Filming has resumed on BBC One’s popular medical drama Casualty with one of its most powerful episodes to date, showing these extraordinary times through the lens of the Emergency Department staff that viewers love and trust.

With the respect and love for NHS staff having risen to stratospheric levels across the nation, the series will examine the personal cost of being national heroes at a time of crisis.

It has been Casualty’s proud tradition over its 35-year history to reflect the difficult realities of the NHS, and that has never been more relevant than the present time. The coronavirus has put the NHS and the nation under pressure like never before, and Casualty returns with an episode which builds on that heritage and reveals the full extent of the impact that the virus has had on Emergency Departments.

Clinical Lead Connie Beauchamp (Amanda Mealing) finds that her personal leadership qualities are pushed to their very limit when several of her team fall ill with the virus in the line of duty. Can she rally the troops as they watch the news coming in from Italy of mass casualties and overwhelmed hospitals? Can she keep her personal feelings in check when her lover Jacob (Charles Venn) himself falls ill with the virus?

With the support of Charlie (Derek Thompson), himself devastated by the impact of the coronavirus on local care homes, Connie reflects on her leadership in these most challenging of times and together they face their most gut-wrenching decision ever.

The pandemic and its aftermath puts pressure on all of the staff, many of them facing significant personal challenges. Paramedic Lev (Uriel Emil) has decided to move out of the family home during the lockdown to protect his vulnerable young son, who is recovering from cancer. Without her husband at home, how does Faith (Kirsty Mitchell) come to terms with Dylan’s (Will Beck) accusation that Lev had an illicit affair? And after 16 successful years of marriage, it can’t possibly be true, can it?

Paramedic Fenisha (Olivia D’Lima) has so far managed to keep her pregnancy a secret from Ethan (George Rainsford), the child’s father, and Jan (Di Botcher), her boss. Can she continue to do so during a pandemic?

What will social distancing do to Connie and Jacob’s newly reignited passion? Can their fledgling relationship survive these high-pressure circumstances?

Kate Oates, Head of Continuing Drama at BBC Studios, says: “We are thrilled to be back in production with BBC’s longest-running medical show. The writers, Casualty teams, cast and crew are back on set with stories that reflect the extraordinary times we are living through. We can’t wait for the audience to see them and to be back in the Saturday night schedule.”

The Casualty production team has developed comprehensive production protocols to ensure that the series is produced in a safe and responsible manner. Social distancing will be adhered to in accordance to current government guidelines and the high standards that audiences expect will be achieved through inventive techniques and careful planning. The series will return to screens at a later date at the slightly shorter duration of 40 minutes.

Casualty is a BBC Studios production for BBC One.

Pictured: Jacob Masters (Charles Venn), David Hide (Jason Durr)