frank Windsor, Peter Copley, Christine Kavanagh and Louis Mahoney.[12]
8015"Cascade"Michael Owen MorrisGinnie Hole27 February 1992

Horror strikes at Holby Airport when a plane full of holidaymakers returning from Greece crashes into an embankment. The team is off duty enjoying Beth's leaving party but are soon on red alert to help the victims. Julian and Ash assist at the scene with cases including a man and a 7 year old girl trapped in the cabin. Back at Holby, Beth, Charlie and Duffy deal with the intake of casualties through the night. One is the pilot crushed by the controls. An old lady is trampled on, in the rush to get out. She has chest and pelvic injuries and dies in CRASH. Her husband is searching for her at the accident site but collapses with chest pains. Ash and Charlie ponder Holby's future as a trust hospital and Jimmy reveals to be leaving for a job driving a van. He gets the job but there's one slight problem – he has to learn to drive first.

Trish Baynes, Beth Ramanee and Jimmy Powell depart.

Guest starring Billy Murray, Robert James, James Saxon, Tim Preece, Davyd Harries, Patricia Maynard, Rosalie Crutchley and Dominic Guard.[13]

Rebecca Lacey would go on to play the guest role of Louise Tomlin in Series 9, Episode 3 before becoming regular character senior house office Georgina Woodman from Series 12, Episode 1 to Series 13, Episode 28. Siobhan Redmond would go on to play the role of Senior Paediatric Medical Consultant Janice Taylor in Holby City from 2000 to 2002.

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