Holby City is a British
medical drama television series that was broadcast on
BBC One in the United Kingdom between 12 January 1999 and 29 March 2022. The series was created by
Tony McHale and
Mal Young as a
spin-off from the BBC medical drama
Casualty , which is set in the
emergency department of the fictional
Holby City Hospital , based in the equally fictitious town of
Holby . The show focuses on the fictional lives, both professional and personal, of the medical and ancillary staff on the hospital's surgical wards. It is primarily filmed at the
BBC Elstree Centre in
Borehamwood . The show aired twenty-three full series with over 1000 episodes. Young wanted to explore what happened to patients treated in
Casualty once they were taken away to the hospital's surgical wards. He opined that
Casualty limited itself to "accident of the week" storylines, while
Holby City allowed the possibility of storylines about long-term care, rather than immediate life-and-death decisions. A
police procedural spin-off,
HolbyBlue , began airing from 8 May 2007, running for two series before being cancelled due to poor viewing figures.
The serial features an ensemble cast of regular and recurring characters, and began with 11 main characters in its first series . Characters have since been written in and out of the series, and 16 actors were employed to the show's main cast at its finale. Having appeared in over 500 episodes between the fourth and twenty-third series, the show's longest-serving character is Ric Griffin , portrayed by Hugh Quarshie . Additionally, Holby City features a number of guest artists in each episode as well as recurring characters who appear in story arcs. Many regular cast members in the show have made prior, minor appearances as both patients and staff members in both Holby City and Casualty . In 2015, casting directors hired Niamh Walsh for the regular role of Cara Martinez after a guest part as a patient in Casualty . Producers will sometimes recast significant recurring characters when their original actors are unavailable for another stint. When the character of Beka Levy was reintroduced in 2018, her original actress Rhean McGee could not reprise the role, so they recast the role to Francesca Barrett. Characters from Holby City have appeared in sister shows Casualty and HolbyBlue and vice versa. Although most characters only guest star, some have become regular cast members. Amanda Mealing joined Casualty as Connie Beauchamp in 2014, following a six-year stint in Holby City . Nick Jordan actor Michael French has had stints in the main cast of both Holby City and Casualty , and Clive Mantle reprised his role as Mike Barratt in Holby City in 1999, two years after leaving Casualty .
Regular characters
Clive Mantle starred as Mike Barratt , having reprised the role from Casualty .
Luisa Bradshaw-White starred as Lisa Fox .
Ade Edmondson appeared as Abra Durant across multiple stints.
Peter Wingfield portrayed Dan Clifford .
Jimmy Akingbola portrayed Antoine Malick .
John Gaskell actor Paul McGann .
Denis Lawson starred as Tom Campbell-Gore .
Patsy Kensit played Faye Morton .
Ramin Karimloo features as Kian Madani.
Lucinda Dryzek had a year-long stint as Jasmine Burrows .
Guy Henry portrays Henrik Hanssen .
Jo Martin appears as Max McGerry .
Recurring characters
Paul Blackthorne appeared in series 3 as Guy Morton.
Denise Welch guest starred as Pam McGrath.
Susannah York portrayed Helen Grant.
Bradley Hume actor Scott Adkins .
Graeme Garden played Ed Loftwood across four years.
In series 11, Meera Syal features as Tara Sodi .
Anne-Marie, Lady Byrne actress Jane Asher .
Silas Carson starred as Sunil Bhatti.
Anna-Louise Plowman appeared as Annalese Carson .
Andi Osho guest starred as Barbara Alcock.
Nina Wadia appeared in a month-long stint as Annabelle Cooper.
Carli Norris has appeared in stints as Fran Reynolds.
Jeff Rawle guest starred as Jerry Clark.
Marc Elliott played Isaac Mayfield .
Charlie Condou appeared as Ben Sherwood .
