Holby City (1999–2022) User Reviews

HOLBY, like Casualty is failing weekly

[tcwaterford · 5/10 · 8 March 2022]

Now almost 23 years on, HOLBY today is so far from HOLBY of 1999.

Today HOLBY is a rushed, badly written and sometimes badly acted Soap Opera, in the real sense of the term, Soap Opera.

Back in the day it was new, fresh, well written and the Actors were believable!.

One was invested in the lives and struggles of Patients, Doctors, Nurses and the Paramedics and crews.

Not anymore!, instead of the quality TV it once was, today you find yourself looking at your watch, almost wishing it to end!.

So very Sad!, If the Actors do not deserve better, then surely the Viewers should.

Good in the early years, but the quality dropped off with time.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 4 October 2022]

In its early years this show was essential viewing, it definitely took me away from Casualty, arguably it was the better show. The stories were engaging, the cast were excellent, the whole thing felt well made and tightly written, the early years of the show I'd class as an 8/10, however,

It its latter years, the quality crashed, it turned into a melodramatic soap opera, it was such a shame, the original tightly written storylines transformed into something more fitting of an early afternoon soap opera.

It was always well made and authentic looking. If you get the chance to see the earlier episodes, I'd say they're still worth seeing.

I was sad to see the show axed, but it's fair to say it was long since on borrowed time, it ran out of steam many years before it ended. The latter years I'd rate as 4/10.

Overall, 6/10.

Was good, but has gone severely downhill

[whiggles · 6/10 · 15 July 2003]

For the first two and a half seasons this was an extremely good show, with a small but strong cast and good (if clichéd) writing. During the third season, though, the show made the transition from drama to soap, eschewing medical storylines in favour of trotting out every detail of the characters' private lives.

The show, which now airs every week all the year round, is now a shadow of its former self. None of the cast from the first season remains, and despite occasionally coming up with a reasonably good episode, more often than not it is just a case of mediocrity week after week, with some downright stinkers mixed in for good measure. By attempting to run storylines on four different wards, the writers have dilluted the formula, often introducing storylines for characters only to quickly forget them or end them abruptly with absolutely no consequences. A good example of this would be the character of Ric Griffin, who entered the show as a closet cannabis user. After a few months, this aspect of the character vanished and was never mentioned again.

It is something of a bitter irony that one of the few characters who was at all interesting to watch was the clumsy nurse Sandy Harper, played excellently by Laura Sadler, who sadly died a few weeks ago.

Arresting stuff

[Dodger-9 · 7 February 2000]

British hospital dramas can be cliched affairs and yet despite sticking to the well-worn rules, Holby City has managed to stand alone as much more than just a Casualty spin-off.

The formula of eager young surgeon kept in check by irascible veteran with a God complex works a treat here, thanks largely to the chemistry between Michael French (Nick Jordan) and the sublime George Irving as Anton Meyer.

Unlike French, Irving's lack of TV baggage has made his character here all the more believable. Roles in The Professionals, Bergerac, The Bill and Boon have given him a good grounding in TV drama and his current role as the self-assured Cardio-Thoracic Consultant Surgeon seems to have been tailor-made for the South Shields-born actor.

The second run has seen the character develop, largely thanks to the arrival of his old sparring partner Mike Barrett (Clive Mantle) who manages to keep Meyer in check while dispensing a few dreadful gags.

"I had this one patient who swallowed a spoon - I told her not to stir."

Going surprisingly strong

[DJPilkington · 7/10 · 6 August 2019]

While I'm pretty cynical about soaps, Holby is one that has, especially for a medical drama, somehow managed to keep up a fairly good standard of quality after all these years. Yes, there's been troughs (quite deep troughs), but the current peaks, I'd say, are actually worth checking in on every once in a while.

The writing is tightened and individual episodes are more thematically consistent. Considering how the med-soap subgenre is infamous for exploiting real life conditions and social trends (kind of comes with the territory), Holby usually handles things fairly tactfully. The cast always does a good job with the characters, who are all generally written consistently compared to other British soaps, though there are some sleepers. Even the boring ones have at least been involved in one good storyline, however.

The one thing that is a bit of a problem is that the formula of episodes does get tiring. There's almost always a serious patient who is in someway intricately tied to a main character's arc, and a silly gimmick patient who's basically just there to waste time and give some artificial "human" moments with the doctors. But I suppose it's like any intensely serialised media -- the repetition can be seen as both a draw and a downside.

