Casualty's last scene in Bristol
A QUARTER of a century of TV history will come to an end next week when the BBC films its last ever episode of Casualty in Bristol.
Landmarks in the city including the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Harbourside have provided the backdrop for the longest-running medical drama on television for the last 25 years.
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A narrow boat is exploded on Bristol’s harbourside in March 2003 for Casualty
The BBC announced two years ago that it was moving the production of the popular series to Cardiff in a bid to save money.
The announcement sparked anger in Bristol and it was estimated that the production is worth at least £25 million a year to the city's economy.
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The news that filming was finally coming to an end in the city has been branded as a "disappointment" by Bristol's tourism body.
John Hirst, from Destination Bristol, said: "It is disappointing that Casualty decided to leave Bristol.
"Although it didn't necessarily bring in extra visitors for Bristol, it is always disappointing when organisations choose to establish themselves elsewhere.
"I hope they review the situation in the future and come back to Bristol – we want to make Bristol the centre of everything."
Cast members, actor turned TV presenter Tony Robinson and the South West Screen organisation have all campaigned against the move without any success.
The cast and crew of the drama are in the process of filming the 25th series of the drama, currently being shown on Saturday night.
A farewell party for cast and crew is being held on Friday, August 19, at the series production base in a nondescript building on a trading estate in the St Phillip's area of the city. Many of the stars of the show live in the city along with the production team and the film crew.
The first episode of the drama was aired in September 1986 and ran for a total of 14 episodes. The current series runs around the year and only takes a break for live events such as the World Cup and the Eurovision Song Contest.
MPs also fought to keep the drama in Bristol but the BBC have pressed ahead with the move to a drama village in Cardiff Bay which is also used by Doctor Who and Torchwood.
Crews filming on location in Bristol have become a common part of life in the city with a range of disasters and accidents recreated on the streets of Bristol. Disasters have included car bombs, plane crashes, gas explosions and even shootings.
The show is famous for producing stars and no less than three Oscar nominees – Brenda Fricker, Kate Winslet and Pete Postlethwaite – have appeared on the show.
Other stars who have appeared on the series down the years before making it big have included Orlando Bloom, Ray Winstone, Minnie Driver and Christopher Eccleston.
The show is one of the BBC's most successful programmes and regularly attracts audiences of more than five million viewers.
Down the years there have been more than 780 episodes and there have been 150 actors who have made regular appearances on the programme.
Even though a number of programmes have left Bristol, the BBC has said it remains committed to the city. The organisation is looking to move out of its headquarters in Whiteladies Road and is looking for a new building.
The world-famous Natural History Unit will remain in the city along with local programmes and news.
Comments
by Chocolate123
Wednesday, August 17 2011, 5:07PM
“Aww why does it have to move? I live by the place they film it. Me and my sister always look to see if they are there!! CASUALTY DONT MOVE PLEASE! Im not coming all the way to Cardiff to see you!!”
by TeamParamedic
Thursday, August 11 2011, 12:24AM
“Well I for one am gutted that Casualty is about to move out of Bristol. I dont care about the pro's its a Bristol programme and should stay that way. You wouldnt move Corrie out of Manchester would you? Yes they may cause a bit of traffic chaos when they film, but personally I get a real sense of pride when I see my home city on a prime time Saturday night TV show. And for those of you who think its past its best, fair enough you're entitled to your opinion but there is an easy way out of this change channels no one is forcing you to watch it!”
by sumsungs
Tuesday, August 09 2011, 7:08AM
“I thought there was riots in Bristol but it turn out stupid program.... Need to take it down it is VERY upsetting due to this happening in London and Birmingham.....What next ?”
by TalbotHill
Monday, August 08 2011, 10:55PM
“"Shoestring" was a Bristol series - Cardiff would not have been able to do it!”
by JohnnoW
Monday, August 08 2011, 9:13PM
“You might want to remove the picture of an exploding boat off your front page. Given all chaos in London and now Birmingham, you might be accidentally scaring people that riots are happenning here as well.”
by westywardy
Monday, August 08 2011, 1:50PM
“The biggest crime about this programme is that it is given a primetime slot on a Saturday night.”
by Mrs_W2009
Monday, August 08 2011, 11:43AM
“I certainly won't miss the Casualty film crews clogging up the streets for days on end with their food vans and self-important idiots in hi-vis jackets telling me where I can and can't walk! Wales is welcome to them. Casualty has become an embarrassment of a programme in recent years anyway.”
by Ronnieeee
Monday, August 08 2011, 11:36AM
“I for one will never watch it again”
by yidds
Monday, August 08 2011, 11:17AM
“Moving to Cardiff what a joke, you watch now the ratings will go down, its always been known as a Bristol thing”
by FromMendip
Monday, August 08 2011, 11:07AM
“As a programme I've never rated Casualty highly though my wife is a devoted fan, yet even she concedes it's probably reached its sell-by date. She tells me the 'plots' are more outlandish by the week and and increasingly feature the private lifes of staff who just happen to work at a hospital.
I'm told there is a feeling amongst artistic people in the industry that Cardiff as a city has a more constricted backdrop than Bristol which is spread over many hills with ancient as well as modern distruicts, and can be made to resemble all sorts of locations from Kensington to a rural country town.
Such shows as Fools and Horses, House of Eliot, Shoestring, Softly Softly and others have certainly made full use of Bristol's varied townscape. The city has even doubled as Amsterdam (Welsh Back) and the Rhur Valley (Crews Hole) in television drama in the past, not to mention the HTV-made Robin Hood series along the River Frome valley.
I won't miss Casualty as I've not watched it for many years and my wife says this will be a good time for her to cease wasting nearly an hour of each Saturday evening, so that's one regular viewer they are about to lose.”