The BBC's medical drama Holby City has finished after 23 years on screen with an emotional final episode, which celebrated the spirit of the NHS. A number of former characters appeared in Tuesday’s finale, which saw the death of surgeon Jac Naylor (played by Rosie Marcel), who has appeared in the show since 2005, following a long-running storyline about the effects of a brain tumour.
The episode showed the dedication of colleagues who tried to save her and also highlighted the lives that can be saved and enriched through organ donations. Past characters including Ric Griffin (Hugh Quarshie) and Mo Effanga (Chizzy Akudolu), meanwhile, also reprised their roles one last time.
After the show aired, Akudolu took to her Twitter account and said: "This is actually breaking my heart. Holby meant so much to so many people, including me. I’m in bits. Didn’t think it would affect me like this…"
Catherine Russell, who also returned as Serena Campbell, tweeted a series of photos from her time on the show, adding: “It really was like family.”
Dawn Steele, who plays Ange Godard, tweeted: "Thank you, what an amazing job it was. So sad. What a message though – thank you NHS." And Lucinda Dryzek, who played Jac Naylor’s sister Jasmine Burrows, said: "To all the Holby family, you really were the best. And you will be truly missed. And I’m so grateful to have been a part of it."
Former EastEnders star Davood Ghadami, who joined Holby last year as Eli Ebrahimi, described it as the "end of an era". He added: "I was just getting in the warm glow of the brilliant people who had been working on that show for all those years. They are the best in the business. Goodbye Holby City and thank you."
Patsy Kensit, who played Faye Morton in more than 160 episodes between 2007 and 2010, tweeted a photo of herself in the show and said she was "so sad" it was ending: "I had an amazing four and a half years on the show and I loved it."
Another former show regular Tina Hobley, who played Chrissie Williams, also shared an image of herself in her nurse’s uniform whilst on the show.
The Casualty spin-off, which was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young, debuted in 1999. It followed the lives of staff at the fictional Holby City Hospital, the same hospital as Casualty.
The BBC announced last year that it had made the "difficult decision" to bring the show to a close in order to "reshape its drama slate to better reflect, represent and serve all parts of the country". It stated that this was to help "make room for new opportunities" as part of the broadcaster’s “commitment to make more programmes across the UK".
Holby City was filmed in Elstree, Hertfordshire, just outside of London.
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