Character
Actor(s)
First appearance
Last appearance
Ref(s)
Paul Ripley
Luke Mably
12 January 1999
26 January 1999
Peter Ellis
Fraser James
12 January 1999
16 February 1999
Ellie Sharpe
Julie Saunders
12 January 1999
9 March 1999
Damien Wetherell
Matt Dempsey
16 December 1999
27 January 2000
Guy Morton
Paul Blackthorne
6 March 2001
5 June 2001
Pam McGrath
Denise Welch
11 June 2002
16 July 2002
Anil Banerjee
Kulvinder Ghir
16 November 2000
22 October 2002
Jan Goddard
Judy Loe
6 August 2002
4 February 2003
Sunil Gupta
Hari Dhillon
8 May 2001
15 July 2003
Sir Charles Merrick
Simon Williams
12 February 2013
15 July 2003
Anita Forbes
Kirsty Mitchell
25 March 2003
29 July 2003
Helen Grant
Susannah York
6 August 2003
25 November 2003
Nic Yorke
Liam Garrigan
10 June 2003
30 December 2003
Kelly Yorke
Rachel Leskovac
1 July 2003
27 January 2004
Anna Chandler
Deborah Poplett
27 February 2001
7 December 2004
Carlos Fashola
David Bedella
27 July 2004
2 August 2005
Sean Thompson
Chinna Wodu
23 November 2004
10 August 2005
Andy Fishman
Ace Bhatti
30 August 2005
6 December 2005
Justin Fuller
Ben Richards
21 March 2006
11 July 2006
Dr Charles
Victoria Pritchard
25 March 2003
18 July 2006
Michael Beauchamp
Anthony Calf
19 April 2005
8 August 2006
Bradley Hume
Scott Adkins
23 May 2006
17 October 2006
Reg Lund
Martin Hancock
28 June 2005
17 October 2006
Sanghita Parma
Mia Soteriou
31 October 2006
28 March 2007
Alan Dane
Peter Hamilton Dyer
9 January 2007
1 May 2007
Ooma Chowdry
Sakuntala Ramanee
10 May 2007
24 May 2007
Christopher Sutherland
Patrick Toomey
4 April 2006
28 June 2007
Ed Loftwood
Graeme Garden
18 February 2003
10 July 2007
Charles, Lord Byrne
Ronald Pickup
3 January 2006
31 July 2007
Emma Jackson
Celia Henebury
23 July 2002
2 October 2007
Zoe Foxe
Alicia Davies
30 October 2007
19 December 2007
Gina Hope
Gillian Bevan
21 March 2006
27 December 2007
James Crowe
William Mannering
9 September 2008
1 October 2008
Jamie Norton
Dominic Colchester
1 July 2008
18 November 2008
Toby Carr
Paul Venables
20 January 2009
3 February 2009
Tom O'Dowd
Jalaal Hartley
14 October 2008
21 April 2009
Rachel Baptiste
Ayesha Antoine
18 November 2008
5 May 2009
Martha Hope
Holly Lucas
11 April 2006
22 June 2009
Tara Sodi
Meera Syal
22 June 2009
18 August 2009
Lauren Minster
Riann Steele
2 June 2009
12 January 2010
Thandie Abebe-Griffin
Ginny Holder
20 March 2007
22 February 2010
George Kerwan
Joseph May
27 January 2010
22 February 2010
Toby Geddes
Rick Warden
17 February 2010
9 March 2010
Judith Marchant
Shelagh McLeod
20 October 2009
15 March 2010
Vanessa Lytton
Leslie Ash
13 October 2009
6 April 2010
Davina MacKenzie
Sarah Winman
11 November 2008
19 May 2010
Paul Rose
Andrew Lewis
19 October 2000
7 June 2010
Keith Greene
Alex Macqueen
10 May 2005
13 July 2010
Nicky van Barr
Alan Morrissey
30 June 2009
26 October 2010
Anne-Marie, Lady Byrne
Jane Asher
10 May 2007
28 December 2010
Sarita Dubashi
Rakhee Thakrar
2 November 2010
8 February 2011
Kieran Callaghan
Barry Sloane
16 November 2010
8 March 2011
Lulu Hutchison
Fiona Hampton
19 July 2011
6 September 2011
Sunil Bhatti
Silas Carson
19 April 2011
11 October 2011
Sir Fraser Anderson
Aneirin Hughes
28 June 2011
18 October 2011
Stephen Hopewell
Lex Shrapnel
6 September 2011
13 December 2011
Lleucu Jones
Daisy Keeping
9 August 2011
27 March 2012
Alex Broadhurst
Sasha Behar
7 February 2012
3 April 2012
Rafi Raza
Zubin Varla
21 February 2012
17 April 2012
Annalese Carson
Anna-Louise Plowman
4 November 2008
24 April 2012
Barbara Alcock
Andi Osho
19 June 2012
3 July 2012
Ella Barnes
Emma Hiddleston
1 May 2012
10 July 2012
Simon Marshall
Paul Nicholls
22 May 2012
10 July 2012
Max Schneider
John Light
7 August 2012
25 September 2012
George Binns
Leander Deeny
14 August 2012
2 October 2012
Albie Cheshire
Andrew Greenough
6 November 2012
11 December 2012
Ramona Gomez
María Fernández-Ache
13 November 2012
18 December 2012
Lilah Birdwood
Natasha Leigh
30 October 2012
2 January 2013
Rhys Hopkins
Gareth David-Lloyd
30 October 2012
2 January 2013
Terence Cunningham
Roger Barclay
28 July 2009
15 January 2013
Sean Dolan
Wil Johnson
1 November 2011
22 January 2013
Sharon Kozinsky
Madeleine Potter
30 April 2013
27 August 2013
Jake Patterson
Louis Payne
22 January 2013
26 November 2013
Jeremy Solis
