BBC confirms Casualty's future as major change announced
The BBC has announced that the beloved medical drama Casualty is set to be put out for tender. This move follows in the footsteps of fellow medical series Holby City, which was unfortunately cancelled.
The broadcaster has reassured fans that the show will remain on the air and they'll retain all programme rights.
Now, BBC Commissioning is on the lookout for a new producer for Casualty, and they're officially accepting pitches.
It's been confirmed by the BBC that production will continue in Cardiff, emphasising the show's significance to Wales' creative industry.
BBC Content's Chief Operating Officer, David Pembrey, said: "The award-winning Casualty is a hugely important continuing drama which has been on our screens since 1986. We are opening it to competition as part of our ongoing commitment to delivering the very best value for audiences."
Last year, the BBC announced that Casualty would temporarily step away from TV listings. On September 23, the network tweeted: "#Casualty will return. Casualty is on a break and will be back on your screens later this year."
WhatToWatch received confirmation from an official spokesperson regarding the show's continued run later in the year.
After delighting audiences with a Christmas special, Casualty made a triumphant return to the BBC in March.
The recent shake-up has left fans voicing their opinions with a range of reactions.
One viewer complained on X, "They should have done this for Holby City instead of axing it outright, Holby was way better than Casualty."
Another added: "All this reminds me of when ITV decided to axe The Bill. Apparently these domestic workplace dramas must be more expensive to produce than they look."
Another expressed doubt over the decision, saying: "An odd move, I doubt Casualty is an expensive show to make. And if that's the case where is the money going to come from for Doccy Who? You could probably make a season of Casualty for what one episode would cost."
In a surprising turn of events, November 2024 saw the BBC pull the plug on the long-running medical soap Doctors after a 24-year run, attributing the decision to "super inflation in drama production," which has driven up costs significantly.
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The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
What I found when I revisited the Barras after decades away
And there were swaggers of young men, hair slick and wavy with Brylcreem, brimming with attitude in their white sports coats, their chiselled jaws forged not in gyms but in coalmines, steelworks and shipyards. And arm-in-arm with last night's lumber. This is where we would come on Sunday afternoons in the advent weeks running up to Christmas. Where else could a single modest wage help Santa fulfil his annual responsibilities to five young children? It didn't matter that the toys' shelf-life was shorter than the wrapping paper in which they came, but that they out-lasted the school holidays. Read More: It was amidst this throng between wooden barrows laden with garments and jewellery and 'fancy goods' where I first got lost. I still recall that initial terror that comes with being marooned among strangers beyond the protective gaze of mum and dad. And then being rescued by an elderly woman with a black shawl and brown, leathery features who spoke kindly to me in a funny accent full of zs and ks and sat me down beside her stall; experience telling her that my parents would soon retrace their steps and find me here. And now, for the first time in many decades I'm back here at the invitation of Sarah Campbell, The Herald's Food and Drink specialist. Ms Campbell is telling me about the recent 'street food' and 'artisan' vibe that has begun to curl around this old place. She's a full generation younger than me, but knows these alleyways well and all their culinary vestibules. And the stallholders all seem to know her. I'm impressed. Anything billed as 'artisan' often induces a nameless terror in me: of pony-tailed and red corduroyed hipsters frenchifying comestibles you can pick up in Lidl and charging an extra fiver for it; of soy lattes and other formless elixirs served by the barista elites. Perhaps, she's sensed my initial reticence and so perhaps that's why she's chosen a wee outlet called Colombian Bites to commence our culinary peregrination through the Barras market. Colombian Bites at the Barras (Image: Robert Perry) It's about the size of a garden shed and is squeezed in between wider and louder emporiums on Moncur Street, but the queue that has begun to form there hints at the treats to come. It's owned by Ana Orsino and Andres Moya whose Facebook page tells me that that this is their love letter to Colombia and the Latin spirit which lives in both of us. They specialise in Arepas and Empanadas, which I may have tasted once or twice in Tex Mex … or maybe that's me wretchedly indulging in an ethno-gastro form of profiling. Empanadas, I've heard of, but if I have previously eaten one it wasn't