Casualty started on BBC in September 1986, as a 15 part series for Saturday nights. Controller of BBC1 was Michael Grade, who'd launched Eastenders the year before, brought Neighbours to the network, and trod on the throat of Dr Who. For the first run, the interiors were shot at Television Centre, but the second series built new sets in an industrial estaste in Bristol.
In January 1999, Controller BBC1 Peter Salmon decided that there was appetite for a spin-off - the same hospital, but wards other than A&E. It started with a run of nine episodes on Tuesdays. You'd think there were opportunities to save a bit of dosh by using some of the Casualty sets, but instead they opted to use an office building - Neptune House, in Elstree.
By 2011, the two parts of the same fictional hospital moved further apart, with Casualty transferring to Roath Lock in Cardiff. The fictional county of Wyvern was represented by shots around parts of the Welsh capital.
The cancellation of Holby City puts Charlotte Moore in the spotlight. Where will she bestow her strategic investment in continuing drama ? I'm taking odds on something in Huddersfield, with a side bet on The Everyday Story of Civil Servants Re-deployed to Darlington.
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