Casualty spoilers follow.
Casualty star Michael Stevenson has confirmed that there will be some new faces joining the show in the near future, as the medical drama prepares for a major change in upcoming episodes.
Last weekend, the BBC medical drama celebrated 40 years on TV with two explosive anniversary episodes – but talk is now turning to the show’s future, with a move from Holby to a fictional hospital in Wales on the cards in 2027.
Jeff Spicer
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Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy on the red carpet at the 31st National Television Awards this week, Michael, who plays paramedic Iain Dean in the show, gave a taster of what this move will mean for Casualty.
“It’s a new era, it absolutely is,” he teased. “We’re going to be Wales based – focusing on Wales, celebrating Wales, where we’ve filmed for the last 15 years.
“And that’s an amazing thing, it allows us a fresh perspective on things, the way the NHS runs there and all things like that. So it is like a fresh start, we’re really excited.”
Michael remains tight-lipped for now about how this move will affect the show’s much-loved existing characters, and teases that “this is yet to be discovered”. It is likely that we will be returning to Holby when the show returns next year, and we may not see this major move on screen for months yet.
However, the actor is excited about what this change means for Casualty, not least because there will be some new faces introduced as part of this exciting new era.
“Obviously the characters will remain, and they take their history with them into the new era,” he revealed. “But I think that’s one of the exciting things, it adds a new dynamic to everybody. We’ll see some new faces and some old faces, and they’re going to mix.”
BBC
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Meanwhile, Michael is touched by the positive response to the anniversary episodes, and tells us he is now looking forward to moving forward into Casualty’s next chapter.
“It was incredible,” he remarked, speaking about the feedback from viewers. “What was really lovely was I went to a festival the day after the episodes aired, and it was crazy how many people came up to me and were talking to me – they’d watched [the episodes] with their parents or grandparents.
“It just showed us that 40 years on, we’re getting three generations sat on the sofa watching Casualty. And we’re moving forward into season 41, so we want to take that audience with us and gather momentum with a new audience as well.”
Casualty will return to BBC One next year. The 40th anniversary episodes are available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
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