The Dreadful State of UK TV Drama

[ian1000 · 3/10 · 11 June 2006]

This show demonstrates the depths to which UK TV pre-watershed drama has sunk. With these dull scripts, mediocre acting, poor plots, awful dialog, one is forced to watch a DVD of any old ER episode to see excellent hospital drama.

None of the actors employed on this show seem to be able to actually act!

If you want low quality but easy to absorb soap opera style TV, this is the show for you. Personally I like something with more meat on the bone. Sadly as with all other UK licence payers, I'm funding this dross.

England's answer to Grey's Anatomy

[Sylviastel · 7/10 · 9 August 2006]

This show came before Grey's Anatomy and will likely be on after that show ends. I only saw one episode last night but it's typical British soap fare. There is a Jamaican doctor who is taking care of orphaned baby Leeann until they locate her father. She suspects that he is a drug addict because of the physical symptoms and questions the authority. There are other members in the cast but the show doesn't exhibit anything but average writing, above average acting, and above average sets. I never saw Casualty so I can't tell the difference or the similarities. It was on after EastEnders so I watched it and it was watchable in my opinion but I wouldn't say excellent because I think the show needs to do more work in getting strong characters who will be memorable and writing that creates a sensation. Until then, Holby City will be the sister show of Casualty and while it follows EastEnders, it might get an audience leftover to keep it going. I think the show is good and worth watching.

"Holby City" A Drama With too Much Drama

[carmenjulianna · 4/10 · 24 November 2018]

I first watched Holby at the beginning of the 1st series as it was a well advertised spin-off to "Casualty". I found as the series evolved, it became more & more like 'A Soap Opera' than A Medical Series. Too many cast-off characters from other soap operas, it was as though you were watching 'Coronation Street'- 'East Enders' & Every Northern Drama that's ever been aired on tv all in one.! It cannot be taken seriously. It seems like a show developed for British out of work actors & actors over-acting jumping from one soap to another as if to prove they can act outside of a soap.!! It becomes monotonous seeing the same Ol' faces appear. Popular of course with it's avid followers. Anyone who likes watching on & off turbulent love lives & drama span-out on a Medical Soap, then this is the Drama for you! Not much dialogue regarding an emergency room, but more of a dramatic Soap taken in a hospital. Not A patch on "ER"

I reckon Holby City is doing very well - but what's happened to Casualty?!

[emma090793 · 10/10 · 29 October 2006]

'Holby City' used to be rubbish, but with the introduction of Connie, Elliot, Mark, Sam S etc, it has turned into a very respectable series - something I would try and get home to watch. I think it is 'Casualty' that has gone downhill - the story lines never seem to go anywhere anymore and I'm not really that bothered if I miss it for an episode of 'Friends', as I can usually catch up because there is never much going on in an episode. If not, my parents can describe the particular episode in quite a lot of detail in a few short sentences. However, if I missed an episode of 'Holby' I would know about it as the story behind it is so much more complex and richly acted through.

Had the potential to be amazing

[AMAZINGzingzing · 7/10 · 16 November 2023]

Holby city was envisioned by the BBC as an alternative to the deary "casualty"

You can't compare Holby with casualty

Holby is leagues ahead, Holby is alot more polished and the production budget is alot higher, which results in better actors and better storylines

Casualty was More like a dull soap opera, filled with ex soap actors, bad acting and tiresome storylines , And a focus on irritating teens who couldn't act

Back to Holby,The acting is mostly great There is genuine humour ,its not over the top or forced, and used sparingly

It can be dark at times, but again with the comedy this is used sparingly, without depressing the viewers, scenes don't drag on

The reason I haven't given it a 10 star rating is because some episodes are worse than others, These bad episodes focus on dull , unimportant characters and storylines that have predictable endings,

These are the type of episodes where the words "I NEED YOU TO BE STRONG/WERE IN THIS TOGETHER" are repeated throughout

If they moved Holby to a post watershed time it would have been much better.

So bad.

[john_kane_ie · 1/10 · 8 September 2021]

A once good if not great program, now suffering from totally incredulous plots.

Clichéd bull plop.

I don't know why I persist in watching this drivel.

The most recent plot lines have just gone overboard in their unbelievably ridiculous events.

I am glad it is being axed.

Very arresting.

