Holby City is a British drama TV show that airs on BBC One every week.Produced by Tony McHale and Mal Young, the show started off as a spin-off to BBC Drama: Casualty. It aired on January 12, 1999, and has been running since. It covers the lives of medical and ancillary personnel at the Holby City Hospital in the city of Holby, which is the same hospital as Casualty.The show follows the pattern of an ensemble cast and their experiences in the Holby City Hospital.
What is Holby City All About?
Holby City covers the chaotic Cardiac Unit of Holby City General Hospital. It features the lives of certain medical professionals, doctors, nurses, and even patients and how their personal and professional lives overlap.
The show is a Medical Drama that features the emotional and physical strain and gains that medical professionals and staff go through in their everyday work. For saving lives, they go through a lot of personal sacrifices and experience life from a new perspective.
The show started off as a Spin-off to the BBC Classic: Casualty, which is also still running on BBC Networks. Occasionally characters from both shows cross over with overlapping storylines.
The creators have distinguishedHolbyCity and Casualty by its episode premises, casualty features near life and death experiences in the emergency ward, while Holby City focuses on the Cardiac Section of the Hospital, thus more long term and life-changing medical instances.
A Brief History: Holby City
With the show reaching its finale reportedly, it’s a matter of interest that it has seen an array of characters that kept changing throughout the show.
In its first series, the show featured only eleven main characters, all of whom have now departed from the show. Following this, the characters constantly is changing in the show. However, the pattern of a primary set of 15-20 characters is a constant.The show has a history of casting young yet prominent actors.
Actors well known in the Silver Screen industry are the ones that are approached to be cast. Many prominent members have been a part of the show including Patsy Kensit, Jane Asher, Robert Powell, Adrian Edmondson, Alex Walkinshaw, and Jemma Redgrave.
Stream it, or Skip it?
The show has been running since 1999 and has seen multiple changes in cast and characters. However, the show’s adherence to drama has kept it alive on British TV.
The show is currently on 1100+ episodes. So it requires a lot of time spent on screen and a whole lot of dedication towards watching it. Enjoyers of shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Scrubs should definitely watch this show without any doubt.
However if you find yourself with a shortage of time to dedicate towards 1100 episodes of pure medical drama, we definitely suggest you skip this show. Factors like the non-constant cast and characters are a hindrance to the show’s drama factor. Yet it somehow manages to be barely watchable for a medical drama fan.
Where to Watch it?
The show is available to watch on BBC’s streaming service: BBC iPlayer. Few seasons of the show are also available to buy/stream at Prime Video (USA).
