Country of origin United Kingdom Original network BBC One | No. of episodes 52 | |
Original release 13 October 2015 (2015-10-13) – 4 October 2016 (2016-10-04) | ||
The eighteenth series of the British medical drama television series Holby City commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 13 October 2015 and ran for 52 episodes, ending on 4 October 2016. The series saw the return of Jac Naylor (Rosie Marcel) and Ric Griffin (Hugh Quarshie), as well as the arrivals of Bernie Wolfe (Jemma Redgrave) and Jasmine Burrows (Lucinda Dryzek). Former series regulars Antoine Malick (Jimmy Akingbola) and Chantelle Lane (Lauren Drummond) reprised their roles for a guest appearance.
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The series also saw the death of well-established character Arthur Digby (Rob Ostlere), as well as the departures of Jesse Law (Don Gilét), Adele Effanga (Petra Letang) and Cara Martinez (Niamh Walsh).
Production
The series began airing on Tuesday nights on BBC One from 13 October 2015. Oliver Kent continues his role as the executive producer of the show, while Simon Harper serves as the series producer. The series will consist of 52 episodes.
In September 2015, Harper confirmed that Hugh Quarshie (Ric Griffin) had returned to filming, after taking a break during the previous series. Ric's return aired in episode twelve, on 29 December 2015. That same month it was announced that the series would also see the arrival of general surgeon Bernie Wolfe, played by Jemma Redgrave. Bernie was introduced as a patient, before taking up a role on Keller ward. She was initially contracted for six months. Of her casting, Kent commented, "When we dreamed up the character of Bernie Wolfe, we immediately thought of Jemma Redgrave and we were utterly thrilled when she agreed to join the Holby Company. Bernie Wolfe will be a force to be reckoned with and I can't wait to see her locking horns with our established regulars on the wards" Harper later confirmed that Jac Naylor (Rosie Marcel) would make her permanent return from November, following Marcel's maternity leave. Jac's return scenes aired in episode seven, broadcast on 24 November 2015.
In October 2015, Harper revealed that the series' standalone episode had begun filming and would air in January 2016. The episode was centred around junior doctors Arthur Digby (Rob Ostlere), Morven Shreve (Eleanor Fanyinka), Oliver Valentine (James Anderson) and Zosia March (Camilla Arfwedson) and aired on 5 January 2015. Harper confirmed that a crossover event to sister show Casualty was being planned in celebration of its 30th anniversary in 2016. He also said that a new opening titles sequence was being looked at. The following month, Kent uploaded a picture of the title card to his Twitter account. A preview of the winter episodes of Holby City also displayed the end of the new titles. The new titles and credits aired for the first time in episode eight, on 1 December 2015.
In April 2016, it was announced actor Marc Elliott had joined the cast as Isaac Mayfield, a general surgeon and potential love interest for Dominic Copeland (David Ames). Of joining the cast, Elliott said "I'm pleased to be joining the team and looking forward to playing this complex, flawed character." Elliott made his first appearance as Isaac in episode thirty-seven, which aired on 23 June 2016. Jac's half-sister, F1 doctor Jasmine Burrows (Lucinda Dryzek) was introduced during episode forty-one, which was broadcast on 19 July. Commenting on her character, Dryzek said "Jasmine is a little firework. She's lovely, she's a really good doctor and very instinctive with her work. In some senses she's the complete opposite to Jac. She's cheery, fun and smiley."
Reception
The first episode of the series attracted an overnight audience of 4.40 million, with a 21.8% audience share in its time slot. Compared to last year's overnight audience, this series opening episode fell by around 240,000 viewers.