Casualty - Season 22

How can I not like Phil Redmond when he created the show in the first place? Any criticism of him in recent years was down to his original ideas having not moved on with the show.

All dramas have peaks and troughs, Diana Kyle's tenure was the latter. We went from a series packed with drama from the outset - with Iain Robertson cast as the very sinister bully who knifed a classmate and went to extraordinary lengths to avoid being caught - to a series where all the high drama happened in the first three episodes then for the rest of the series we had rather pointless tales of the footballing hotshot having his boots stolen, and a very silly "distraction burglary" staged by his classmates to recover them!

Diana lasted just one year as GH producer and it's not for us to know why. Those who care will have their own theories. But to prove I'm not completely uncharitable, the latest producer gave GH a shot in the arm and brought it back to an older audience, making its confinement to the CBBC Channel all the more ironic.

Hmm, but isn't the change from 4:3 to 16:9 and that of B&W to colour more of a transition than a 'change'?

Certainly, switching to filmic is a 'change', not a transition.

Err - isn't ER shot on 35mm film (apart from the live special)? It isn't a "filmic effect" it IS film AIUI.

RadioTimes is really singing the revamped Casualty's praises. Two-page spread in the magazine and pick of the day for both Saturday and Sunday's episodes this week!

Also mentions the new filmic look in a good light and says it's 'unmissable.'

"Unmissable" because it looks so bad?

I think I'd call it a "fashion"...

Yep - the grading looks pretty cheap, and poorly done, and the change in lighting style also does it no favours.

For me the major problem with the lighting is that it no longer really looks like a hospital. One of the good things about the old Holby look was that it actually felt quite authentic, with quite unflattering and quiet bright lighting (albeit nicey diffused on close-ups) - Casualty currently has a similar feel. It feels like you are in a brightly lit hospital.

The new Holby look is so moody it stops feeling anything like a working hospital - ER manages a much better balance between dramatic lighting and realism.

To be honest Holby currently looks a mess - the flim effect 50i to 25p processing is poorly done (lots of jagged aliasing artefacts), the grading is crude, and the original lighting is less than ideal. To be honest, although I'm not a huge fan of the Doctors look, it looks better than Holby at the moment.

Fingers crossed it will improve when they leave Elstree (AIUI the current plan is for Casualty - and possibly Holby - to move to Cardiff, and EastEnders to move to Pinewood - to allow for more sets, and a move to HD... Of course it would also let the BBC generate some more short-term cash by selling off more land - after all, once they've sold off Resources and TV Centre they won't have much left to sell...)

And it was listed as Drama of the Week as well.

Have to say im looking forward to the new series - we have some interesting new characters by the sound of it. Not overly keen on the filmic look going by how Holby City currently looks but i'll give it a go.

I think it will be good. I think they're trying hard to get away from the boring romance storylines.

It sounds good from the reviews in the tv guides etc. The 3 new doctors all sound good.

I used to watch Casualty regularly from 1992-2002 but have dipped in and out of it since then. The series seem to get longer and longer each year, but this year we at least had a summer break which I think was needed.

Every review I have read has been immensely favourable.

There seems to be a real focus on more realistic, edgy stories this year and much less on the romances of the staff. The new filming style isn't just about giving a filmic look, either, apparently the shaky camera style is much reduced and it feels much more like a drama (like Grey's Anatomy) than a soap.

Certainly, for RadioTimes to have it as Pick of the Day for both Saturday and Sunday's episodes AND for it to be drama of the week is some acheivement. I find RadioTimes a refutable critic.



Another review is very favourable: "A lot of time and money was obviously spent on this pair of spectacular, nerve tingling and almost chilling episodes. In all, I'd give these episodes an A*. I do have to say it's a little odd that I've found all this week's press releases have been focusing on Georgia Taylor joining as Ruth, when really her character isn't a main feature. Matthew Needham is an excellent find and Derek Thompson was wonderfully flawless as ever. The sunshine to their character's darkened day was by far shining through the lovely Susan Cookson who portays Maggie beautifully. A fantastic job was done by everyone for this new series but if I was handing out an award, those three would take home the prize."

Overall, I am extremely excited about this new series now. I hope the quality of the episodes is not overshadowed by people squealing in anguish at the filmic effect.

Well I have an uncle who didn't buy a colour set until about 1992, claiming it was a gimmick! And there are plenty of people, even reasonably young people, who don't see the point of widescreen. Probably most watchers of Casuality adapted to the film look without much thought - I'm convinced most people can't tell the difference anyway!