like this. I'd have remembered this. Ms Campbell has recommended a chicken empanada. You're tempted to describe its casing as a 'wrap' as though it's one of those tuna preparations you get in a Tesco meal-deal and in which you could wrap spanners. This one though, is as fine as tissue paper so that it doesn't detract from the layers of meat. You want to describe it as 'tightly-packed', but it's too delicate for that. One of them is just about enough; two at a single sitting would be disrespectful. And then we delve into the Barras' old, thin, busy boulevards and the stalls and the barrows of my youth still laden with Aladdin's cast-offs. I can't resist telling Ms Campbell about this wider neighbourhood and all of its connectedness to my family. She listens politely, but when I get like this I'm like a two-bob tour guide and so I give her leave to shut me up at any moment. I was baptised just up the road from here at St Anne's in Dennistoun, where my mum's side of the family all lived when they'd got off then boat from Ireland. I recount a night in the Barrowland ballroom at a Pogues concert where my brothers and cousins and their friends defended the honour of a young female in their company with extreme prejudice when a drunken suitor and his psycho pals were coming the wide men. The Barras (Image: Newsquest) And I tell her about my daughter, a sustainable gashio designer who had a studio in the middle of the Barras and how proud I was that she had restored a family link to this neighbourhood stretching back five generations. Ms Campbell isn't having any of the gentrification stuff. 'You can't really gentrify a place like this,' she says. 'The street food is real and it's of a high quality made by people who know what they're doing. But the Barras will always be the Barras.' Read More: She's right, of course. The sights and sounds rising up from these wynds come from a dozen different cultures, but this is nothing new. This place once provided sanctuary and safe spaces for my people and their alien culture and now it's doing so again. The food is an extension of these groups, their gifts to us, in which they've placed something of themselves and their lands. Later, we head for Ho Lee Fook, the Hong Kong street food shack directly opposite the Barrowland Ballroom on the corner of MacFarlane Street and the Gallowgate. The literal translation of Ho Lee Fook is 'Good, wealth and luck.' It's also my inward response when I bite into one of their pork burgers. I want to ask if they'd consider opening sister outlets called 'Mon Tae' and 'Take a Runnin', but these might not have a direct Chinese translation. Ms Campbell believes this place offers just about the best street food in the city. 'You'd be amazed how far people will travel to visit this place,' she says. I've not come from very far away, but Ho Lee Fook is the main reason why I make a return solo visit the following week. Ho Lee Fook (Image: Robert Perry) I also want to take a more leisurely wander through the old Barras. These streets were absolutely rammed with people when I'd walked round with Ms Campbell and even more so on my return visit. I turn right at Kent Street just beside Mexica Express and across from the Saracen Head tavern. Many years ago, en route to a Celtic game, I'd watched a barman pour White Lightning cocktails directly into the mouths of a row of punters, this being their first drink of the day and thus the one that would stiffen their shaky hands. Just inside the first lane there's a wee old boy with a fez and a beard, looking like he's just taken the long route back from a Grateful Dead concert in 1969. There's a stall selling Polish dumplings. I have to forgo these delights though as I need to leave some room for those Ho Lee Fookin bang bang prawns and crispy katsu chicken. The local vernacular is at full ramming speed today. 'You alright, ma man,' I'm asked by the Gallowgate Hippie. 'Aye, it's all good,' I say, and we chat about how great the atmosphere is. 'Nice talkin' to you, bud,' he says. 'Lookin' good, princess,' he says to a handsome woman looking for baby clothes across the way. She giggles and then he winks at me. A young couple walk by, speaking French. 'Are youze from Germany,' another old chap asks them. 'Do you know ma mate Klaus, he used to live up the Garngad. Some team that Bayern Munich, by the way. In every nook, there are tables selling collectable vinyls and picture discs. Bob Marley is singing 'Exodus, movement of Ja People.' The elderly woman behind the table next to me is wearing what appears to be her wedding dress from the last century and I feel a tenderness for her that I can't quite explain. In small wooden kiosks and pavilions there are old coins, old hats, old mirrors, old cards. You wouldn't use this place as a backdrop to a movie location; you'd use the movie as a backdrop to the Barras. The Barras (Image: Newsquest) I walk down to Colombian Bites and this time the queue is nudging the opposite side of the street. Today is Colombian Independence Day and along with his tostadas and his empanadas and his arepas, Andres is providing a free Salsa dance lesson. Some couples are taking him up on his kind offer, sashaying and swaying in the Glasgow sunshine. 