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 29 July 2009]

I like both Casualty and Holby City, though despite their quite short episodic lengths, both do suffer from some problems with pacing- it is a bit slow, and perhaps not very easy to stick your teeth into. However, it is decently acted, I enjoy the performances of Amanda Mealing, Paul Bradley, Robert Powell and Hugh Quarshie, and when he was in it, Tom Chambers as Sam. I will confess that despite Richard Briers being on the show for the Christmas episode, that particular episode was a departure from the usual thing we come to expect from Holby City despite a nice twist on It's A Wonderful Life. The scripts are good, and the story lines are quite intriguing, if perhaps predictable at times. Overall, quite arresting stuff. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Worst series ever

[mariejoella-69367 · 1/10 · 31 October 2021]

Watched an episode where they did a surgery, and they talked about private stuff while doing the surgery. In real life thats not what happens. Well i certainly hope they are more concentrated when they do a real surgery. I havent watched much of the series, but that single episode was enough for me to not want to watch it again. And as with every British film-series, 99% is talking and no action. Too boring for my liking. Majority or British series are just plain boring. Also all the British crimes like Barnaby all about talking. So boring. Back to this series, its disgusting how you get to see the blood and stuff. If its because they want to make it realistic, they still fail, because the rest is so fare from realistic. Not worth watching really.

A good drama

[walfordqueen · 6 November 2005]

I have been watching Holby City since it began, although it suffers slightly from the story lines revolving too much around the staff the show does give us some intense drama when it wants to. I would recommend watching this to anyone who loves a good drama based around the setting of an hospital. Holby City also has some great characters like the wonderful newcomer Amanda Mealing who plays Connie. Here's to the future of Holby City - may it be long and prosperous and continue to flourish. I don't think Holby is as good as it once was however but it's still a top notch drama and one that the BBC should be very proud to air.

It has gone down the toilet

[gailmck-62224 · 5/10 · 3 April 2024]

I enjoyed Holly City when I started watching it many years ago. The characters were great, there was plenty of suspense and intrigue. I used to look forward to watching it. Sadly no more. It has become like a soap opera. The characters are self absorbed and petulant. In earlier days the characters had more going for them. The latest lot are poorly acted and moronic and have no class. The plug needs to be put on this show before its ratings go down any further. God help anyone who checks in to that hospital. Staff are too busy bickering, discussing their personal lives and trying to get one up on each other.

And so we say farewell.....

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 30 March 2022]

So Holby City has finally come to an end. I watched it for many years as i had a friend who was a nurse. Over the years the storylines became very repetative. So when it went off air for a time at the begining of the Pandemic,i stopped watching on its return. I just couldnt be bothered anymore.

I did watch the episode last night which i thought was rather maudlin and trite. So i wont miss it.

However given the BBCs stated intentions of drama from diffrent regions i was surprised that in the timeslot next Tuesday was an episode of Masterchef. Surely they cant be serious.

Great writing, directing, acting, and cinematography

[craigjoseph · 10/10 · 27 December 2017]

I have watched Hollywood movies and television for decades and know all their standard cliches. If I watch the first and last five minutes of a movie, I can tell you nearly everything that happened in between. Not with Holby City. Holby City is hot, so good it seems to almost be alive. All the parts, writing, directing, acting, cinematography fit together so beautifully, that to me they approach art. Just know I would not miss a single episode, and if I could watch only one drama series on TV, Holby City would be my choice. Just wish BBC would sell the episode where the whole cast gives Arthur a spectacular send off. When things weren't going well I would put that episode on to chase away the gloom and remind me of happier and better times. Long live Holby City. Can think of no better introduction to Holby City than watching the still available episodes 62 and 63. Calling Holby City a soap opera is wrong. Soap Operas were created early in the last millennium to keep bored housewives distracted while their husbands went out to work. But the Soap Operas were nearly always written by men and were filled with fantasies of office romance, flirtatious secretaries, promiscuity, and adultery. As suspicious housewives greeted their husbands thinking I know what you did at the office today. I am sure the Soap Operas were responsible for the breakup of more than a few marriages. Holby City is televised drama and could have been written by any of our finest dramatists. Holby City sticks to business and stays away from the salaciousness of the typical Soap Opera. Cheers, to excellent drama and comedy.