Tom Beard
14 January 2014
28 January 2014
Bonnie Wallis
Carlyss Peer
8 October 2013
1 April 2014
Paula Burrows
Julie Legrand
30 March 2010
19 June 2014
James Hope
Sam Stockman
22 August 2006
22 July 2014
Adrienne McKinnie
Sandra Voe
12 February 2013
18 November 2014
Amy Teo
Wendy Kweh
25 March 2014
16 December 2014
Sophia Verlaine
Nina Toussaint-White
11 November 2014
23 December 2014
Nathan Hargreave
Jotham Annan
2 January 2013
30 December 2014
Sir Dennis Hopkins-Clark
Rupert Frazer
8 March 2016
12 April 2015
Annabelle Cooper
Nina Wadia
21 April 2015
19 May 2015
Angus Farrell
Jamie Glover
24 May 2011
2 June 2015
Lucy Mottica
Lisa Marged
19 May 2015
18 August 2015
Clifford George
Geff Francis
28 April 2015
1 September 2015
Sebastian Coulter
Hadley Fraser
16 June 2015
15 September 2015
Brigitte Nye
Sally Dexter
11 August 2015
22 September 2015
Naomi Palmer
Lorna Brown
3 May 2016
5 July 2016
Imelda Cousins
Tessa Peake-Jones
20 November 2012
25 October 2016
Tristan Wood
Jonathan McGuinness
23 August 2016
15 November 2016
Elinor Campbell
Amy McCallum
5 June 2012
3 January 2017
Charlotte Hope
Inga Olsen
Kaisa Hammarlund
6 September 2016
3 January 2017
Alex Lambert
Jack Hawkins
17 May 2016
7 March 2017
Kyle Greenham
Alan Morrissey
23 September 2014
11 April 2017
Fran Reynolds
Carli Norris
15 September 2015
11 July 2017
Kim Whitfield
Louisa Clein
11 October 2016
10 October 2017
Parker Whitfield
Louis Davison
18 October 2016
10 October 2017
David Hopkins
Fraser James
14 November 2017
7 December 2017
Fredrik Johansson
William Postlethwaite
5 September 2017
7 December 2017
Jerry Clark
Jeff Rawle
8 January 2013
12 December 2017
Jeremy Warren
Nick Rhys
10 October 2017
19 December 2017
Abigail Tate
Olivia Poulet
3 April 2018
4 September 2018
Mikey Fletcher
Kai O'Loughlin
3 May 2016
25 September 2018
Sydney Somers
Gemma Oaten
11 April 2017
11 December 2018
Sheilagh Chiltern
Wanda Ventham
23 January 2018
18 December 2018
Leah Faulkner
Hannah Daniel
2 October 2018
18 December 2018
Steven Fletcher
Jesse Birdsall
31 July 2018
27 December 2018
Derwood Thompson
Ben Hull
3 July 2012
27 December 2018
Greta Allinson
Zoe Croft
7 February 2018
2 January 2019
Arianne Cornell
Sara Stewart
9 January 2018
2 January 2019
Roman Makarenko
Marko Leht
24 April 2018
22 January 2019
Kofi Johnstone
Richard Pepple
13 June 2017
19 March 2019
Theo Fletcher
Stanley Rabbetts
29 August 2017
20 March 2019
Amira Zafar
Poppy Jhakra
10 October 2017
20 March 2019
Isaac Mayfield
Marc Elliott
23 June 2016
11 June 2019
Patricia Ghraoui
Sirine Saba
29 May 2018
20 June 2019
"Scary" Sue Buchanan
Angela Lonsdale
2 October 2018
9 July 2019
Evan Crowhurst
Jack Ryder
20 March 2019
1 October 2019
Darla Johnstone
Naomi Katiyo
25 April 2017
8 October 2019
Fleur Fanshawe
Debbie Chazen
14 October 2014
19 November 2019
Phoebe Palmer
Daisy Wood-Davis
2 April 2019
17 December 2019
Ben Sherwood
Charlie Condou
19 December 2019
24 March 2020
David Hide
Jason Durr
5 March 2019
7 April 2020
Tracey McKendrick
Cathy Murphy
21 January 2020
14 July 2020
Emma Naylor-Maconie
Darcey Burke
7 January 2014
28 July 2020
Beka Levy
Francesca Barrett
19 April 2010
26 January 2021
Rhean McGee
Michael Townsend
Elliot Levey
17 November 2020
2 February 2021
Jodie Rodgers
Sian Reese-Williams
10 November 2020
16 February 2021
Alex Duval
Miles Mitchell
9 October 2018
2 March 2021
Leemore Marrett Jr
Reyhan Shah
Raad Rawi
2 March 2021
4 May 2021
Andrei Tarpov
Sonny Poon Tip
6 April 2021
22 June 2021
Ethan Hardy
George Rainsford
7 June 2016
14 September 2021
Iain Dean
Michael Stevenson
30 August 2016
14 September 2021
Rich Peterson
Richard Pepper
7 July 2021
14 September 2021
Mia Barron
Briana Shann
27 October 2009
5 October 2021
Jada Wallace-Mitchell
Elaine Hudson
Carol Walton
7 July 2021
19 October 2021
Evie Fletcher
Phoebe French
20 January 2015
16 November 2021
Macey Chipping
Carole Copeland
Julia Deakin
30 June 2015
7 December 2021
Billie Faber
Delainey Hayles
2 November 2021
8 March 2022
Amelia Ebrahimi
Lucy Briggs-Owen
28 September 2021
22 March 2022
Jason Haynes
Jules Robertson
9 February 2016
29 March 2022
Lexy Morrell
Jenny Howe
22 May 2012
29 March 2022
^ The original broadcast date of the character's first appearance.
^ The original broadcast date of the character's last appearance.