Casualty series 26

Last updated

Casualty series 26
Series 26
No. of episodes42
Release
Original network BBC One
BBC One HD (from episode 17)
Original release13 August 2011 (2011-08-13) 
22 July 2012 (2012-07-22)
Season chronology
 Previous
Casualty series 25
List of episodes

The twenty-sixth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 13 August 2011, one week after the end of the previous series. It is the first series in the history of the show to begin without a break from the previous series and the first to begin in August rather than the traditional September launch. This series featured forty-two episodes, which was five episodes less than the previous series. Series twenty-six was the first series to broadcast in high definition, with the first high definition episode broadcast from episode 17. The episode also saw the first episode to be filmed at the new set in Cardiff. [1] The show saw its twenty-fifth anniversary in September 2011 and in March 2012, the show aired their first ever three-part story which centred on gang violence. [2] [3] The series concluded with a two-part riot storyline, entitled '#HolbyRiot', which aired on 21 and 22 July 2012. The series was originally planned to finish on 21 July, but due to a postponed episode on 30 June, the finale was moved to the following day.

Contents

This series welcomed Lloyd Asike (Michael Obiora), Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher (Alex Walkinshaw), Tom Kent (Oliver Coleman), Sam Nicholls (Charlotte Salt), and Scarlett Conway (Madeleine Mantock) - the latter of which left at the end of the series. The series also saw the departures of Ruth Winters (Georgia Taylor), Jay Faldren (Ben Turner) and Lenny Lyons (Steven Miller); and marked the first of three guest stints for Tamzin Bayle (Gemma Atkinson).

Production

Oliver Kent continued as Series Producer until Episode 14. From Episode 15, Nikki Wilson has taken over.

Cast

Overview

Most of the cast from series 25 carried over to the new series. These were senior charge nurse Charlie Fairhead, played by Derek Thompson, consultants Nick Jordan, Zoe Hanna and Dylan Keogh (Michael French, Sunetra Sarker and William Beck), trust grade doctor Ruth Winters (Georgia Taylor), Core Training 2 doctor Lenny Lyons (Steven Miller), clinical nurse manager Tess Bateman (Suzanne Packer), staff nurses Jay Faldren and Linda Andrews (Ben Turner and Christine Tremarco), paramedics Kathleen "Dixie" Dixon and Jeff Collier (Jane Hazlegrove and Matt Bardock), porter Mackenzie "Big Mac" Chalker (Charles Dale) and receptionist Noel Garcia (Tony Marshall).

Series 26 saw the brief addition to the cast of Gemma Atkinson (formerly Lisa Hunter in Hollyoaks ) and Dhaffer L'Abidine (previously Marcel Sabatier in Dream Team ). [4] as paramedics Tamzin Bayle and Omar Nasri; their characters were written out early in the series, but Atkinson made two further brief returns, one in series 27 [5] and one that stretched from late series 28 until early series 29. [6]

Michael Obiora and Madeleine Mantock joined the cast as newly qualified staff nurses Lloyd Asike and Scarlett Conway. [7] Later in the series, Charlotte Salt joined the cast as Dr Sam Nicholls, an army medic who was later revealed to be married to consultant Dylan Keogh. Oliver Coleman joined the cast on 7 January 2012, the first episode filmed in Cardiff, playing paediatric specialty doctor Tom Kent. New staff nurse Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher (Alex Walkinshaw) joined the show on 7 July 2012.

