Too Old for This Shift

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"Too Old for This Shift"
Casualty episodes
A helicopter crashes in the emergency department
Episode nos.Series 31
Episodes 1-2
Directed bySteve Hughes
Written byMatthew Barry and Andy Bayliss
Produced by
  • Lucy Raffety
  • Erika Hossington (series)
  • Oliver Kent (executive)
Original air date27 August 2016 (2016-08-27)
Running time99 minutes[1]
Guest appearance
List
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"Too Old for This Shift" is a special feature-length episode of the British medical drama television series Casualty. It was broadcast as the premiere episode of its thirty-first series on 27 August 2016, on BBC One, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the show. The special, which is 99 minutes long, was co-written by Matthew Barry and Andy Bayliss, directed by Steve Hughes, and produced by Lucy Raffety.

"Too Old for This Shift" explores the outcome of the cliffhanger broadcast at the end of the

Holby City Hospital
's emergency department, where the show is set. It also features a helicopter crash outside the emergency department, which causes damage to the hospital.

Several actors who have previously appeared on Casualty during its thirty years on air made a cameo appearance during the special, while

The Daily Mirror enjoyed the episode and believed it "showcased what Casualty does best", while Midlands Air Ambulance Charity branded the episode as "insensitive". On 6 November 2017, the helicopter crash won the "Best Drama Storyline" accolade at the Inside Soap Awards
.

Plot

Grace Beauchamp's (Emily Carey
) shoe in the car. Flames begin erupting from the vehicle. Connie moves towards the car but before she can get to Grace it explodes.

Meanwhile, the emergency department prepares to celebrate

lithopedia
after miscarrying her baby during her teenage years. Charlie then visits the pub where a party is held in his honour, with video footage from former colleagues shown to him.

Jez Andrews (Lloyd Everitt
) to the location where she was found. The trio find Connie's burnt out car at the bottom of the cliff. They reach Connie and learn that Grace was inside the vehicle as it exploded, but when Jez searches the vehicle, she is not there. As Iain and Jez search for Grace they find her in a critical condition and call for an air ambulance to escort her to hospital.

As the air ambulance prepares to land outside the emergency department a rotor blade is struck by a drone, causing the helicopter to crash land in the parking lot outside the hospital and into the back of an ambulance, causing the ambulance to knock scaffolding down over Alicia Munroe (Chelsea Halfpenny) and Ethan Hardy (George Rainsford). The tail of the helicopter smashes into the entrance of the emergency department causing brutal injuries. The department is shut down following the incident, with Connie and Grace’s lives prioritised. Grace is freed from the helicopter and taken into the department for treatment. Connie learns Grace has life-threatening injuries and may not survive surgery. The staff at Holby City come together to treat casualties of the accident. Grace survives surgery, but remains in a critical condition.

Cast

Sally Hodge
.

The official cast list for the episode was released by

Adrian Fletcher.[5]

Alongside Shipton and Bleasdale, a number of former actors from the show returned for the episode, each making a cameo appearance in the role of their respective former character and their scenes filmed in the style of giving a short video tribute to Charlie; these scenes are spaced out throughout the episode. Joining alongside Guy Henry, Amanda Mealing,

Pam St. Clement, made a guest appearance in the story as "very grumpy patient" Sally Hodge.[9]

Production

The show's

BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay.[13]

Director Steve Hughes stated he "couldn't believe" that the show was going to attempt a stunt so big. The stunt itself was shot over two days using "various stunts, visual effects and rigging teams" as opposed to shooting the stunt scene using computer-generated imagery. Although computer-generated imagery was used to add to the practical effects, the team decided to shoot the stunt practically so that the sequence felt "terrifyingly real". Hughes said the team shot about sixteen stunts over the two days of filming alone.[4]

It was announced on 22 August 2016 that the stunt which would air as part of the thirtieth anniversary would be a helicopter crash into the emergency department after an air ambulance collides with a drone.[14] Hossington revealed in an interview with Radio Times that the show had been working with the Association of Air Ambulances for over half a year on the storyline.[15] The storyline was also created by the Association of Air Ambulances, who suggested the idea of an air ambulance colliding with a drone.[15] Commenting on the storyline, Hossington said: "What you see in this episode is such a complex and unfortunate series of events."[16]

Promotion and broadcast

Promotion of the anniversary episode began immediately after the closure of the thirtieth series, with a 40-second teaser following the final episode. The trailer featured a party for Charlie Fairhead being interrupted by a serious event, followed by the tagline: "On the happiest day, their darkest hour".[17] A second trailer, 30-seconds long, was released on 15 August 2016,[18] while in the final five day build-up to the anniversary episode, Casualty released daily short trailers on their Facebook and Twitter pages, counting down to the episode.[19]

