Hospital Dramas: Case Study

‘Casualty’

CasualtyCasualty is a weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest running emergency medical drama television series in the world.[1] Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986,[2] and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The producer was Geraint Morris. The programme is based around the fictional Holby City Hospital and focuses on the staff and patients of the hospital's Accident and Emergency Department. The show has very few ties to its sister programme Holby City which began as a spin off from Casualty in 1999 and is set in the same hospital, but upstairs. The show's plots and characters occasionally crossover between the two programmes, but this is rare, and each show can be followed without having to watch the other. Casualty is shown weekly, with the exception of a break in the summer when the series ends. This break is usually anything between 3 to 6 weeks.

Awards

• 2007 Casualty won its first major award, the BAFTA for the best continuing drama. Long serving Ian Bleasdale, who played the character Josh accepted the award at the ceremony, which took place at the London Palladium.

• There have been over 700 episodes of Casualty broadcast since it began in 1986, surpassing by far other medical dramas worldwide such as E.R., Grey’s Anatomy, House or even M*A*S*H.

Casualty is filmed 4 to 6 months in advance of broadcast. Bristol landmarks, including the docks and the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge, are regularly

glimpsed in the outdoor scenes. The exterior shots of the hospital were formerly filmed at the city's technical college, but are now shot on a small

industrial estate, not far from the interior set of the hospital.

Check out the websites for further information on the programme…

http://www.solarnavigator.net/films_movies_actors/television/casualty.htm

www.bbc.co.uk/casualty

Viewing Figures

High viewing figuresA wedding on BBC1's medical series Holby City had nearly 6 million viewers tuning in to see an old flame and a set of estranged parents threaten to derail proceedings last night, Tuesday, 9 June.The saga had 5.9 million viewers glued to BBC1 in the 8pm hour, a 28% share of the available audience. According to unofficial overnights, this was 500,000 up on last week's episode.

Types of TV Hospital Drama

Some of the TV Hospital/Medical DramasEmergency - Ward 10 (1957–1967)Police Surgeon (1960)Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1962–1971)Doctor in the House (1969–1970)The Doctors (1969–1971)General Hospital (1972–1979)Angels (1975–1983)The District Nurse (1984–1987)Casualty (1986–present)Children's Ward (1989–2000)Medics (1990–1995)Doctor Finlay (1993–1996)Peak Practice (1993–2002)Cardiac Arrest (1994–1996)Bramwell (1995)Holby City (1999–present)Doctors (2000–present)The Royal (2003–present)Doc Martin (2004-present)Green Wing (2004–2007)No Angels (2004–2006)Crash (2009-present)

‘No Place like Home’

• An episode from Series 25.• We will watch 20 minutes of this. • As you watch. Look at the key character,

settings and plots and make brief notes.• After watching, think about whether these

notes fit in with what we have discussed about key conventions of Hospital dramas.

Apply a theorist!

• Propp

• Barthes

• Todorov

• Levi-Strauss

What is Disability?

Traditionally, in many cultures around the world, people with physical, sensory or mental impairments were thought of as under the spell of witchcraft, possessed by demons, or as penitent sinners, being punished by God for wrong-doing by themselves or their parents.

Types of disabilities…• Physical impairments;• Sensory impairments (deaf people, blind people);• Chronic illness or health issues, including HIV and AIDS;• All degrees of learning difficulties;• Emotional, mental health and behavioural problems.• The definition also includes people with hidden impairments, such as:• Epilepsy;• Diabetes;• Sickle cell anaemia;• Specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia;• Speech and language impairments;• Children labelled as 'delicate';• People who identify as 'disfigured';• People of diminutive stature;• People with mental distress.

From the BFI websiteThe history of attitudes to disabled people

Moving image media continually draw on attitudes and representations of disabled people from the past, which have been fossilised in myths, literature, theatre, folklore, biography and history. Having a clear understanding of where thinking about disability has come from is important in order to see that underlying negative attitudes and stereotypes have been reinforced by society and religion over many centuries. Here, you can read about some of the historical attitudes to disability which have shaped the prevailing attitudes of Western society today. These attitudes have been perpetuated in many cultures around the world.

• A notion of 'normality' was invested with great pseudo-scientific significance. It was based on assessments of impairments from a deficit point of view against normality: what one cannot do, instead of what one can do. This has been called 'medical model' (or 'individual model') thinking by the Disabled People's Movement over the last 30 years. This is not to deny the very necessary role of medical science in keeping many disabled people alive, and reducing their pain and discomfort, but it is to argue that disabled people should not be reduced to just their impairment

Attitudes to disabled people…

• However, negative attitudes, stereotypes and distorted portrayals of disabled people's lives still predominate in commercial films. The increasing capacity of the world media system to recycle moving image media means that, despite worthy legislation, negative views are continually reinforced through film

‘Casualty’ and representation of disability

Courtesy of http://beauchampmedia.ning.com/video/casualty-1