Entertainment

Casualty to mark anniversary with episode filmed in one take

Long-running medical series Casualty first aired in 1986.
Long-running medical series Casualty first aired in 1986. Long-running medical series Casualty first aired in 1986.

Casualty is to mark the end of its 30th anniversary series with a special “one shot” episode.

The instalment – a first for the BBC One medical drama – will be filmed all in one take on a single camera.

The episode, called One, is being written by Paul Unwin, the original co-creator of the programme.

It will cover an hour in the famous Emergency Department, with the plot focusing on two teenage girls who are being shown around for work experience.

Cathy Shipton, who plays Nurse Lisa Duffin, said: “It is so exciting and nerve-wracking to be working on this episode and unlike anything any of us cast or crew have ever attempted before.

Casualty's Cathy Shipton as Duffy
Casualty's Cathy Shipton as Duffy
Casualty’s Cathy Shipton as Duffy (Alistair Heap/BBC)

“It is a brilliant fly-on-the-wall episode in real time, placing nurses central in the storyline. It will become a classic Casualty.”

To create the episode, the mobile camera covering A&E has to be cable free and will have to cover action from inside a moving ambulance.

With 360 degree shots, a number of rooms in the Casualty ambulance station have been converted into control rooms for the crew.

Around 40 hidden radio microphones will be disguised as part of the set to create the sound.

Casualty series producer Erika Hossington said: “This very special episode will give the audience a unique insight into an hour in A&E. It will be an intense, emotional hour where staff and patients are faced with life-changing events. “We want to reflect the front line in its unedited, rawest form, and this one shot episode with a brilliant script from Casualty creator Paul Unwin has given us the opportunity to do that.”The episode of Casualty will air this summer.