'One, two three ... five, six, seven, Clap your hands, side to side.' Ms Campbell should be glad she's not here, because I'd have been up there like a shot. Round the corner and there's your luxury dog's chocolates. A human couple appears to be tasting the goods somewhat, which is top, top marketing. And there's your Monster Munchies, billed as 'The Barras Hutch for good food'. Under a sign that reads 'F*** the Diet' there's lively bill of fayre: Irn Bru chilli; loaded salt and chilli fries, Monster Munchie Box And look, here's a pavilion selling holy pictures and statues and crucifixes. I purchase a statue of Padre Pio, the old saint who had the gift of being in two places at the one time. It sparks another childhood memory: of my old school football coach, Charlie Higgins and his lifelong devotion to Padre Pio. When I'd told him that the Italian holy man would have been decent at football with a gift like that, Mr Higgins had become cross. 'You could be in six places at the one time, McKenna and you'd still never be anywhere near the flamin' ball." It's owned by Rebecca and Sandra. I tell them it's great to see the Barras jumping again. 'This place is vital to the local community,' says Sandra. 'It helps young entrepreneurs to get a wee shot at running their own businesses without having to pay the expensive High Street rents. 'Rebecca's dad died two years ago and both she and I have found solace here. It's been an escape. You can't not be happy among these people.'
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Is godfather of hospitality MasterChef's next judge?
While sacked MasterChef judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode are due to appear in a new series filmed last year, a colourful character is being lined up as a successor. I hear that restaurateur and hotelier Robert Walton, often called the 'godfather of hospitality', has held talks about joining the crisis-hit BBC cookery series. Restaurant critic Grace Dent was named as Wallace's successor last December after the former greengrocer stepped down following several historical allegations of inappropriate behaviour made about him. 'Robert is in talks for being appointed the MasterChef judge position with Dent,' a source tells me. 'He is a wild card but the most qualified for the job. 'They like the idea of Robert and Grace together. They are playing around with pairs, and they are looking for credibility. It would make a refreshing change to have someone who is an authority on food and hospitality, who is highly decorated and respected, judging for MasterChef.' Walton, 69, who is married to Australian fashion designer Donna Ida Thornton, has already received the royal seal of approval, having been awarded an MBE in 2007 by then Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace for services to hospitality. This week, Walton was honoured again at the House of Lords, where he won the British Icon of Hospitality Award at the Arabreneurs Gala Dinner. 'I'm upset with what's happened to MasterChef and the way everything has come out,' he tells me. 'It's an institution, and it needs to carry on. If someone wants me to do it, I'm super-happy to put my name forward and can get the job done.' Previously touted to replace Torode were Saturday Kitchen's Matt Tebbutt and Andi Oliver, who hosts Great British Menu. Princess Anne's woes with Wills Holidays can wait for hard-working Princess Anne, who held yet another investiture on behalf of her brother, King Charles, at Windsor Castle on Tuesday. Around 30 are held each year, at which people who've been awarded an honour receive their gong from the King, 76, Anne, who turns 75 next month, or Prince William, 43, who lives at Windsor. A 'source close to Anne' was quoted in The Sunday Times as saying: 'She's still doing most of the investitures [at Windsor] even though William lives there. It annoys her.' Her nephew is currently on holiday abroad with his family. Pick up after your own pooches, says Lucrezia SHE is known for her calmness when delivering bulletins, but ITV News presenter Lucrezia Millarini is a pugnacious type off screen. The Celebrity Mastermind winner, 49, reveals that she confronts fellow dog owners who fail to clean up after their pets. 'I have done this a few times,' she tells me at the premiere of the documentary Dogspiracy. 'Cleaning up after your dog is the right and proper thing to do.' Lucrezia, who has a lhasa apso named Milo, pictured above, says owners who let their dogs leave a mess are 'often aggressive'. She adds: 'It's generally men, they often come back at you with a four-letter word.' Ozzy Osbourne died at home on Tuesday at the age of 76, 'with his family and surrounded by love'. The Black Sabbath star's daughter, Kelly, told me earlier this month he was happy being back in his native Britain but frustrated to be separated from his animals. 