Fictional city
Holby
is a
fictional city
in the
United Kingdom
, the setting for the
BBC
medical dramas
Casualty
and
Holby City
, and the police drama
HolbyBlue
. It is based on the real city of
Bristol
, where
Casualty
was formerly filmed, and is notionally located in the fictional county of Wyvern in
South West England
, not far from the border with
Wales
.
[1]
While
Casualty
has been filmed in
Cardiff
since 2011,
Holby City
was filmed in
Elstree
,
Hertfordshire
. Both shows are set in the same fictional Holby City Hospital. Holby has an
airport
called Holby International.
[2]
Holby City Hospital
[
edit
]
Hospital in Wyvern, England
Holby City Hospital is the fictional
hospital
within the city in which
Casualty
and
Holby City
are set. It is based on the
Bristol Royal Infirmary
which the original script writers spent time observing in the 1980s in order to garner ideas for
Casualty
.
[3]
Although both shows are set in the same hospital,
Casualty
is primarily filmed in
Cardiff
, whilst
Holby City
was filmed in Hertfordshire at
BBC Elstree Centre
.
[4]
The indoor shots for the first series of
Casualty
were filmed at
BBC Television Centre
in
London
.
[5]
The exterior shots of the hospital used in
Casualty
were formerly filmed at the
City of Bristol College
; location filming later moved to an industrial estate at
51°27′33″N
2°34′01″W
/
51.459094°N 2.567030°W
/
51.459094; -2.567030
, close to the interior set of the hospital.
[6]
It was announced on 15 October 2008 that the
BBC
was considering moving the filming of
Casualty
to studios in
Cardiff
. On 26 March 2009, the BBC confirmed the move.
[7]
Since late 2011,
Casualty
has been filmed on a purpose built studio and backlot set at the BBC
Roath Lock
Studios in
Cardiff Bay
at
51°27′46″N
3°09′23″W
/
51.4627°N 3.1565°W
/
51.4627; -3.1565
.
[8]
The hospital became a NHS Foundation Trust in 2016.
Wards and departments
[
edit
]
As of 2002, four main wards have formed the focus of storylines within the hospital. In
Casualty
, the primary location is the hospital's
Emergency Department
(formerly referred to as
Accident and Emergency
), which has its own adjoining
Clinical Decisions Unit
, introduced in
series 25
.
Holby City
is set between the hospital's
Acute Assessment Unit
(ground floor), and
Keller
(third floor) and
Darwin
(sixth floor) wards, providing
General
and
Cardiothoracic
surgical care respectively. Holby expanded by adding "HolbyCare", a private healthcare ward led by
Michael Spence
adjacent to the existing
Intensive Care Unit
on the fifth floor. Former storylines have also focused around the hospital's Otter ward, providing
pediatric
care, as well as its
maternity
ward. Otter ward has not featured in the show since
series 4
, whilst the maternity ward ceased usage as a primary location in
series 8
. Obs & Gynae, Maternity and pediatrics are quite regularly mentioned. In 2004, Nightingale, a mothballed wing of the hospital, is used to perform a major heart transplant on a small girl by
Connie Beauchamp
and Harry Harper while the hospital burns.
In 2011, Downton and Perry are shown to be psychiatric wards at the hospital. (Series 25, Episode 23 "Place of Safety") Other wards of the hospital to be referenced in the series include
Berkley
,
Clifton
, Curie (disused),
Florence
,
Geraint Morris
, Hitchcock (psychiatric),
Linnaeus
, Swift and
St Clares
as well as the paediatric, neonatal, burns and neuro ICUs.
List of wards/departments
[
edit
]
|
- Sunny-Care Ward, Paediatric ICU
- Miracle Ward, Neonatal ICU
- Neurosurgery Centre, Neurosurgery
- Newton Ward
, Fracture Clinic
- Einstein Ward
, Day Care Unit
- Ear, Nose and Throat Care
- Genitourinary Medicine
- Pharmacy
- Rheumatology Department
- Wards 1-8, Post-Operative Care
- Franklin Ward, Maternity Unit
- Spock Ward, Children's Centre
- X-ray Department
- CT Scanning Department
- MRI Scanning Department
- Rainsbury Ward, Breast Clinic
- Priessnitz Ward, Physiotherapy & Hydrotherapy
- Coronary Care Unit (CCU)
- Geriatrics Department
- Gastroenterology Department
- Haematology Department
- Dialysis and Renal Care
- Urology Department
- Ophthalmology Department
|
Holby Ambulance Service
[
edit
]
Holby Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
|
---|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Holby_Ambulance_Crest.PNG) |
Type
| NHS Foundation Trust
|
---|
Headquarters
| Holby
|
---|
Region served
| Wyvern, England
|
---|
Holby Ambulance Service is the fictional ambulance service which serves
Holby City Hospital
- also appearing in the two hospital dramas
Casualty
and
Holby City
. Although the ambulance service was only seen in
Holby City
very rarely,
Casualty
has featured
paramedic
characters as a key part of the cast since the show's 1986 conception.
[9]
Holby South
[
edit
]
Holby South is the fictional police station in which
HolbyBlue
was based in its two series run.
St James' Hospital
[
edit
]
St James is another hospital located on the other side of Holby likely based on
Southmead Hospital
to the north of Bristol city centre, and although not shown is referred to regularly.
[
citation needed
]
Other hospitals located in Holby which were referenced in the past include Queen's, St Luke's, St Francis', St Austin's and St Thomas'.
[
citation needed
]
Trivia
[
edit
]
Another fictional Holby is the setting for the
Danish
TV soap
Ugeavisen
("The Weekly Paper"), made by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (
DR
) and first shown in 52 weekly episodes in 1990-91. DR described this Holby as a "medium-sized provincial town, a good hour's drive from Copenhagen".
[10]
References
[
edit
]