Utterly Enthralling

[laurenhigginsonx · 10/10 · 13 February 2018]

This show is a credit to the BBC. From the incredible storylines (particularly in more recent years) to the outstanding acting from the likes of Holby's ice-queen Rosie Marcel to the wonderful Bob Barrett and Alex Walkinshaw, what's not to love about the show? More on its cast. With actors of different sexualities, nationalities, colours of skin and difficulties, such as autism, its incredibly diverse. All cast are put through medical training to ensure a realistic portrayal of medicine and surgery, and as anybody would expect, there is a medical team hired that ensure medical accuracy. The prosthetics used in Holby City also look rather realistic and gruesome to the viewer. Many member of the cast have also said this during interviews. The show is also known to deal with hard hitting themes, that never fail to move me. Personally, I have not found a medical drama more gripping or heart-breaking, and cannot find anything to fault in it (apart from perhaps the lack of Camilla Arfwedson nowadays.) I cannot recommend the show enough to anybody who is interested in watching it.

At the beginning

[filmtechnz · 18 April 2018]

I have just come across the first four seasons of Holby City and am re-watching them. This was a brilliant series in the beginning, thanks to particularly the characters of consultant Anton Meyer, Victoria Merrick, Nick Jordan and Sister Karen Newburn. Compared to more recent episodes that I have watched one can see how the series has gone downhill since most of the original characters have left.

Season 23 is getting better

[jerry6-1 · 9/10 · 11 September 2021]

To bad the show has been canceled . Lost many of the best characters over the last 2 years , really hope ep 23 is not the last for Guy Henry last of the great characters in Holby . Was entertaining over the yeaes. Sad to see it go.

Episodes 45 0n have been great back to where they started , great story unfortunately the show has ended At least they went out on a high note, upsetting story but a good one Goodby HOLBY I'LL MISS THE SHOW AND THE CHARATERS.

Never forgiving the BBC for cancelling Holby

[summergirl_2307 · 10/10 · 3 July 2022]

It's been 3 months and im still not over the show ending atleast in the last episode we had some sort of closure that no matter what the hospital would keep on running.

This is one of the biggest mistakes they made cancelling such a good show and they aren't making any better decisions still anyway... holby getting cancelled last year was just the start of the BBC downfall.

Rip Holby 1999 - 2022 - an amazing show that was taken away from us 😢

A brilliant inspiring programme of reality

[mathewowen · 7 December 1999]

Holby City has inspired me. 16 years old, I've watched the episodes over and over again and I love the atmosphere. I have now decided to go into medicine, as the lifestyle of the characters in this programme has enthralled me. The acting is brilliant, the effects are wizardry, the atmosphere is memorable and it's a fantastic spin-off from 'Casualty' - Another medical drama set in the same hospital.

some good moments and a request for a name....

[swanvictor · 9/10 · 10 February 2022]

Holby has become one of those shows that perhaps overstayed its welcome and as I haven't been in the UK for a decade or more, this is not really a review and more of a request to the fans: Going back to the early days, there was an episode concerning a patient, a large Welshman, who had fallen into a grave! Now, this might possibly have been Casualty but my brain tells me it's Holby, but by the by, the point is, the actor who played the patient gave an awesome performance...and I can't remember his name or indeed, if he went on to have the career he deserved! I can't even remember the name f the episode, sadly...anyone out there on the interweb remember the talented actor?

Two more honourable mentions and perhaps, I think, Holby at its best: David Soul gave outstanding performances, especially in the tense, office conflict scenes and finally, can anyone tell me the name of the well-known british actor from the 50s and 60s, who gave an incredible speech during the period of Remembrance, November 11th. He played a Normandy Veteran I believe and if I remember correctly, the actor himself was a veteran of the same campaign. The names are driving me nuts but as I'm in late middle-age and its been over 30 years,,,guess no real surprise!

never better than its first couple of seasons

[didi-5 · 12 January 2005]

'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.

Long may Connie Rule...

[pheonix_910 · 14 December 2004]

I watched Holby City since it came out and I have always loved it, but I found myself particularly enraptured with the series since the arrival of Connie Beauchamp, played by the sublime Amanda Mealing.

The episode where she drove in at the beginning bedecked in full scarf and sunglasses, femme fatale garb, only to crash into Will was one of my favourites.

I've heard people say her stuffs repetitive but I think it's great fun seeing her boss the boys around and dish out her scathing comments.

The storyline with Will is a joy to behold - it may just be me being insanely sad but every week I can't wait to see what she'll throw at him.

I only hope she stays for a long time.