Casualty is set to make a major location change as BBC plans are revealed.
The medical drama, which has been running for 39 years, is set in the fictional city of Holby in the fictional county of Wyvern, which is based on its former filming location of Bristol.
Since 2011, Casualty has been filmed at the BBC’s Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff and that will remain the same going forward.
As was previously announced, the BBC is opening the show up for production companies to apply for the chance to create the show for BBC One for three seasons of 24 episodes each.
In an official BBC document for potential producers, it has been revealed that whoever takes over the show will need to move the in-universe setting to Wales, in a new fictional Welsh hospital.
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“We are asking tenderers to include authentic representation of Wales and reflect the reality of the Welsh NHS,” the document reads.
“This is not about radical change of the show, although the move to Welsh portrayal will mean a new fictional hospital based in Wales, and tenderers will need to address this core change in their editorial pitch to the evaluation panel.
“The successful tenderer will need to be able to demonstrate how to incorporate Welsh portrayal and maintain familiarity at the same time.”
The BBC say that this is an opportunity to introduce new characters and continue to reflect a diverse modern Britain, but also fully expects existing characters to make the move to this new hospital.
The plan is to announce the show’s new producer in November, and that episodes produced under this new contract will air between late 2026 and autumn 2029, with the possibility of a two-year extension.
Casualty’s sister show Holby City was involved in a similar pitching process back in 2017, although BBC Studios ended up continuing to produce the show until its end in 2022. The document notes that BBC Studios is also bidding to remain as Casualty producer.
This won’t be the first time a long-running BBC soap has changed its in-universe location, as Waterloo Road moved from Manchester to Scotland for the final three seasons of its original run, with teachers and students moving country to maintain continuity.
