Holby is a fictional city in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, the setting for the BBC

medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the characters' jobs and portray som ...

s '' Casualty'' and ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', and ...

'', and the police drama ''

HolbyBlue ''HolbyBlue'' (also known as ''Holby Blue'') was a British police procedural drama series. The show revolves around the daily lives of a number of police officers working at Holby South police station. The cast for series one included Jimmy Ak ...

''. It is based on the real city of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, where ''Casualty'' was formerly filmed, and is notionally located in the fictional county of Wyvern in

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...

, not far from the border with

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. While ''Casualty'' has been filmed in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

since 2011, ''Holby City'' is filmed in

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

. Both shows are set in the same fictional Holby City Hospital. Holby has an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

called Holby International.

Holby City Hospital

Holby City Hospital is the fictional

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...

within the city in which '' Casualty'' and ''

'' are set. It is based on the

Bristol Royal Infirmary The Bristol Royal Infirmary, also known as the BRI, is a large teaching hospital situated in the centre of Bristol, England. It has links with the nearby University of Bristol and the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of the Wes ...

which the original script writers spent time observing in the 1980s in order to garner ideas for ''Casualty''.Hilary Kingsley(1995) ''Casualty'' The Inside Story, Penguin Books, Although both shows are set in the same hospital, ''Casualty'' is primarily filmed in

, whilst ''Holby City'' is filmed in Hertfordshire at

BBC Elstree Centre The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Bore ...

. The indoor shots for the first series of ''Casualty'' were filmed at

BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

.Rachel Silver(1998) ''Casualty'', Behind The Scenes, BBC Books, The exterior shots of the hospital used in ''Casualty'' were formerly filmed at the

City of Bristol College City of Bristol College is a further education and higher education college in Bristol, England. It provides courses for young people and adults aged 16 and above in areas such as: A Levels, Animal Care, Floristry, Horticulture, Applied Forensi ...

; location filming later moved to an industrial estate at , close to the interior set of the hospital.''Casualty'' Filming Locations, ''IMDB''
. URL last accessed 22 April 2008 It was announced on 15 October 2008 that the BBC was considering moving the filming of ''Casualty'' to studios in

. On 26 March 2009, the BBC confirmed the move. Since late 2011, ''Casualty'' has been filmed on a purpose built studio and backlot set at the BBC Roath Lock Studios in

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of ...

at . The hospital became a NHS Foundation Trust in 2016.

Wards and departments

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 An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

(formerly referred to as

Accident and Emergency An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pat ...

), which has its own adjoining

Clinical Decisions Unit An acute admissions unit is a short-stay department in some British, Australian and New Zealand hospitals that may be linked to the emergency department, but functions as a separate department. The AMU acts as a gateway between a patient's gene ...

, introduced in series 25. ''Holby City'' is set between the hospital's

Acute Assessment Unit An acute admissions unit is a short-stay department in some British, Australian and New Zealand hospitals that may be linked to the emergency department, but functions as a separate department. The AMU acts as a gateway between a patient's gene ...

(ground floor), and

Keller Keller may refer to: People *Keller (surname) * Helen Keller *Keller Williams, jam-band musician * Keller E. Rockey Places India *Keller, Shopian United States * Keller, Georgia * Keller, Indiana *Keller, Texas *Keller, Virginia * Keller, Washin ...

(third floor) and Darwin (sixth floor) wards, providing

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

and

Cardiothoracic Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity — generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease), lungs (lung disease), and other pleural or mediastinal struc ...

surgical care respectively. Holby expanded by adding "HolbyCare", a private healthcare ward led by

Michael Spence Andrew Michael Spence (born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American economist and Nobel laureate. Spence is the William R. Berkley Professor in Economics and Business at the Stern School of Business at New York University, and the Philip H. Kni ...

adjacent to the existing

Intensive Care Unit 220px, Intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensi ...

on the fifth floor. Former storylines have also focused around the hospital's Otter ward, providing

pediatric Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

care, as well as its

maternity ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

ward. Otter ward has not featured in the show since Holby City (series 4), series 4, whilst the maternity ward ceased usage as a primary location in

series 8 Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

. 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 Connie Beauchamp is a fictional character from the BBC medical dramas ''Holby City'' and '' Casualty'', portrayed by actress Amanda Mealing. She first appeared in the series six, episode 35, "In at the Deep End", broadcast on 1 June 2004, and ...

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 Clifton may refer to: People * Clifton (surname) * Clifton (given name) Places Australia *Clifton, Queensland, a town ** Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong * Clifton, Western Australia Canada * Clifton, Nova Sc ...

, Curie (disused),

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

, Geraint Morris, Hitchcock (psychiatric),

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, Swift and St Clares as well as the paediatric, neonatal, burns and neuro ICUs.

List of wards/departments

Holby Ambulance Service

Holby Ambulance Service is the fictional ambulance service which serves

Holby City Hospital 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 i ...

- also appearing in the two hospital dramas '' Casualty'' and ''

''. Although the ambulance service is only seen in ''Holby City'' very rarely, ''Casualty'' has featured

paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

characters as a key part of the cast since the show's 1986 conception.''Casualty'' Characters
. URL last accessed 21 April 2008

Holby South

Holby South is the fictional police station in which ''

'' was based in its two series run.

St James' Hospital

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. 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'.

Trivia

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".''Ugeavisen'' on the DR archive site ''Bonanza''

References

{{Holby England in fiction Fictional populated places in England