Ian Bleasdale is an English actor and television presenter. He divides his time between Haworth in West Yorkshire and Bristol. He started off life as a teacher before deciding that he wanted to become an actor, something which he would later joke forced his mother to take to her sickbed.
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, including the longest-serving character Charlie Fairhead. They have all 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 fourth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 8 September 1989 and finished on 1 December 1989.
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 fifth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 7 September 1990 and finished on 7 December 1990.
The seventh series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 12 September 1992 and finished on 27 February 1993.
The eighth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 18 September 1993 and finished on 26 February 1994.
The ninth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 17 September 1994 and finished on 25 March 1995.
The tenth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 16 September 1995 and finished on 24 February 1996. Notable events of the series include Ash's marriage to Laura, Baz's affair with Charlie, Baz's pregnancy, and a gas explosion.
The eleventh series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 14 September 1996 and finished on 22 February 1997. Notable events of the series include the death of Josh's wife and children as a result of a house fire, the birth of Charlie and Baz's son Louis, and the near-fatal stabbing of Jude at the end of the series.
The twelfth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 11 September 1997 and finished on 28 February 1998. The first episode was originally due to be shown on the evening of Saturday 6 September, but this was delayed until the following Thursday due to coverage of the Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales earlier on that day, as the BBC felt it would be inappropriate to air the episode so soon after such an event.
The thirteenth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 5 September 1998 and finished on 13 March 1999. It saw another increase, this time to 28 episodes, including a feature-length Christmas episode. This was the first series to be broadcast in widescreen. The series also acted as a launchpad for characters and storylines in the spin-off series Holby City, which started in January 1999.
The fourteenth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 18 September 1999 and finished on 25 March 2000. It saw another increase, this time to 30 episodes.
The eighteenth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty began airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 13 September 2003, and concluded on 28 August 2004. The series consists of 46 episodes, which focus on the professional and personal lives of medical and ancillary staff at the emergency department (ED) of the fictional Holby City Hospital. Foz Allen serves as the series producer, while Mal Young and Mervyn Watson act as the executive producers of the series. Twelve regular cast members reprised their roles from the previous series and six actors joined the cast during the series. Original cast member Julia Watson, who portrays Baz Wilder, also returned.
The twenty-second series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 8 September 2007 and finished on 9 August 2008.
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 was 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 on a Saturday night.
The thirtieth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 29 August 2015, and concluded on 30 July 2016. The series consisted of 43 episodes, including the broadcast of the show's 1000th episode on 25 June 2016. Erika Hossington continued her role as series producer, while Oliver Kent continued his role as the show's executive producer. Seventeen cast members reprised their roles from the previous series with five actors, including three long-serving cast members, departing during this series. Chelsea Halfpenny appeared in the serial between September and November 2015 as F2 Alicia Munroe, reprising the role as a main cast member in July 2016. Alistair Brammer joined the cast for a four-month guest stint as receptionist Jack Diamond in December 2015. Three new regular cast members joined the serial in spring 2016: Lloyd Everitt as paramedic Jez Andrews; Jason Durr as staff nurse David Hide; and Jaye Griffiths as consultant Elle Gardner.
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.
"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.
