Episode 1094

The plot follows an accident which sees paramedic Iain Dean (Michael Stevenson) swerve his ambulance, containing paramedic Ruby Spark (Maddy Hill) and registrar Alicia Munroe (Chelsea Halfpenny), to avoid hitting a woman who jumped off a bridge, creating a multi-car pile up and a petrol tanker exploding.

The episode features the death of regular character Sam Nicholls (Charlotte Salt), which was embargoed until transmission.

It was watched by 5.83 million viewers in a 28-day period, and received positive reviews from critics and fans alike: Sophie Dainty of Digital Spy dubbed the episode "one of its most dramatic episodes in a long time", while Amy Hunt of What's on TV described Sam's death scene as "heartbreakingly emotional".

Paramedics Iain Dean (Michael Stevenson) and Ruby Spark (Maddy Hill) are called out to the flat of couple Mia Bellis (Simona Zivkovska) and Base Newman (Max Parker).

Iain recognises the address of the injured casualty as Alicia Munroe (Chelsea Halfpenny) and tells Ruby that they need to leave.

She tells paramedics Sam Nicholls (Charlotte Salt) and Jan Jenning (Di Botcher) that Iain and Ruby have been involved in the pile-up.

As Sam and Jan free their final two patients from the car trapped under the fuel tanker, it ignites, and explodes.

Back the ED, Alicia is recovering from her injuries; her friend Ethan Hardy (George Rainsford) visits her and comforts her.

"[2] On 9 May 2018, Sophie Dainty of entertainment website Digital Spy reported that Casualty would broadcast a car crash and an explosion involving a petrol tanker in August.

[11] In an interview with Christine Lampard on chat show Lorraine, Salt likened the episode to a late night special, which explores the "gritty, dark side" of paramedic life.

"[12] The actor added that the episode would "share stories, raise awareness and create drama at the same time".

At the end of the previous episode, Iain swerves the ambulance, which has Alicia and Ruby Spark (Maddy Hill) inside, but it is not known why he has done this.

[14] Stevenson told Elaine Reilly of What's on TV that his character's choice to treat Alicia Munroe (Chelsea Halfpenny) would cause the episode's events.

Stevenson explained that the people trapped in their cars at the incident scene cannot be saved quickly, placing them at risk.

To understand how the vehicles in the multi-car pile up would collide, members of the production team used model cars as examples.

[6] Mark Turner, the special effects coordinator, explained that the ambulance hits a pipe ramp on the dual carriageway, causing it to flip in an anti-clockwise position.

[6] The episode was written by Simon Norman, directed by Steve Brett and produced by Carol Harding.

He pointed out that because Brett is "cinematic" in his work and since there was a lot of discussion about the characters and the scenes, there was a greater illusion that it was a movie.

[15] Similarly, Dainty included the paramedic crew in her list of potential deaths, but she also suggested that Alicia or Eddie McAllister (Joe Gaminara) could die too.

"[11] Despite this, the actress was surprised to learn that her character would be killed off and felt that her exit was more final, allowing her to progress with her career.

[11] Salt hoped that the audience would be surprised by Sam's death and wanted it to have a "big impact" as she felt that most twists were normally spoilt ahead of transmission.

[11] As Sam and Iain save two women trapped in the crash, the tanker explodes and they are hit by the explosion without injury.

She found it upsetting to film Sam's death scene as it solidified that it was the end of a character that has been "a huge part of [her] life.

[2] Shooting for the episode took place at night, which Salt and Di Botcher (paramedic Jan Jenning actress) disliked but Stevenson enjoyed.

[2] Salt told Dainty (Digital Spy) that although she found the night shoots tiring, "there is such a camaraderie that you all find at 2am when you're worrying that the sun is going to come up soon and you've got to get the last shot in.

Within 28 days of the original broadcast, viewership for episode 1094 increased to 5.83 million, making it the most-watched programme on BBC One for its week of transmission.

[27] The ambulance crash and motorway pile-up was nominated for Best Soap Stunt at the 2018 Digital Spy Reader Awards; it came in fifth place with 10.7% of the total votes.

[2] Jones (Inside Soap) labelled the episode "heart-stopping" and was not surprised that Casualty made a big effort with it.

[12] Phil Norris, writing for the Gloucestershire Live, opined that the episode was "dramatic" and found the stunt shocking.

"[31] On the pre-opening titles scene, which she liked, Graham commented, "It's immediately obvious that all is not well in the Holby hospital ambulance station, which is eerily quiet, save for the ringing of a solitary, discarded, mobile phone..."[31] Amy Hunt, writing for What's on TV, described Sam's death scene as "heartbreakingly emotional" and "difficult and emotional".