'Holby City' bounced on to our screens in 1999 as a close cousin to the established hospital drama 'Casualty'. With a strong initial cast including the silent, sexy Mr Mayer (George Irving), nurses Jasmine (Angela Griffin) and Julie (Nicola Stephenson), and doctors Nick (Michael French), Victoria (Lisa Faulkner) and Kirstie (Dawn McDaniel), it had a lot of life and some good story lines. Then Jasmine was stabbed, Kirstie was involved in drugs, and Victoria was killed by a resentful parent of a patient who died in her care.
Hunky consultant Mike Barratt (Clive Mantle) who had been in 'Casualty', also joined Holby early on, and the sparring between him and Meyer was memorable (especially loved a Christmas episode where it snowed right on cue and we even got a 'ho ho ho' from Meyer). Later consultants have had their fair share of problems - Ric (Hugh Quarshie), still in the programme, has had drug and gambling addictions; Alistair (Dominic Jephcott) had a wife in IVF treatment (Janice, played by Siobhan Redmond, was a doctor in the children's ward), an affair with a nurse (Chrissie, played by Tina Hobley), and eventually came back after a year's gap to be killed in the recent Christmas episode; Tom (Denis Lawson) was a drunk; Tash (Thusita Jayasundera), was a mixed-up lesbian, and so on, and so on.
Tragedy struck the nurses, too. Lovely Liam (Adrian Lewis Morgan) was crippled after falling from a balcony - in a terrible twist of fate, Laura Sadler, who played Sandy, died in real life in similar circumstances when still in her early twenties. Steve (Peter de Jersey)and Ben (David Paisley) were killed off in a car crash, but not until Ben had a hard time coming out to his parents. Lisa (Luisa Bradshaw-White) suffered when her dad was killed in euthanasia by his new wife, and the prolific Chrissie miscarried a baby - handy since she wasn't sure who the dad was.
All this, and plenty of sexual shenanigans, before we even consider what the patients have gone through before they get to the hospital wards. The episodes have been consistently well-written and tightly directed, and with the current cast including talent such as Art Malik as Zubin (has just had an affair with Ric's nurse daughter Jess), and Sharon Maughan as Chrissie's mother Tricia, it seems that life in the fictional world of recuperation is going to move along just fine.
Hunky consultant Mike Barratt (Clive Mantle) who had been in 'Casualty', also joined Holby early on, and the sparring between him and Meyer was memorable (especially loved a Christmas episode where it snowed right on cue and we even got a 'ho ho ho' from Meyer). Later consultants have had their fair share of problems - Ric (Hugh Quarshie), still in the programme, has had drug and gambling addictions; Alistair (Dominic Jephcott) had a wife in IVF treatment (Janice, played by Siobhan Redmond, was a doctor in the children's ward), an affair with a nurse (Chrissie, played by Tina Hobley), and eventually came back after a year's gap to be killed in the recent Christmas episode; Tom (Denis Lawson) was a drunk; Tash (Thusita Jayasundera), was a mixed-up lesbian, and so on, and so on.
Tragedy struck the nurses, too. Lovely Liam (Adrian Lewis Morgan) was crippled after falling from a balcony - in a terrible twist of fate, Laura Sadler, who played Sandy, died in real life in similar circumstances when still in her early twenties. Steve (Peter de Jersey)and Ben (David Paisley) were killed off in a car crash, but not until Ben had a hard time coming out to his parents. Lisa (Luisa Bradshaw-White) suffered when her dad was killed in euthanasia by his new wife, and the prolific Chrissie miscarried a baby - handy since she wasn't sure who the dad was.
All this, and plenty of sexual shenanigans, before we even consider what the patients have gone through before they get to the hospital wards. The episodes have been consistently well-written and tightly directed, and with the current cast including talent such as Art Malik as Zubin (has just had an affair with Ric's nurse daughter Jess), and Sharon Maughan as Chrissie's mother Tricia, it seems that life in the fictional world of recuperation is going to move along just fine.