# Casualty (1986)

> A long-running BBC medical drama following the staff and patients of Holby City Hospital's emergency department through their working and personal crises.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/958

## Facts

- Seasons: 46
- Episodes: 1398
- Episode runtime: 49 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Paul Unwin, Jeremy Brock
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: William Beck, Simon MacCorkindale, Elinor Lawless, Ian Bleasdale, Charles Venn, Derek Thompson, Georgia Taylor, Nigel Anthony
- TMDB rating: 6.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096555/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: emotional, busy, melodramatic, tender, gallows humour

## What critics say

Audience reception of Casualty is negative overall at 6.2/10, with individual seasons ranging from middling to well-regarded, notably the 1993 and 2011 seasons.

## Synopsis

Casualty (1986-present) is a British medical drama series created by Paul Unwin and Jeremy Brock for BBC One. Set in the emergency department of Holby City Hospital in England, it follows a rotating ensemble of doctors, nurses and staff whose shifts bring a steady stream of accidents, collapses and urgent cases through the doors. Derek Thompson stars as Charlie Fairhead, with William Beck as Dylan Keogh, Ian Bleasdale as Josh Griffiths and Georgia Taylor as Ruth Winters among the principal players. The engine is simple and endless: each shift forces the staff to weigh the patient in front of them against the personal lives they carry into work, from romances and rivalries to family troubles. Built as an open-ended hospital soap across more than forty seasons and thousands of episodes, it mixes self-contained emergencies with slower personal storylines. The tone is busy, emotional and sometimes melodramatic, with moments of gallows humour and tenderness. Viewers who enjoy the institutional bustle of ER, the workplace romance of Grey's Anatomy, or the sister series Holby City will find a familiar comfort in its long-running, ever-changing ward.

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