First Cardiff produced Casualty episode to air in January

The first episode of long running medical saga Casualty produced in HD for the first time, and also the first to be made in its new studio in Cardiff, airs in January 2012.

The episode entitled Buried airs on Saturday 7^th of January with a following edition on Sunday the 8^th.

For 25 years the fictional Holby City Hospital’s emergency department was staged in studios in Bristol however with the BBC’s political correctness gone barmy the show moved to Cardiff, amid much bemusement by fans, in order to tick some regional production boxes. The final episode to be produced in Bristol was recorded in August.

Longest serving actor in Casualty, Derek Thompson (pictured, above, right), said of the move, “I’m still sad it’s leaving Bristol, not just because it’s convenient for me but because it’s meant a lot to Bristol over the years. Bristol is losing out. My first thought was that it was like moving Taggart to Birmingham – how are they going to move Casualty to Cardiff? That’s a product of BBC bureaucracy that’s never been explained, and that I’m not at all sympathetic with.” The Bristol Evening Post quoted.

Viewers were equally as questioning of the ridiculous shifting of drama around the UK with ATV Today readers leaving comments such as “If the show is moving to Wales but the producers are going to pretend it’s still England that’s bonkers.” And “I think we should start a new campaign to get River City and Pobol Y Cwm moved to England!”

Sister show Holby City, which is fictionally based in the same hospital but in the none-emergency wards, is produced in the former ATV studios of Borehamwood, BBC Elstree, near London.