'THEY SOWED THE WIND, AND NOW THEY ARE GOING TO REAP THE WHIRLWIND.'
With the arrival of January comes the arrival of the award season. The first of many of these ceremonies in the UK is, of course, the National Television Awards. While such awards are not as prestigious as other award ceremonies, I consider them to be equally important in the process of representing all genres of screen media. Usually discounted by default by the mainstream media, I have met many who have never seen programmes like Casualty and yet due to their long-running formats and lower production values, seem to judge them at face value as nothing but superficial, shock-tactic television.
However, come January this year and Casualty's win of Best Drama at the NTAa had all manor of people considering the awards for the first time, but more importantly, the importance of content like Casualty.
Casualty is the BBC's longest running drama, and has also been named the longest running primetime medical drama in entirety of TV history (Guinness World Records 2011). It's win over the likes of Game of Thrones sparked bemused surprise by some, but I am happy to say I was not one of them. In last night's episode "Reap The Whirlwind: Part Two", – spoiler alert – fans were confronted with the tragedy of a sudden loss. Dr. Caleb Knight (Richard Winsor) is stabbed defending his younger brother, Ethan, another fan favourite, leaving him alone in the world. He died defending his only family, who was being villainised for a simple mistake, which, frankly, was barely a mistake.
At face value, the episode was an intrinsically the format at its best, demonstrating nail-biting drama with a delicious level of personal investment to boot. Dr. Ethan Hardy (played by George Rainsford) has been a crowd favourite since his dramatic diagnosis with Huntington's in 2016, along with his on-off rollercoaster love life. While the performances from both Rainsford and Windsor were exceptional, Rainsford's emotional breakdown over the sight of his brother's dead body, so visceral in his ugly and raw visual outpour, was something that would pluck the heartstrings of the most stoic of viewers.
"Not only did last night's episode speak of the importance of family, but it also held a much stronger message: the NHS is a battle ground, with a very real front line."
Wrapped up in a primetime continuing fictional drama is a powerful reminder of the truth, of what matters and what, when one brushes with death, does not. The programme has become increasingly political in its discourse on the British National Health Service, whether that be the treatment of it by politicians and bureaucrats, or the abuse of it by the ignorant, drunken public on a Saturday night. Last night, the former was not only a a theme, but an active narrative arc, with the characters calling a Junior Doctor strike.
Not only did last night's episode speak of the importance of family, but it also held a much stronger message: the NHS is a battle ground, with a very real front line.
'THEY SOWED THE WIND, AND NOW THEY ARE GOING TO REAP THE WHIRLWIND.'
Above are the words spoken by Sir Arthur Harris, a man who sealed the fate of one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, Dresden. I am supposing they are the inspiration for the episode's title, all the more more poignant when you consider that within the programme's narrative, Holby's fictional ED is being threatened with cuts to Junior Doctors.
To those in positions of power, cutting and suffocating an already overworked NHS, this title is a warning, incredibly powerful but also profoundly simple: Knowingly remove a key pillar – i.e. the NHS – of our community and onto your head too the ceiling will fall.
Casualty, superficial? Not tonight, Josephine.