Series 31

Series 31 will be the thirty-first series of Casualty and commenced airing on 27 August 2016. The current series producer Erika Hossington revealed that they had big plans for the show's thirtieth anniversary, which fell at the beginning of this series. It was later revealed that the 30th anniversary episode was to air on 27 August, 10 days before the actual anniversary. The series will contain 43 episodes, the same as the previous series.

This series introduced a brand new title sequence and a slightly modified theme tune, although the changes to the latter were minimal. The first new arrival of the series was that of F1 doctor Sebastian Grayling, portrayed by Rik Makarem. He was first seen in the Autumn trailer released on 31 August 2016, and neither his casting or character had been announced beforehand.

The series would have originally contained 44 episodes, but at some point prior to the airing of the 30th anniversary special it was merged to make one long feature length episode, rather than comprising episode 1 and 2 of the series. In turn, this resulted in all later episodes in the series being shifted down an episode number as well as airing a week before expected.

Series guest appearances
The series opener saw a variety of guest appearances from former cast members including Ian Bleasdale and Suzanne Packer as Josh Griffiths and Tess Bateman, respectively. Charles Dale also returned for a brief cameo in the episode as MacKenzie "Big Mac" Chalker who departed just two months earlier. Some Holby City regulars also guest starred in the 30th anniversary episode, including Jac Naylor, Henrik Hanssen and Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher, the latter having been a series regular on Casualty from 2012 to 2014. Continuing into series 31 was also be Robyn's love interest Glen Thomas as well as Steph Sims who only appeared in episode 1. Emily Carey also continued her role as Grace Beauchamp, furthering her recurring role which began in the 29th series.

In August, Josh Griffiths' guest appearance was officially announced as well as the news that Ben Turner had reprised his role as Jay Faldren for the 30th anniversary. On 16 August, it was revealed that Alice Chantrey, John "Abs" Denham, Mike Barratt, Comfort Jones and Lenny Lyons would all appear in episode 1 along with the other returnees. James Gaddas and Tracey Wilkinson guest starred in episode 2 as Alicia's parents Howard and Jackie Munroe, respectively. Rosie Marcel, John Michie and Tom Chambers all guest starred in episode 3 as Jac Naylor, Guy Self and Sam Strachan, respectively. Episode 5 of the series also saw the first appearances of Rosa and Oliver Hide, David's ex-wife and son portrayed by Lorraine Pilkington and Harry Collett, respectively.

Episode 11 of the series saw the first appearances of Ricky Nixon as Peter Duffin and Sophie Austin as Tanya Duffin. Peter had last appeared in series 17, portrayed by a different actor as a child. Additionally, James Wilby made his first appearance as Archie Grayling, the father of Sebastian Grayling and a potential love interest for Lily.

Cast

 * For a listing of character appearances in this series, see Character appearances.

Main characters
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 * Amanda Mealing as Connie Beauchamp
 * Jaye Griffiths as Elle Gardner
 * William Beck as Dylan Keogh
 * George Rainsford as Ethan Hardy
 * Richard Winsor as Cal Knight
 * Crystal Yu as Lily Chao
 * Chelsea Halfpenny as Alicia Munroe
 * Cathy Shipton as Lisa "Duffy" Duffin
 * Derek Thompson as Charlie Fairhead
 * Charles Venn as Jacob Masters
 * Amanda Henderson as Robyn Miller
 * Azuka Oforka as Louise Tyler
 * Jason Durr as David Hide
 * Michael Stevenson as Iain Dean
 * Lloyd Everitt as Jez Andrews
 * Tony Marshall as Noel Garcia
 * Jamie Davis as Max Walker
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Arrivals

 * Rik Makarem as Sebastian Grayling (episode 10)
 * Lee Mead as Ben "Lofty" Chiltern (2016/17)
 * }

Notable guest characters

 * Emily Carey as Grace Beauchamp (from episode 1)
 * Tonicha Lawrence as Steph Sims (episode 1, late 2016/early 2017)
 * Rosie Marcel as Jac Naylor (episodes 1 & 3)
 * Charles Dale as MacKenzie "Big Mac" Chalker (episode 1)
 * Ian Bleasdale as Josh Griffiths (episode 1, early 2017)
 * Suzanne Packer as Tess Bateman (episode 1)
 * Ben Turner as Jay Faldren (episode 1)
 * Alex Walkinshaw as Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher (episode 1)
 * Guy Henry as Henrik Hanssen (episode 1)
 * Steven Miller as Lenny Lyons (episode 1)
 * Sam Grey as Alice Chantrey (episode 1)
 * James Redmond as John "Abs" Denham (episode 1)
 * Clive Mantle as Mike Barratt (episode 1)
 * Martina Laird as Comfort Jones (episode 1)
 * Poppy Jhakra as Amira Zafar (episode 1 & 23)
 * Owain Arthur as Glen Thomas (from episode 2)
 * James Gaddas as Howard Munroe (episode 2)
 * Tracey Wilkinson as Jackie Munroe (episode 2)
 * John Michie as Guy Self (episode 3)
 * Tom Chambers as Sam Strachan (episode 3 & 23)
 * Lorraine Pilkington as Rosa Hide (episode 5)
 * Harry Collett as Oliver Hide (episode 5)
 * Ricky Nixon as Peter Duffin (episode 11)
 * Sophie Austin as Tanya Duffin (episode 11)
 * James Wilby as Archie Grayling (episode 11)
 * Russell Boulter as Ryan Johnson (late 2016)

Trivia

 * This series' premiere marked the 30th anniversary of the show.
 * At some point in the series, a main character is rumored to die although this remains unconfirmed.
 * The series premiere is the longest ever episode of Casualty, but not the first feature length episode.

References and notes
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