'He loves the house, but he's just waiting for the dogs to get here,' she said. Fortunately, I hear his beloved dogs did arrive before his death. They played a big part in Ozzy's TV series The Osbournes. The star once shared a video of his late pomeranian Rocky 'headbanging' to his song Crazy Train. Apinall's ex is expecting miracle baby When I disclosed in 2022 that casino and wildlife park heir Damian Aspinall had separated from his second wife, Victoria, pictured left, friends pointed out that she had always made it clear that she wanted children with him. Now, she has revealed that it was her struggle to conceive that ended their marriage. And she is pregnant with a 'miracle baby' by an unnamed man. 'I was utterly shocked when I found out I was pregnant earlier this year,' admits the former Burberry executive, 39. 'For seven years, my husband and I fought for this dream: multiple rounds of IVF, miscarriages, and an endless hope that slowly eroded. 'It cost me everything I once loved: my marriage, my home, my career, my sense of self. It took two and a half years to grieve, to rebuild, to finally accept that motherhood might never be part of my story.' Victoria does not seem to be in a relationship with the father, saying: 'Everything I had dreamed of sharing with someone was no longer my reality. Deciding to keep this baby has been the bravest choice of my life.' ITV has made much of the danger faced by participants in its much-hyped series, Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters, in which stars including Countdown's Rachel Riley and Call The Midwife actress Helen George swim with the fearsome predators. One of the stars, Sir Lenny Henry, appears, however, to have revealed the truth about the 'reality' programme. 'We survived,' says the actor and comedian, 66. 'I was aware that ITV don't want anybody of a celebrity nature to be eaten on television.'
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night's TV: Keep off the NHS wards Netflix, and leave it to the experts at Channel 5
Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts (Ch5) Rating: Channel 5 is the home of shows about farmers, compilations of royal archive footage, and wistfully nostalgic celebrations of chocolate bars in the 1970s. You don't switch on expecting to see 15-part international political thrillers with Emmy-winning performances from Hollywood superstars and CGI spectaculars where terrorists blow up the White House. That is best left to the mega-budget streaming services. So why on earth is Netflix making a formulaic, NHS-by-numbers hospital documentary, when that's the speciality of traditional broadcasters with limited funds? Critical: Between Life And Death is a carbon copy of shows aired every week, not only on Ch5 but on the BBC and Ch4. Each series has its own angle: Ambulance follows the paramedic crews, Surgeons: At The Edge Of Life goes into the operating theatre, and 24 Hours In A&E charts the frantic pace on emergency wards. All of them are polished, well-practised productions. It's arrogant of Netflix to assume they can elbow their way into this market and give the formula a new twist. They can't: the six episodes of Critical feel robotic and slightly insincere, a cynical attempt to steal another broadcaster's successful format. The series is filmed across London 's Major Trauma System, a network of teams within the NHS. 'It's a big orchestra working together,' the voiceover explains, 'and everyone leaves their mark' — a vacuous and meaningless statement. The first episode follows the aftermath of an accident at a fairground, where several people including a 12-year-old girl have been injured on a ride. The injuries seem severe at first, with one woman suffering a fractured skull, but everyone escapes with their lives and the odd broken bone. The drama of this is dragged out for 40 minutes, at the same relentless pitch of anxiety throughout. There are no other storylines, no moments of humour or asides, with the result that the whole show becomes a trudge. Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts, returning for its tenth series on Ch5, demonstrates how it should be done. The cheery voice of actor Dean Andrews begins by introducing us to the staff on duty, who this time include a ward sister called Jane who reveals a stash of lollipops and choccie bars — fuel for the busy day. 'Get ready to share a shift with the team at Barnsley Casualty,' announces Dean, with the chirpiness of a man on his way to the vending machine for a cup of milky coffee with two sugars. There's nothing as cataclysmic as a disaster at the fairground, but the medical emergencies grip our emotions because the film-makers know what really matters: people, not procedures. John, 67, fell and broke his wrist while feeding the cat. Nine-year-old Alice snapped her collarbone, and doesn't know whether to be horrified or thrilled by her predicament. And dog-walker Cerys, 21, keeps having asthma attacks . . . because she's allergic to dogs. Possibly time for a career change.
