12/9/87 -19/12/87
Episode Listing
- S2 E1 (12 Sep 87): A Little Lobbying by Jeremy Brock & Paul Unwin
- S2 E2 (19 Sep 87) : A Drop of the Hard Stuff by Roy Mitchell
- S2 E3 (26 Sep 87) : Shades of Love by Wally K Daly
- S2 E4 (3 Oct 87) : Cry for Help by Jeremy Brock & Paul Unwin
- S2 E5 (10 Oct 87) : Anaconda by Ray Brennan
- S2 E6 (17 Oct 87) : Lifelines by Jeremy Brock
- S2 E7 (24 Oct 87) : The Raid by Susan Wilkins
- S2 E8 (31 Oct 87) : Cross Fingers by David Ashton
- S2 E9 (7 Nov 87) : Seeking Heat by Ray Brennan & Jeremy Brock
- S2 E10 (14 Nov 87) : Rock-a-Bye-Baby by Ginnie Hole
- S2 E11 (21 Nov 87) : Hooked by Billy Hamon
- S2 E12 (28 Nov 87) : Fun Night by Al Hunter
- S2 E13 (5 Dec 87) : Peace Brother by David Ashton
- S2 E14 (12 Dec 87) : Burning Cases by Jeremy Brock & Paul Unwin
- S2 E15 (19 Dec 87) : These Things Happen by David Ashton
History
It pays to be prepared; if Casualty hadn’t already begun work on the second series, political controversy over the first series could have killed the show. As it was, with fifteen more scripts prepared – and, moreover, paid for – the BBC decided to continue. It also helped that a permenant place for the Set had been found and paid for in a Bristol warehouse – having previously been filmed in London.
However accompanying the newspaper publicity stories for the start on 12th September 1987, was the news that there would be no more programmes. Producer Geraint Morris was quoted as saying ‘We felt it should end on a high after thirty episodes’.
But as the hospital team battled to save their night shift, a quiter battle was being waged – and won – behind the scenes. Six weeks on air and there were no government complaints, critics were warming and following the show’s dramatic stabbing of paramedic Sandra Mute, audiences of more than 10 million seemed secure. All these things combined to give the kiss of life to the seemingly doomed show.
Perhaps what really saved Casualty, strange as it seemed then, was the first ‘baddie’. Elizabeth Straker was a tough but human administrator. She had frequent clashes with Ewart Plimmer, a love/hate relationship between the pair that was bound to end up with an affair.
Other newcomers included moody SHO Mary Tomlinson, two students nurses; Karen O’Malley who became Charlie’s rebound fling and Cyril James who was hard working and ambitious. Two new paramedics, Shirley Franklin and Keith Cotterill also joined after Andy Ponting quit Holby following his colleagues death.
Other character storylines included Duffy getting her first boyfriend, Peter Tranter, since her attack. He offered her an expenses trip to California. But a telephone call from Peter’s former lover informing him that she was HIV positive put paid to the plan. Discovering he also had the virus, he told Duffy, mistakingly believing that as a nurse she would take the news calmly.
During the series, there was an eerie example of life imitating art when viewers watched the team helping to dig out the dead and dying from the rubble of a house destroyed by an IRA bomb. Back at Holby, poor Irish Megan was blamed by an outraged relative. Only hours after the episode was screened, and IRA bomb ripped the heart out of Enniskillen. The writers were seen to have put their fingers on the pulse of the nation’s current problems without exaggeration. The show may still have been a red rag to some Tory bulls, but no-one dared call it far-fetched again.
Joining Cast
- S2 E1 Elizabeth Straker – Administrator
- S2 E1 Mary Tomlinson – Senior House Officer
- S2 E2 Cyril James – Student Nurse
- S2 E2 Karen O’Malley – Student Nurse
- S2 E7 Shirley Franklin – Paramedic
- S2 E7 Keith Cotterill – Paramedic
Regular Cast
- Ewart Plimmer – Consultant
- Charlie Fairhead – Charge Nurse
- Megan Roach – State Enrolled Nurse
- Duffy – Staff Nurse
- Kuba Trzcinski – Porter
Exiting Cast
- S2 E4 Sandra Mute – Paramedic
- S2 E6 Andrew Ponting – Paramedic
- S2 E10 Karen O’Malley – Student Nurse
- S2 E15 Elizabeth Straker – Adminstrator
- S2 E15 Susie Mercier – Receptionist
Notable Guest Stars
- S2 E2 Michael Garner – as PC McMorrow
- S2 E2 Dorian Healy – as Tommy Harper
- S2 E3 Mela White – as Sonia Blackwood
- S2 E5 Tony Selby – as Leon
- S2 E6 Dee Sadler – as Maggie
- S2 E7 Gary Beadle – as Denny
- S2 E7 Pam Ferris as Linda
- S2 E8 Ian Reddington as Vic Dancer
- S2 E9 Christopher Ellison – as Wayne Davisson
- S2 E10 Edna Dore – as Mrs Whiting’
