Following the 30th Anniversary One Shot series finale, BBC One today announced that Britain’s longest running medical drama, Casualty will return later this summer, starting with a two-part episode set in France. Made by BBC Studios, the opener sees Dylan (Will Beck), David (Jason Durr), Louise (Azuka Oforka) and Alicia (Chelsea Halfpenny) head to a refugee camp in Northern France to offer medical assistance.

Shown over two weeks, the story centres around Dylan, who bonds with 12 year-old Sanosi and his sister Mariam at the camp, and later finds himself in a difficult situation over their future. The episodes are written by Dana Fainaru and Dominique Maloney, directed by Steve Brett and were filmed in Fishguard and Cardiff.

Will Beck, who plays Dylan Keogh, says: “It was so nice to do a story set away from the hospital, the look and feel is more filmic. The main thing however was the importance of telling this story, which has been slightly forgotten in the news recently, and realising, when you boil it down to one human story, just how relevant it still is.”

Succeeding the two-part series opener, episode three of Series 32 will be an extended 70-minute special as the results of the inquest into Scott’s (Will Austin) death are finally made public.

Later in this series, multi-Emmy and Golden Globe winning actress, Sharon Gless (Cagney & Lacey, Queer As Folk, Burn Notice) - pictured - will join the cast for an episode as Zsa Zsa Harper-Jenkinson, a maestro of surgery and former mentor to Dylan. 

Sharon Gless says: “I'm a rabid Anglophile. Some of our finest American TV is British. Zsa Zsa is a wonderful character and I hope you all enjoy her too.”

Casualty is made by BBC Studios for BBC One and is filmed at Roath Lock Studios, Cardiff.

Notes to Editors
Sharon Gless
Best known for her role as Christine Cagney in Cagney & Lacey, Madeline Westen in Burn Notice, Sharon received her 11th Emmy nomination for Guest Actress in a Drama Series in Nip / Tuck as Colleen Rose, an ambitious Hollywood agent harbouring chilling secrets in 2008.

Sharon has recently finished filming hit US drama The Exorcist as Chris MacNeil opposite Geena Davis, and been made a member of the Academy. In addition, Sharon also has a star on the renowned Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

Casualty

• Casualty was aired for the first time on 6 September 1986 on BBC One.
• Casualty is the longest-running British peak time medical drama and is based around the work of A&E. It was created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, and produced by Geraint Morris.
• The consolidated average for Casualty is 5.2 million.
• Casualty marked the end of its 30th anniversary series with a special episode that was filmed in one shot. Titled ‘One’, the unique episode covered an hour in the famous emergency department.