BBC One’s stalwart Casualty sires a second spin-off later this month with the long anticipated arrival of Tony Jordan’s new police drama, HolbyBlue starring Tim Pigott-Smith, Zöe Lucker and Kacey Ainsworth.
It’s a busy time for the team at Holby South, with Asbos a-plenty, mountains of paper work and a handful of new recruits to integrate.
However, they remain committed to “shaping a safer Holby”, even if their personal lives suffer as a result.
It’s DS Luke French’s (Richard Harrington) first day, and DCI Harry Hutchinson (Tim Pigott-Smith) wastes no time in introducing him to his new Inspector, DI John Keenan, whose passion for the job knows no bounds.
After sizing up CID’s newest member, John sets Luke straight to work on a case.
Garry Drake is fiercely possessive of his wife but, when he threatens to shoot her, the team brings him in. During the interview, Luke notices that Garry has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. As he seems to be getting nowhere fast, John decides to ruffle Garry’s feathers by making a mess. However, being a man who likes to do things by the book, Luke soon learns how unconventional his new DI can be.
It is also probationer Lucy Slater’s first day, although she makes a clumsy entrance to her first brief. The station’s stern and organised Inspector, Jenny Black, partners her with PC Robert Clifton, a self-confessed God’s gift to women, who is hugely disappointed and finds Lucy nothing but annoying.
Whilst they are on patrol, Lucy receives a call to arrest suspected paedophile Russell Bennett.
Seeing him nearby, she is quick on his heels. Unable to pull Robert away from his latest conquest, and, despite it being her first arrest, Lucy goes it alone, but finds herself in a dangerous situation.
Elsewhere, after an eventful time bowling with his two kids, John takes them home to his estranged wife, Kate (Zöe Lucker).
Noticing a new car in his old driveway, and curious to know who the owner is, John questions Kate.
The series is the first production from Tony Jordan’s new company Red Planet Pictures and is co-produced by Kudos (Life On Mars, Spooks and Hustle), a combination the BBC clearly hope will help win over the fanbase of HolbyBlue’s sister dramas Holby City and Casualty.