Holby City
(Picture BBC)

It’s been announced that Holby City will be axed from the BBC after twenty three years on screen.

A statement on the breaking news read: ‘We are incredibly proud of Holby City but it’s with great sadness that we are announcing that after 23 years, the show will end on screen in March of next year.’

Since 1999, Holby City has provided an insight into the life of working for the NHS.

As the Coronavirus pandemic began last March, a weekly clap for carers began to pay tribute to the NHS key workers, people displayed rainbows everywhere as a symbol of hope and solidarity, our love for the NHS has been shown like never before over the past year.

So, here’s why axing Holby City – a show portraying key worker’s lives – is a complete mistake.

Holby City was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin off from BBC medical drama Casualty.

Young was keen to explore what happened to patients treated in the Casualty ED once they were taken away to the surgical wards (Keller, Darwin and AAU). Holby has allowed the possibilities of storylines about long-term care, rather than immediate life and death decisions.

Holby City 1999
The show began in January 1999 (Picture: BBC)

Being a continuing drama, Holby City has had the ability to tell narratives in a realistic timeframe.

Jac Naylor (Rosie Marcel) – one of the most powerful and memorable characters in the show faced a horrific time back in 2019 when she began struggling with her mental health.

With the pressures of being in a high powered job getting to her, Jac’s family set up and arrival of her unwell mentor Elliot Hope led to an intense and emotional breakdown in an episode titled ‘Bell Jar’.

When these scenes aired, viewers praised the show for showing Jac’s breakdown from a long term perspective. One fan said: ‘Can we just talk about how well the story of Jac’s breakdown has been told?’ The build up has been so gradual’.

Viewers also expressed how grateful they were to the show and Rosie Marcel for delivering a realistic and accurate journey.

A viewer wrote: ‘To watch the amazing Rosie Marcel act the heart breaking scenes of Jac’s breakdown was so powerful! people if you need support please ring the help line #HolbyCity’.

Metro.co.uk spoke to Rosie Marcel during this storyline and she said how she initially didn’t want to do the storyline, but for her ‘it became really important to tell the story of not just people with mental health issues but for working women.’

Jac and Fletch in Holby
Rosie Marcel spoke in an interview about wanting to tell this story to help other people (Picture: BBC)

Mental health has been a subject explored regularly throughout the twenty three series of Holby City. Sacha Levy (Bob Barrett) – a beloved character loved by so many – considered ending his life and was saved by fellow colleague Ric Griffin (Hugh Quarshie).

Most recently, self-harm trauma was looked at as Henrik Hanssen (Guy Henry) came face to face with his childhood abuser Reyhan Shah.

It’s not just ground breaking mental health storylines that have been covered in this show. Ric Griffin – one of the show’s longest serving characters – was part of a high-stakes operation that saw him separate conjoined twins.

Holby City Tan twins
The Tan twins made their return to the hospital in 2019 after Ric’s life saving operation in 2008 (Picture: BBC)

Bipolar, abuse, cancer, homelessness, coming to terms with the fact that your child is transgender, the list goes on, but I think something that’s incredibly important to note is Holby City’s Coronavirus episode that looked at how the staff coped during the height of the first wave.

The medical drama went on hiatus during the first lockdown and returned with an episode that showed the hardworking hospital staff deal with rising tensions among each other as they battled to save people’s lives.

The episode featured worn out staff stopping for just a brief moment to listen to the roaring cheers during the clap for carers, it showed the tired staff bruised from the PPE, everything was covered in this episode that reflected every NHS hospital up and down the country in one way or another.

Before the episode aired, BBC’s Head of Continuing Drama Kate Oates told The Guardian:

‘There are life lessons to be learned and conversations to be had off the back of Casualty and Holby City, whether it’s about the daily hardships of NHS staff, the money they’re paid or the equipment they’re given.’

Max in Holby
Max McGerry recently underwent a double mastectomy to try to lessen her chances of getting breast or ovarian cancer (Picture: BBC)

Considering that, in the statement released by the BBC earlier today, it read:

‘We have taken the difficult decision to bring the show to a close in order to reshape the BBC’s drama slate to better reflect, represent and serve all parts of the country.’

‘Reflect, represent and serve all parts of the country’ suggests Holby City is a show that doesn’t accurately show the world we are living in today, but when has the NHS ever been more relevant?

This medical drama is a show that champions the NHS and has a history of strong roles for LGBT and BAME actors and can reflect all corners of the UK in moving storylines.

Perhaps it is in relation to the fact that the BBC want to make more dramas in the North and across the country, but why do we need to lose Holby City – a show just as constant in ratings as EastEnders and Casualty – as a consequence?

Twenty three years of Holby City means this is now a programme with guaranteed constant and consistent viewership.

What new programme will sustain a dedicated and loving audience like that?

Put simply, storylines in Holby City have saved people’s lives.

Here at Metro.co.uk we often speak about how vital narratives in soaps and continuing dramas are and to take Holby City off air after 23 years, is a huge blow to the industry as a whole, and a worrying sign that no show is untouchable and consistent and reliable viewing could soon be a thing of the past.

If you’ve got a soap or TV story, video or pictures get in touch by emailing us soaps@metro.co.uk – we’d love to hear from you.

Join the community by leaving a comment below and stay updated on all things soaps on our homepage.