casualty

Record-breaking run

With 23 years, 24 series and over 700 broadcast episodes worth of medical traumas, ‘Casualty’ is the world’s longest-running emergency medical drama series. It is also the second longest-running TV medical drama, beaten only by the U.S show, ‘General Hospital’, which has been on stateside screens since 1963.

Political drama

‘Casualty’ debuted on UK screens on the 6th of September 1986. Dramatising the harsh reality of the chronic cuts that were being made in the National Health Service by the Conservative government of the day garnered strong criticism from politicians, and the Royal College of Nursing expressed its disdain for the show’s far from angelic portrayal of medical professionals. Despite disapproval from the establishment, a second series was produced (partly because the scripts had already been developed and paid for), but it was widely anticipated that ‘Casualty’ would die a death thereafter. However, the controversy that was stirred up attracted widespread support. The great British public began to switch on in their millions to watch the team of overworked, underpaid and flawed characters battle through another day, and ‘Casualty’ was secured as a staple of British TV.

Namesakes and nicknames

Before ‘Casualty’ was deemed the perfect namesake for the show, its working title was ‘Front Line’. In the early days, it was also dubbed something much more comical on set – ‘Noddy Goes To Hospital’. The first ever episode started with Charlie driving to Holby City Hospital in a bright yellow car, and the cast devised the nickname after joking that it was reminiscent of Enid Blyton’s famous children’s character that chugs around Toytown in a clunky golden automobile.

Lynchpin Charlie

Having appeared in the first ever ‘Casualty’ episode in 1986, Charlie Fairhead is the show’s only remaining original character (and makes Derek Thompson the longest-serving actor). ‘Casualty’ has not only become a way of life for Thompson – it has also been a family affair. He met his wife on set, actress Dee Sadler, who starred as an epileptic cave explorer in the series two episode, ‘Lifelines’. Additionally, Thompson’s real-life son, Charlie (ironically, he shares the same name as his father’s ‘Casualty’ alter ego), appeared in early episodes of the show as the son of Duffy (a former Emergency Department Sister).

Blood and slushy stuff

Approximately two pints of fake blood is used during the filming of each episode of ‘Casualty’, making the amount of red stuff used in a 48-episode series enough to fill around ten human adult bodies. On a less savoury bodily fluid note, in order to create authentic-looking vomiting scenes, the show’s special effects department mix up a stomach-turning concoction of Weetabix breakfast cereal, fruit salad, apple juice and soup (enough to make any actor barf for real, surely).

Launchpad for stardom

According to a survey published by ‘Radio Times’ magazine in 2004, ‘Casualty’ has featured more future stars than any other UK soap or drama series. Prior to hitting the acting big time, Kate Winslet, Orlando Bloom, Minnie Driver, Christopher Eccleston, Parminder Nagra, Jonny Lee Miller, Helen Baxendale, Brenda Fricker all had bit-parts in the show. "In England, it almost seems to be part of a jobbing actor's training [to appear in ‘Casualty’]. As far as I was concerned it was a great episode, a great part. Appearing in Casualty taught me a big lesson in how to be natural in front of the camera," reflected Winslet about her appearance as Suzanne (the girlfriend of a sex offender) in the 1993 episode, ‘Family Matters’.

Pumping club anthem

The ‘Casualty’ themetune, composed by Ken Freeman, was a Millennium chart topper of sorts on English shores. The garage group, Oxide & Neutrino, sampled the show’s signature sound for its track 'Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty)', which was the UK’s best-selling single between the 30th of April and the 7th of May 2000. View the video here.

Singing medics

The cast of ‘Casualty’ can boast chart success too. ‘Everlasting Love’, a song that was performed by the show’s medics at Charlie and Baz’s wedding in the 1998 two-part episode of the same name, was released as a single and peaked at number five in the British hit parade in the same year.

A couple of cast diagnostics

Jane Hazlegrove, who plays Kathleen Dixon, doesn’t quite take her work home with her, but she does have a rather poignant reminder of her day job when she gets there – she recently had her gall stones removed and has them in a jar as a keepsake. On a more serious note, Derek Thompson may be more familiar with administering treatment than receiving it playing Charlie Fairhead, but the actor knows all to well what if feel like to be a patient – he has a neurological condition called Dystonia, which causes his neck and head to spasm and requires regular Botox treatment to manage it.

A digital first

In 2009, ‘Casualty’ made its mark on TV history by being the first ever BBC continuing drama to produce a web-only episode, ‘Casualty – The Parting of Ways’. The eight-minute webisode follows down-and-out Alistair’s life on the streets, and bridges the gap between two full-length televised episodes. “We are always looking at new ways to add value for our loyal fans and this innovative mini-episode will open a window on a hitherto unseen world and give viewers access to a character they wouldn’t have in a normal episode,” announced the show’s Executive Producer, Belinda Campbell.