Holby Blue (TV series) · Flickorian

Holby Blue

A force to be reckoned with.

TV series
2007–2008
2 seasons
BBC One
Drama

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The police force at Holby South is tasked with the toughest job yet. Not only are they fighting the usual crime with drug offenders and gang members, but today they are faced with the threat of terrorism on their own soil. A Spin off from Holby City and Casualty.

About the show

HolbyBlue (also known as Holby Blue) is a British police procedural drama series that ran for two series from 2007 to 2008. 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 Akingbola as PC Neil Parker, Joe Jacobs as PC William "Billy" Jackson, David Sterne as Sergeant Edward 'Mac' McFadden, Cal Macaninch as DI John Keenan, James Hillier as Sergeant Christian Young, Kacey Ainsworth as Inspector Jenny Black, Richard Harrington as DS Luke French, Zöe Lucker as Kate Keenan, Chloe Howman as PC Kelly Cooper, Kieran O'Brien as PC Robert Clifton, Tim Pigott-Smith as DCI Harry Hutchinson, Sara Powell as Rachel Barker and Elaine Glover as PC Lucy Slater. Velibor Topić and Julie Cox joined the cast in a recurring capacity as drug baron Neculai Stenga and Mandy French, Luke French's wife. By the end of series one, Pigott-Smith and Topic both departed the show. Series two saw the introductions of Oliver Milburn as DCI Scott Vaughan and James Thornton as Constable Jake Loughton. Stephanie Langton took over from Julie Cox in series two to continue playing the role of Mandy.

The series was announced on 27 April 2006, and was created by Tony Jordan as a spin-off from the established medical drama Holby City. The show premiered on 8 May 2007. HolbyBlue ran for two series and was cancelled by the BBC on 6 August 2008, after ratings fell from an initial 5.64 million viewers to a low of 2.5 million viewers. Tony Jordan and Karen Wilson served as the show's executive producers, while Claire Phillips was the producer. Jordan spent time with first serving officers and believed that the key to a successful police drama was its ability to reflect a society "in which it existed". Jordan made the decision to emulate two American police dramas: Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. The BBC suggested that Jordan used the "Holby" brand to "create a third arm of the successful Casualty and Holby City format". Jordan questioned whether the series would be "held in disdain" by "soap snobs", but made the ultimate decision to name the drama HolbyBlue after remembering the "joy" he took from "surprising the audience by subverting expectation".

HolbyBlue received mixed reception. Rachel Cooke from The Observer criticised the show's unoriginal characterisation, while The Times' Andrew Billen stated that the most that could be said for the show was that it had a healthy pace, and occasionally well-written dialogue. On the contrary, David Chater from the same newspaper praised the show's "high energy level" and casting. Chater also suggested the show would serve to be strong competition for ITV's police drama The Bill. Jod Mitchell of The Daily Telegraph expressed that the series injected "pace and verve" into the BBC One schedule. Mark Wright from The Stage branded the opening episode of HolbyBlue "boring", with some "duff casting". Wright also criticised the decision to launch the show under the Holby moniker, opining that it is not a true brand as Casualty and Holby City both possess "distinct personalities".

During its lifespan, HolbyBlue was nominated for six awards: Best Drama at the Inside Soap Awards in 2007 and 2008; Best New Drama Series at the TV Quick & TV Choice Awards; actresses Zöe Lucker and Kacey Ainsworth for Best Actress, also at the TV Quick and Inside Soap Awards, and actor Jimmy Akingbola for Best Male Performance in TV at the Screen Nation Awards.

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