Holby City is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999; the show ran until 29 March 2022. It follows the lives of medical and ancillary staff at the fictional Holby City Hospital, the same hospital as Casualty, in the fictional city of Holby, and features occasional crossovers of characters and plots with both Casualty and the show's 2007 police procedural spin-off HolbyBlue. It began with eleven main characters in its first series, all of whom subsequently left the show. New main characters were then periodically written in and out, with a core of around fifteen main actors employed at any given time. In casting the first series, Young sought actors who were already well known in the television industry, something which has continued throughout its history, with cast members including Patsy Kensit, Jane Asher, Robert Powell, Ade Edmondson and John Michie.
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.
Iain Robertson is a BAFTA award-winning Scottish actor. He portrayed "Lex" in the cult Glasgow gang film Small Faces. Robertson is also known for his work in the long-running children's drama Grange Hill and The Debt Collector, also starring Billy Connolly.
Dean Harris is an English actor. He began working "in the round" in 1966, in weekly and fortnightly repertory theatres across the United Kingdom, Canada and Zimbabwe.
Shirin Taylor is an English actress, best known for playing Jackie Ingram in the television soap opera Coronation Street from 1990 to 1992 as well as Tina, girlfriend to Robert Lindsay's character in comedy drama Give Us a Break and Rosa in sitcom I Woke Up One Morning.
Michael Troughton is an English actor, teacher and writer. He is best known for his television roles including Melish in Minder and Sir Piers Fletcher-Dervish in The New Statesman. He is the son of actor Patrick Troughton and the younger brother of actor David Troughton.
Amanda Jane Mealing is an English actress, director and producer, known for portraying the role of Connie Beauchamp in the BBC medical dramas Holby City and Casualty.
Rosie Ellen Celine Marcel is an English actress. Marcel is known for her role as Jac Naylor, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon lead in the BBC drama series Holby City, a role she has also played in sister series Casualty. She is also the daughter of television director Terry Marcel and sister of writer and actress Kelly Marcel.
Sara Scott Griffith is a Scottish actress. She played Stella in Sugar Rush.
Colette Brown is an English actress. In 1994, she was a presenter of the children's television series, Hangar 17. Brown appeared in an episode of the ITV drama A Touch of Frost in 1996. Her other television credits include Casualty, Our Friends In The North and Ultraviolet in 1998, as well as the BBC One daytime soap Doctors and the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood. Brown was born in South London in 1969. She has a son and a daughter with actor Gary Love.
Luisa Bradshaw-White is an English actress. She is know for her roles in many British television series, including Grange Hill as Maria Watts, This Life as Kira, Bad Girls as Lorna Rose, Holby City as Lisa Fox, and an eight-year run in EastEnders as Tina Carter.
Janice Margaret "Jan" Graveson is an English actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in EastEnders as Disa O'Brien and Benidorm as Susie.
The first series of the British medical drama television series Holby City commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 12 January 1999, and concluded on 9 March 1999. The show was created by Mal Young and Tony McHale as a spin–off from the BBC medical drama Casualty, intended to follow the treatment of patients from Casualty as they were transferred onto the hospital's surgical wards. McHale served as the programme's lead writer throughout the first series, which ran for nine episodes. Young cast actors who were already established names in the acting industry, particularly from a soap opera background. Several cast members shadowed real surgeons and nurses in preparation for their roles to increase the show's realism. The series received mixed reviews from critics. It was compared favourably with Casualty, but received negative reviews in which it was contrasted poorly with the American medical drama ER. The series première attracted 10.72 million viewers, falling to 8.51 million by the series finale.
Janet Dibley is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Elaine Walker in the 1980s sitcom The Two of Us, Lorna Cartwright in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, and Elaine Cassidy in the BBC soap opera Doctors.
Gray O'Brien is a Scottish television and film actor, best known for his portrayal of the villainous Weatherfield businessman Tony Gordon in the popular ITV soap opera Coronation Street from 2007–2010, and as Richard McCaig on the BBC medical drama Casualty from 1996–1998.
Matilda Vosburgh is a British character actress.
Mark Vincent Letheren is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as journalist Simon Kitson in ITV's drama The Bill, as Ben Harding in the BBC One drama Casualty and for his recurring role as DS Kevin Geoffries in Wire in the Blood.
Andrée Bernard is an English actress best known for her major role as Liz Burton in the British soap opera Hollyoaks. She was a recurring guest artist in Holby City and has had West End lead roles in Hair and Kiss Me Kate. She has also worked with Steven Berkoff, playing Sarah in The Actors Lament and Eve in 6 Actors In Search Of A Director.
The nineteenth series of the British medical drama television series Holby City commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 11 October 2016 and concluded airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 December 2017. The series consists of 64 episodes; an increase from the previous series.
