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.
Sandra Dickinson is an American-British actress. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She has often played characters within the trope of a dumb blonde with a high-pitched voice.
Debra Stephenson is an English actress, comedian, impressionist and singer, best known for her roles as Diane Powell in Playing the Field, Shell Dockley in Bad Girls and as Frankie Baldwin in Coronation Street.
Rebecca Ryan is an English actress, best known for her role as Debbie Gallagher in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series Shameless (2004–2009). Ryan also appeared as Vicki MacDonald in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road (2009–2011), Gemma Dean in the BBC One medical drama Casualty (2017–2019) and from 2021 to 2022, she appeared in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Lydia Chambers.
Patricia Caroline Potter is an English actress, known for her role as Diane Lloyd in the BBC medical drama series Holby City. From 2016 to 2017, she appeared in the BBC soap opera Doctors as Jane Fairweather.
Jaye Griffiths is a British stage, television and voice-over actress. After playing Ros Henderson in the BBC series Bugs and D.I. Sally Johnson in the ITV procedural drama The Bill, she landed the role of Elizabeth Croft in the BBC soap opera Doctors. She has since portrayed roles including Janet Mander in Silent Witness, Elle Gardner in Casualty and its spin-off series, Holby City, and Yavalla in The Outpost.
Ian Kelsey is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Dave Glover in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, Patrick Spiller in the BBC medical drama Casualty, DI Richard Mayne in the ITV crime drama Blue Murder and Howard Bellamy in the BBC soap opera Doctors. As well as appearing in the BBC drama Down to Earth, he also portrayed the role of Vinny Ashford in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street from 2016 to 2017.
Don Gilét is an English actor, best known for his roles in BBC productions Babyfather, EastEnders and 55 Degrees North.
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.
Susan Cookson is an English actress. She has appeared in various television series, and is known for roles including as Tanya in Early Doors, Janice Piper in Clocking Off, Maggie Coldwell in the BBC medical drama Casualty and Wendy Posner in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.
Jayne Grayson is a fictional character in the BBC medical drama Holby City, portrayed by actress Stella Gonet. The character first appeared on-screen on 10 July 2007 in episode "Under the Radar" – series 9, episode 39 of the programme. Her role in the show was that of chief executive officer of the Holby City Hospital Primary Care Trust, making her the only regular character who is not a medic by profession. Gonet formerly appeared as a doctor in Holby City's sister show Casualty, and has since appeared in crossover episodes of the drama, this time as Jayne Grayson. Her storylines in Holby City have revolved around issues of hospital bureaucracy, as well as her husband's affair with her colleague Connie Beauchamp. A two-part episode which saw Jayne fight the hospital's board of directors and the British government over the separation surgery of the conjoined twin daughters of illegal Korean immigrants proved a critical success, and was positively received by many tabloid TV critics.
Dominique Jackson is a British actress, known for portraying the role of Lauren Valentine in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.
Lauren Emma Drummond is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Mika Grainger in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road (2006–2008) Chantelle Lane in the BBC One medical drama series Holby City and Student Nurse Faye Clark in the ITV Drama The Royal (2009-2011).
The twelfth series of the British medical drama television series Holby City commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 20 October 2009. The series deals with the repercussions of the death of ward sister Faye Byrne's son Archie, including the resignation of consultant Connie Beauchamp and the return of former registrar Thandie Abebe-Griffin. It also focuses on staff members' romantic and family lives. F1 Oliver Valentine becomes romantically involved with registrar Jac Naylor and ward sister Daisha Anderson, and his sister Penny embarks on a secret romance with a heart transplant patient. Consultant Linden Cullen is reunited with his estranged daughter Holly, nurse Donna Jackson decides to adopt her half-niece Mia, sister Chrissie Williams gives birth to a son, Daniel, and Faye becomes pregnant by her estranged husband Joseph. The series includes a crossover episode with sister show Casualty and it also has the highest number of episodes to date, as the series contains a small number of episodes which air during the same week.
Hollie Chapman is an English actress.
Holby City is a British medical drama television series that premiered on 12 January 1999 on BBC One. The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty. It is set in the same hospital as Casualty, Holby General, 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.
Patrick Spiller is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty, portrayed by actor Ian Kelsey. The character made his first appearance during the fourteenth series episode "Free Fall", which was broadcast on 11 December 1999. Patrick is a specialist registrar in the Holby City Hospital emergency department, who attempts to advance his career and attain a consultancy post, whilst having relationships throughout his tenure with SHO Holly Miles, PC Rachel James and Holly's replacement, SHO Lara Stone. He dies from a head injury following a car crash in the sixteenth series episode "Past, Present, Future" – making his final appearance on 16 March 2002.
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.
"CasualtyXHolby" is a two-part crossover of the British medical dramas Casualty and Holby City. The first part aired on 2 March 2019, and the second on 5 March 2019 on BBC One. Both episodes were written by Michelle Lipton and directed by Steve Brett. The plot sees Holby City Hospital experience a loss of power due to a cyberattack. Consultants Connie Beauchamp and Jac Naylor also come into conflict when they learn there is only one theatre available while treating two of their colleagues.
