Casualty spoilers follow.
Casualty’s stars have promised that the anniversary episodes will be “very different” from usual. The soap is marking 40 years on air this weekend, with a special double bill seeing an explosion at St James’ Hospital that leads to chaos at the ED.
Opening up about the episodes, Siobhan McKenzie actor Melanie Hill opened up exclusively to Digital Spy about her hopes around what viewers take away.
BBC
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“I would like the viewers who maybe haven’t seen Casualty before to keep watching, because we keep raising the bar,” she teased. “These are very different episodes, obviously there is much bigger CGI involved.
“But as well as that, we continue to tell really human stories that everyone can identify with – and the scripts that we’re working on now just get better and better.”
Olly Rix (Flynn Byron) added: “I’d say the same, it’s for new viewers as well. But of course, it’s good and it’s right to acknowledge the audience that have been with the show for a long time, and I think there’s plenty in the episodes that they are going to feel pleased is included.
“So there’s many different audiences being catered to in these episodes.”
BBC
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It comes after show boss Liza Mellody recently teased the specials, noting how the soap had remained “modern and relevant” over the years.
“Our characters are human – they are flawed but they do the best they can with what they have,” she said. “We are telling human stories through the lens of medicine, adrenaline, warmth, joy, pain and ultimately hope. It is a marvellous concoction for Saturday night viewing.”
She added: “There are so many people that have said, ‘I became a nurse or doctor because of Casualty,’ or ‘I know how to do CPR because of Casualty’. With that comes a responsibility to be authentic.
“We are a drama, but we have a huge medical team advising on the show, so what we portray is authentic with a twist of dramatic licence!”
To read our full exclusive chats with the cast, pick up the latest issue of Inside Soap, available to buy from Tuesday 1 September – which contains a whopping 23 pages of Casualty content!
Casualty’s 40th anniversary double-bill airs on Saturday 5 September on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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