"Holby City" (1999) TV series 1999-????

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

Release Date:

12 January 1999 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

See how they operate.

Plot:

The everyday lives, professional and personal, of the doctors, nurses and patients who find themselves, for various reasons, in the wards of the frenetic cardiac unit of Holby City General Hospital.

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Patient | Doctor | Nurse | Betrayal

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Hugh Quarshie	...	Ric Griffin (253 episodes, 2001-2009)
Jaye Jacobs	...	Donna Jackson (218 episodes, 2004-2009)
Amanda Mealing	...	Connie Beauchamp / ... (212 episodes, 2001-2009)
Tina Hobley	...	Chrissie Williams / ... (206 episodes, 2001-2009)
Robert Powell	...	Mark Williams (179 episodes, 2005-2009)
Paul Bradley	...	Elliot Hope (159 episodes, 2005-2009)
Luke Roberts	...	Joseph Byrne / ... (157 episodes, 2005-2009)
Rosie Marcel	...	Jac Naylor / ... (150 episodes, 2004-2009)
Phoebe Thomas	...	Maria Kendall / ... (130 episodes, 2003-2009)
Patricia Potter	...	Diane Lloyd (121 episodes, 2002-2007)
Patsy Kensit	...	Faye Morton / ... (111 episodes, 2007-2009)
Sharon D. Clarke	...	Lola Griffin / ... (110 episodes, 2003-2008)
Rakie Ayola	...	Kyla Tyson / ... (103 episodes, 2003-2008)

Also Known As:

Holby (UK) (informal short title)

Runtime:

50 min (season 1) | 60 min (season 2-)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

BBC Elstree Centre/ATV Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Following the death of Laura Sadler who played Sandy Harper, the scriptwriters consulted her mother, Sonja Sadler, to find the most fitting way to write out the much-loved character and actress from the series. Mrs Sadler devised the storyline in which Sandy wins the lottery and secretly leaves the hospital to make a new life for herself in Australia, leaving money for her friends.

Quotes:

[gossiping about Connie]
Lisa Fox: Her husband's just been made chairman of the board.
Donna Jackson: Husband? I thought they just plugged her into the mains at the end of each day.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Extras: Chris Martin (#2.4)" (2006)

Series 4 shows that Holby isn't as bad as they say

As all the other comments have been made about only Series 1 and 2 and Holby is now near the end of its 4th series, I need to renew them. Of course I have grown up since the last comment I made ('mathewowen') and now realise that Holby City really isn't that realistic when you look at the hard graft and rush that goes on in real hospitals. It's true that a lot of the staff are more like counsellors than medical staff, and it's also true that a lot of the one episode characters (in every episode different patients are featured with their own storylines) come from soaps.

However, Holby City is still watchable stuff, and I think with the two new wards: Maternity and the Children's Ward, every episode is even more different, and there are so many new characters that are, for the most part, well played.

Holby is now viewed as a soap because of its all year round showing, and what with more staff storylines involving affairs and staff becoming patients, it's still good drama. Watch out for some eps where there are some scenes set in Casualty (Holby is a spin off of Casualty) with Casualty characters (likewise in a recent episode Mr Meyer was featured in Casualty being as arrogant as ever).

Okay, some could say that there are more staff storylines as the writers as exhausting the patient storylines. However, there are have been some pretty memorable staff storylines in the past 2 series, such as Mr Meyer being shot, Janice Taylor's (she's the consultant on the children's ward) husband having an affair with Sister Williams, Kath Shaugnessy playing victim to domestic violence, Liam Evans learning to cope with life in a wheelchair, Victoria Merrick being murdered (it was a classic 'whodunnit') and Danny Shaugnessy marrying an illegal immigrant who's first husband turned up though she thought he was dead, to name a few.

And the good thing about Holby City is that the whole set and atmosphere is like a real British hospital. You can almost smell the disinfectant!

Watch Holby City next time it's on and see for yourself. It's good drama.