Main characters

Recurring characters

Guest characters

Episodes

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [8]
7821"Partners"Declan O'DwyerMark Catley13 August 2011 (2011-08-13)6.48
7832"Starting Out"Declan O'DwyerTim Baker20 August 2011 (2011-08-20)5.13
7843"Common Vector"Simon MasseySteve Bailie27 August 2011 (2011-08-27)5.19
7854"Memory Games"Simon MasseyFrank Rickarby3 September 2011 (2011-09-03)4.82
7865"To Have and Have Not"Declan EamesRachel Flowerday17 September 2011 (2011-09-17)5.40
7876"Fixed"Declan EamesMatthew Broughton24 September 2011 (2011-09-24)4.72
7887"Wild Horses"Steve BrettPaul Matthew Thompson1 October 2011 (2011-10-01)5.27
7898"Charlie's Angels"Steve Brett David Bowker 8 October 2011 (2011-10-08)5.16
7909"Mea Culpa"Tim LeandroStephen McAteer15 October 2011 (2011-10-15)5.45
79110"Sanctuary"Tim LeandroTahsin Guner22 October 2011 (2011-10-22)5.23
79211"Pound of Flesh"Richard SignySasha Hails29 October 2011 (2011-10-29)5.29
79312"Natural Selection"Richard SignyPaul Coates5 November 2011 (2011-11-05)5.02
79413"No Goodbyes"Simon MeyersKelly Jones19 November 2011 (2011-11-19)4.93
79514"The Ties That Bind"Simon MeyersFrank Rickarby26 November 2011 (2011-11-26)5.22
79615" Next of Kin – Part One "Simon MasseyPatrick Homes3 December 2011 (2011-12-03)5.01
79716" Next of Kin – Part Two "Simon Massey Sally Abbott 10 December 2011 (2011-12-10)5.31
79817"Duty of Care"Reza MoradiPaul Logue7 January 2012 (2012-01-07)6.99
79918"Death & Doughnuts"Simon MeyersSteve Bailie14 January 2012 (2012-01-14)6.81
80019"Trust"Declan O'DwyerRachel Flowerday21 January 2012 (2012-01-21)6.61
80120"Hero Syndrome"Declan O'DwyerNicola Wilson28 January 2012 (2012-01-28)6.24
80221"The Only One You Love" Jon Sen Marston Bloom4 February 2012 (2012-02-04)6.68
80322"Confidences"Jon Sen Tony McHale 11 February 2012 (2012-02-11)6.36
80423"Love Is"Nigel DouglasPaul Logue18 February 2012 (2012-02-18)6.35
80524"Grand Canyon"Nigel DouglasDana Fainaru25 February 2012 (2012-02-25)6.10
80625"Ricochet: How to Save a Life"Richard PlattDavid Bowker3 March 2012 (2012-03-03)6.04
80726"Ricochet: Damage Control"Richard PlattAndrea Page10 March 2012 (2012-03-10)6.08
80827"Ricochet: What Goes Around Comes Around"Richard PlattEmma Goodwin17 March 2012 (2012-03-17)5.83
80928"Lest Ye Be Judged"Steve HughesChris Ould24 March 2012 (2012-03-24)5.55
81029"Saturday Night Fever"Declan O'DwyerSasha Hails31 March 2012 (2012-03-31)5.66
81130"When the Gloves Come Off"Declan O'DwyerStephen McAteer7 April 2012 (2012-04-07)5.63
81231"Fools for Love"Richard SignyFiona Peek14 April 2012 (2012-04-14)5.84
81332"Desperate Remedies"Richard SignyFrank Rickarby21 April 2012 (2012-04-21)5.61
81433"Appropriate Force"Paul MurphySteve Bailie28 April 2012 (2012-04-28)5.50
81534"Happily Ever After"Paul MurphyPeter McKenna5 May 2012 (2012-05-05)5.06
81635"Home Truths"Ashley WayJulian Perkins12 May 2012 (2012-05-12)4.37
81736"Teenage Dreams"Ashley WayMatthew Barry19 May 2012 (2012-05-19)5.00
81837"All in a Day's Nightmare – Part One"Jon SenTony McHale2 June 2012 (2012-06-02)5.60
81938"All in a Day's Nightmare – Part Two"Jon SenTony McHale8 June 2012 (2012-06-08)5.64
82039"Zero Sum Game" Graeme Harper Kelly Jones7 July 2012 (2012-07-07)4.92
82140"Do the Right Thing"Graeme HarperEmma Goodwin14 July 2012 (2012-07-14)5.35
82241"#HolbyRiot – Part One"Reza MoradiSally Abbott21 July 2012 (2012-07-21)5.21
82342"#HolbyRiot – Part Two"Reza MoradiSasha Hails22 July 2012 (2012-07-22)5.13

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    Alex Newcombe Walkinshaw is a British actor. He has played the long-running roles of Dale "Smithy" Smith in the ITV police procedural series The Bill and Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher in BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City. He also played PE teacher Jez Diamond in BBC school-based drama series Waterloo Road.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gemma Atkinson</span> British actress and model

    Gemma Louise Atkinson is an English radio presenter and former actress and glamour model. She played Lisa Hunter in Hollyoaks and in three spin-off series, Hollyoaks: After Hours (2004), Hollyoaks: Let Loose (2005) and Hollyoaks: In the City (2006), Tamzin Bayle in Casualty and Carly Hope in Emmerdale (2015–2017). She currently presents the drive time slot across the Hits Radio Network. In November 2021, it was announced that Atkinson is set to reprise her role as Lisa Hunter in Hollyoaks.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Dhaffer L'Abidine</span> Tunisian actor

    Dhafer L'Abidine is a Tunisian actor, director, screenwriter, producer and former professional football player.

