CasualtyXHolby
Consultants Connie Beauchamp (Amanda Mealing) and Jac Naylor (Rosie Marcel) also come into conflict when they learn there is only one theatre available while treating two of their colleagues.
The crossover was first pitched to BBC One in 2017 and early drafts had various vehicles striking an electrical substation to cause the blackout, before the teams settled on a cyberattack.
The production design team created two sets especially for scenes in which Ric Griffin (Hugh Quarshie) has to crawl through the hospital's ventilation system.
Elle Gardner (Jaye Griffiths) calls Ric Griffin (Hugh Quarshie) on AAU, who tells her they also have problems with the computers.
Ric, Connie Beauchamp (Amanda Mealing), Jac Naylor (Rosie Marcel), Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher (Alex Walkinshaw) and Serena Campbell (Catherine Russell) are summoned to a board meeting with CEO Henrik Hanssen (Guy Henry), who tells them that the network has been infected with a virus, caused by a member of staff opening a spam email.
Paramedic Ruby Spark (Maddy Hill) becomes suspicious about her colleague Iain Dean (Michael Stevenson), after finding his uniform in his locker, but no other personal effects.
Xavier "Zav" Duval (Marcus Griffiths) and Donna Jackson (Jaye Jacobs) assist Jac, while Connie discovers Iain has a torn vessel and needs to open him up.
The power returns to the hospital and Noel hands his notice in to Hanssen, believing himself to be at fault for opening a spam email saying he had been nominated for an award.
Hanssen reveals the virus originated at St James' and migrated to the Holby network, and that the email was genuine, as he himself nominated Noel for his years of service to the hospital.
[4] The plot centres on Holby City Hospital which experiences a cyberattack, cutting power to the lights and medical equipment.
"[5] He also explained that the crew of Casualty plot storylines far in advance of Holby City, whose team did not know where the show would be at the time of the crossover.
Harper said early drafts had various vehicles striking an electrical substation, which would cause the blackout, but after discussing the idea in an emergency meeting, the teams chose a cyberattack.
[5] Actress Catherine Russell told Laura-Jayne Tyler of Inside Soap that the storyline shows viewers how reliant the hospital is on technology.
[6] In addition to the lack of technology, the hospital also suffers with low theatre spaces, so patients have to be prioritised before surgery is carried out under battery-powered lights.
Russell's colleague Hugh Quarshie, who plays Ric Griffin, commented, "they have to make difficult and quick decisions under pressure..."[6] The crossover allows characters from both shows to interact with one another, as they react to the cyberattack and the effect it has on the hospital.
"[5] A predominant story in the episodes follows consultants Connie Beauchamp and Jac Naylor coming into conflict, as they attempt to save the lives of two of their colleagues after separate incidents.
[6] While Iain is rushed to the ED to be treated by Connie, Holby City consultant Sacha Levy (Bob Barrett), his daughter Beka (Francesca Barrett) and Ric Griffin's granddaughter, Darla (Naomi Katiyo) are involved in a car crash, after Sacha is distracted by a pregnancy testing kit that falls out of Beka's bag.
[6] Elsewhere, Ric has to crawl through the hospital's ventilation ducts with a medical kit to help Beka and Essie Di Lucca (Kaye Wragg) in the radiology department.
The plot development was previously mentioned in an episode of Casualty, with Elle describing a sexual encounter she had in a lift at a conference.
[5] The production design team created two sets especially for the scenes in which Ric Griffin (Quarshie) crawls through the ventilation ducts to get to the scanner room.
A store room layout was created underneath to provide a camera angle showing Ric punching through a ceiling tile and realising he is in the wrong location.
She said, "Holby City and Casualty's filmed transition times are slightly different so it's really difficult to arrange the two schedules together, so I understand why it doesn't happen!
[14] Towards the end of February, cast members Bob Barrett and Cathy Shipton (Duffy) appeared on Steve Wright in the Afternoon on BBC Radio 2 to promote the episodes,[15] while Shaheen Jafargholi (Marty) and Rosie Marcel were guests on the ITV breakfast show Lorraine.
[17] The first episode was watched by 5.94 million viewers, making it the 8th most-watched television show on BBC One for the week of 25 February – 3 March 2019.
[20] Reporters for the Daily Mirror included the Casualty half of the crossover in their "Hot On The Box; What Not to Miss out on This Week" list.
[21] A Sunday Mirror reporter chose the second episode as part of their "TV Choice" feature, commenting "Nope you're not hallucinating, that really is the cast of Casualty infiltrating your Tuesday night dose of medical drama.
She called it "a clever crowdpleaser and must-see TV, whether you're a devoted Casualty fan, exclusively into Holby City or like to dip into both.
"[25] Although Haasler felt Ric's ventilation crawl and Essie's collapse was a stretch, she thought it was done well, as was the battle to save both Iain and Sacha.
Holby City and Casualty fans have been treated to two unmissable crossover episodes as the sister shows joined forces for a shocking cyber-attack story.
[26] Writing for the Radio Times, David Brown thought the cyberattack plot was not original, as several US medical dramas had recently covered the subject, but he found that "where Casualty succeeds is in its focus on beloved series regulars rather than the technicalities of the IT failures.
