Holby City Holby City Holby City (styled as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One. The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama "Casualty", and premiered on 12 January 1999. It is set in the same hospital as "Casualty", in the fictional city of Holby, and featured occasional crossovers of characters and plots with both "Casualty" (which featured dedicated episodes broadcast as "Casualty@Holby City") and the show's 2007 police procedural spin-off "HolbyBlue". Its first executive producers were Young and Johnathan Young, who were
Holby City is limited to "accident of the week" storylines about patients entering hospital, "Holby City" allowed the possibility of storylines about long-term care, rather than immediate life and death decisions. The series was commissioned by BBC One Controller Peter Salmon, and began airing on BBC One on 12 January 1999. Series producer Richard Stokes believes that the series' popularity stems from the fact the hospital setting presents numerous plotline opportunities, explaining: "You have licence to create life-and-death situations every week, something you cannot do in any other set piece. The interaction of the characters can be sexy and social issues also