    Casualty is a British medical drama television series that premiered on 6 September 1986 on BBC1. The series was created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin. It is set in the fictional Holby City Hospital, in the equally fictitious city of Holby, and features occasional crossovers of characters and plots with spin-off show Holby City. Casualty follows the professional and personal lives of the doctors, nurses, paramedics, hospital management and patients at Holby General. It features an ensemble cast of regular characters, and began with ten main characters in its first series, all but one – Charlie Fairhead have since left the series. Many main characters have been written in and out of the series since. In addition, Casualty features guest stars each week, as well as recurring guests that take part in story arcs that span a portion of a series or multiple series.

    The twenty-fourth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 12 September 2009, and concluded on 21 August 2010. Events of the series included a crossover with sister show Holby City.

    The twenty-fifth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 4 September 2010 and concluded on 6 August 2011. The series featured several crossovers with spin-off show Holby City.

    The twenty-seventh series of Casualty began airing on BBC One on 18 August 2012 with an episode featuring a disaster at a music festival. Filming series 26 was completed in April 2012 and filming series 27 began a week later. The first episode was in the normal format – a 50-minute episode. This season is 44 episodes, increasing from 42 for the previous one. Viewing figures for the first episode were 5.19 million viewers, continuing to be one of the most watched programmes of a Saturday night.

    The twenty-eighth series of Casualty began airing on BBC One on 3 August 2013, one week after the end of the previous series. This series consisted of 48 episodes, the highest episode order since series 24. The series concluded on 23 August 2014.

    The twenty−ninth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on 30 August 2014, and concluded on 23 August 2015. The series consisted of 46 episodes. Erika Hossington continued her role as series producer, while Oliver Kent continued his role as the show's executive producer.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher</span> Fictional character from the BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City

    Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher is a fictional character from the BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City, portrayed by Alex Walkinshaw. He appears in Casualty from its twenty-sixth series in 2012 until its twenty-eighth in 2014, before joining Holby City in its sixteenth series. Fletch is characterised as a fun, likeable and charming Jack the lad who considers his family very important. The character is introduced as a staff nurse in Holby City Hospital's emergency department (ED) and progresses in his career to the hospital's Director of Nursing. Fletch's personable characterisation has helped establish friendship with many characters, notably with Lloyd Asike and Raf di Lucca. Fletch's main story in Casualty is his affair with senior nurse Tess Bateman, which leads to the breakdown of his marriage to Natalie Fletcher. The plot was explored in the online episode "Mistletoe and Rum" and contributed to his exit.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Colette Sheward</span> Fictional character

    Colette Sheward is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, played by actress Louise Delamere. She first appeared in the series sixteen episode "Fait Accompli", broadcast on 3 December 2013. Colette serves as the Director of Nursing Services at Holby City. Delamere was approached for the role and not required to audition. Colette is characterised as a "headstrong" and "compassionate" career woman who fiercely defends her team of nursing staff. Delamere decided that Colette should not have children to represent independent woman. But her solitary trait often leaves her isolated. Colette was introduced as an old friend of CEO Guy Self. He offers the job without interviewing her which attracts internal scrutiny. Colette's role at the hospital demands respect from those in nursing roles. While she also maintains influence to reprimand doctors and consultants operating mistreating nurses. Jane Simon of the Daily Mirror predicted viewer popularity for Colette. She liked her brash persona and reporters from Inside Soap and What's on TV called her a "no-nonsense" character.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoe Hanna</span> Fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty

    Zoe Hanna is a fictional character in BBC's medical drama Casualty, portrayed by Sunetra Sarker. She first appeared in the series twenty-two episode "Take a Cup of Kindness", broadcast on 29 December 2007. The character was a consultant in emergency medicine at Holby City Hospital's emergency department. Sarker chose to take a temporary break from the show in 2014 and Zoe departed from the show in the series 28 episode "A Life Less Lived", broadcast on 23 August 2014. She returned in the series 29 episode "Return to Sender", broadcast on 25 October 2014. Sarker later decided to leave the series indefinitely, but producers asked that she did not announce her departure in order to surprise viewers. After over 8 years on-screen, Zoe departed the series in the series 30 episode "Hello, I Must Be Going", broadcast on 7 May 2016. It was confirmed in September 2017 that Zoe would return for a single episode. She appeared in the nineteenth episode of series 32, broadcast on 13 January 2018. Sarker reprised the role again in 2023 for two episodes linked to Charlie Fairhead's exit; they feature in series 38 and aired on the 9th and 16th of March 2024.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Tess Bateman</span> Fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty

    Tess Bateman is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty, played by Suzanne Packer. She first appears in the series eighteen episode "End of the Line ", originally broadcast on 13 September 2003. The character is introduced as an emergency nurse practitioner in the emergency department (ED) of Holby City Hospital, but was later promoted to clinical nurse manager. For the role, Packer relocated from New York City to her hometown of Cardiff, and commenced filming in April 2003. Tess is characterised as a "traditionalist" with a good work ethic. She is highly experienced in her field and will protect her staff at all times. Packer drew on her experience as a teacher and her mother's experience as a nurse to develop the character.

