“A bold and innovative way to get a hardhitting message across in a soap”
This heritage brand went through some revolutionary changes last year, with innovations in narrative style, filming and production techniques helping to deliver a visceral portrayal of life on the NHS frontline.
Casualty also introduced a host of new characters, who retained the BBC soap’s essential core values of heart, wit, authenticity and entertainment, while reaffirming its commitment to on- and off-screen diversity.
Furthermore, the show can boast of being the only BBC1 drama to increase its linear audience last year. The standout episode was an improvised special (the first improvised episode in the soap’s history) that told the story of a group of paramedics over four days, demonstrating the immense challenges that the UK’s ambulance workers face.
“Such a powerful episode”, said the judges, “a bold and innovative way to get a hardhitting message across in a soap”.
The episode was also commended for shining a light on struggling frontline services through compelling stories rooted in the truth of the show’s characters. “A documentarystyle format telling the lives of frontline paramedics drove home the stresses and strains on an overloaded system and the staff struggling to save lives,” said one judge.
SHORTLISTED
Coronation Street
ITV Studios for ITV1
The hard-hitting storyline in which influencer Daisy was attacked with acid by a stalker on her wedding day was agreed by the judges to be Coronation Street’s “standout narrative of the year”. With specialised equipment and lighting, the episode also set a new aesthetic benchmark for the genre.
EastEnders
BBC Studios for BBC
The judges felt 2023 was “a year of resurgence for EastEnders”, with the episode about the death of Lola Pearce-Brown the standout. “It didn’t lean into the issue of the brain tumour and instead chose to focus on the character-driven drama,” said one judge.
Emmerdale
ITV Studios for ITV1
In an Emmerdale first, the man club episode, with an entirely male cast, explored suicide and impeccably highlighted how talking can save lives. One judge said: “This touched on a really important issue while still being able to give the audience moments of levity.”
Hollyoaks
Lime Pictures for Channel 4
With a storyline exploring incel subculture, Hollyoaks rose to the challenge of dramatising the world of a loner in a dark web community that is largely invisible. As the judges noted, this was the first time the subculture had been explored in a British soap.
Waterloo Road
Wall to Wall for BBC
Waterloo Road successfully mixes social issues with humour. As one judge put it: “The storytelling strikes a good balance between light and shade.” The judges also applauded the show for being “a great training ground for upcoming talent, supported by established cast”.
No comments yet