Between the two series, Digital Spy also mentioned Casualty's thirtieth anniversary stunt, placing it as the number one moment to watch in their list of the "10 big moments that you have to see this week",[20] before releasing a teaser article about the episode on the night of its airing,[21] adding that it was "an episode you really do have to watch live."[21] The episode was broadcast on BBC One on 27 August 2016 and was available to watch for thirty days afterwards on BBC iPlayer.[1] In addition to this, "Too Old for This Shift" was made available for digital download via BBC Store on 27 August 2016 in standard definition, with higher definition later made available for purchase.[22]

Reception

Ratings

The episode received an overnight rating of 5.10 million viewers, a 26% share of the total audience.

BBC Media Centre later revealed the episode was watched by an audience of 7.20 million viewers.[25] "Too Old for This Shift" saw a two million viewer increase in overall rating figures from the previous episode. The following episode decreased to 6.45 million viewers.[26]

Critical reception

In August 2017, the helicopter crash was longlisted for Best Drama Storyline at the Inside Soap Awards.[27] The nomination made the viewer-voted shortlist.[28] On 6 November 2017, the helicopter crash won the "Best Drama Storyline" accolade.[29] Radio Times reported that viewers were left "stunned" by the episode,[30] while Digital Spy stated that fans were left in "shock and awe" over the episode.[31] The Daily Mirror reporter Sharon Marshall praised the episode, branding it as a "pitch-perfect episode mixing gore, heartache, drama and nostalgia".[32] Marshall added that the episode "showcased what Casualty does best – beautiful writing and a stellar cast who grab your heartstrings,"[32] before concluding her review by praising the episode as being able to make the show "look as fresh and exciting as the day it was born."[32] However, the show also received criticism, with the episode being branded "insensitive" by the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity.[33]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Too Old for This Shift". BBC Online. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  2. ^ Sources:
  3. ^ Reilly, Elaine (5 August 2016). "Six things we can't wait to see in Casualty's 30th anniversary special". What's on TV. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  4. ^
    Hearst Magazines UK
    . Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  5. Hearst Magazines UK
    . Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  6. ^ Reilly, Elaine (9 June 2016). "Charles Dale: 'I'm not sure people will miss me from Casualty!'". What's on TV. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Casualty cast quizzed!". BBC Online. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  8. ^ Lindsay, Duncan (16 August 2016). "Casualty anniversary episode spoilers: Stunts, death, returns, trailers and surprises – everything you need to know". Metro. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  9. Daily Star
    . Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  10. ^
    Hearst Magazines UK
    . Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  11. ^ Sources:
  12. ^
    Hearst Magazines UK
    . Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  13. BBC Media Centre
    . 28 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  14. ^ Sources:
  15. ^ a b Brown, David (22 August 2016). "Casualty: helicopter to crash into the hospital in 30th anniversary episode". Radio Times. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  16. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (22 August 2016). "Casualty is delivering a devastating helicopter crash stunt for the 30th anniversary special". Digital Spy. Digital Spy. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  17. ^ Sources:
  18. ^ Sources:
  19. ^ BBC Casualty [@BBCCasualty] (22 August 2016). "The countdown has begun... #Casualty30" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 August 2016 – via Twitter.
  20. Hearst Magazines UK
    . Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  21. ^
    Hearst Magazines UK
    . Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  22. ^ "Casualty: Series 31". BBC Store. Retrieved 2 January 2017.[permanent dead link]
  23. ^ Dowell, Ben (28 August 2016). "The X Factor audience slips by nearly 1m viewers on last year's opener to get 6.8m viewers". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  24. ^
    Broadcasters' Audience Research Board
    . Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  25. BBC Media Centre
    . 1 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  26. Broadcasters' Audience Research Board
    . Retrieved 22 May 2017. (User must select "BBC1" in the Channel field and then select the appropriate year, month and week to retrieve the figure for each episode)
  27. Hearst Magazines UK
    . Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  28. Hearst Magazines UK
    . Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  29. Hearst Magazines UK
    . Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  30. ^ Dowell, Ben (28 August 2016). "Viewers stunned by Casualty 30th anniversary... and the return of some familiar faces". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  31. Hearst Magazines UK
    . Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  32. ^ a b c Marshall, Sharon (27 August 2016). "Casualty at 30: 'It was a pitch-perfect episode mixing gore, heartache, drama and nostalgia". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  33. ^ Sources:

External links


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