    The thirty-first series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 27 August 2016, and concluded on 29 July 2017. The series consisted of 44 episodes, including the show's feature-length thirtieth anniversary special episode, "Too Old for This Shift". Erika Hossington continued her role as series producer, while Oliver Kent continued his role as the show's executive producer until the end of the series. Seventeen cast members reprised their roles from the previous series with original character Lisa "Duffy" Duffin returning to the series as part of the show's thirtieth anniversary. Rik Makarem appeared in the series between October 2016 and January 2017 as first year foundation doctor (F1) Sebastian Grayling. This series also featured the death of regular character Caleb Knight, who has appeared since series 28.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Too Old for This Shift</span> 1st and 2nd episodes of the 31st series of Casualty

    "Too Old for This Shift" is a special feature-length episode of the British medical drama television series Casualty. It was broadcast as the premiere episode of its thirty-first series on 27 August 2016, on BBC One, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the show. The special, which is 99 minutes long, was co-written by Matthew Barry and Andy Bayliss, directed by Steve Hughes, and produced by Lucy Raffety.

    The thirty-second series of the British medical drama television series Casualty began airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 19 August 2017, and concluded on 4 August 2018. The series consisted of 44 episodes. Erika Hossington continued her role as series producer, however, following her resignation in August 2017, was replaced by Lucy Raffety. Simon Harper began his role as the show's executive producer. Twenty cast members reprised their roles from the previous series. Lloyd Everitt, Crystal Yu, Jamie Davis left their respective roles during the series, while Charlotte Salt reprised her role as Sam Nicholls from episode five onwards. Four new cast members also joined the drama in series 32. The series opened with a two-parter special set in northern France, which was followed by an extended 70-minute special episode. It is the first series in the history of the show to omit episode titles.

    The thirty-third series of the British medical drama television series Casualty began airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 11 August 2018, one week after the end of the previous series. The series consisted of 46 episodes. Lucy Raffety continues her role as series producer, while Simon Harper continues his role as the show's executive producer. Sixteen regular cast members reprised their roles from the previous series. The series, which is billed as "The Year of the Paramedic", begins with a motorway collision stunt sequence, and features a crossover episode with spin-off series, Holby City. This series featured the departures of six cast members, including Amanda Mealing as Connie Beauchamp, Azuka Oforka as Louise Tyler and Chelsea Halfpenny as Alicia Munroe. Four new regular cast members also joined the series, while two actors began appearing in a recurring capacity.

    "Next of Kin" is a two-part episode of the British medical drama Casualty that served as the 15th and 16th episodes of the show's twenty-sixth series, and the 796th and 797th episodes overall. The first part premiered on 3 December 2011, and the second on 10 December 2011 on BBC One and BBC One HD in the United Kingdom. Both parts were directed by Simon Massey; part one was written by Patrick Homes and part two by Sally Abbott. "Next of Kin" marks Casualty's final episode to be filmed at their Bristol studios, where the show has been filmed since its conception in 1986, after the BBC decided to move the show to a new studio in Cardiff as part of their plans to expand production outside of England. The move received much opposition from multiple sources, including the cast and parliament.

    References

    General
    Specific
    1. "BBC Press Information". BBC . 23 December 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
    2. "BBC Press Information". BBC . 16 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
    3. "Digital Spy Casualty News". Digital Spy . 10 January 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
    4. Love, Ryan (17 May 2011). "Gemma Atkinson joins 'Casualty'". Digital Spy . Retrieved 11 July 2011.
    5. Dibdin, Emma (5 May 2012). "'Casualty' Gemma Atkinson confirms return". Digital Spy . Retrieved 4 June 2011.
    6. "Casualty Series 28-38. The Family Way". Radio Times . 5 May 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
    7. Love, Ryan (6 July 2011). "Exclusive: 'Casualty' announces two new castings". Digital Spy . Retrieved 11 July 2011.
    8. "Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board . Retrieved 8 February 2014. (User must select "BBC1" in the Channel field and then select the appropriate year, month and week to retrieve the figure for each episode)