Series 31

Series 31 is 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 actual anniversary. The series will contain 43 episodes, the same as the previous series. The series finale will be a live episode, and contain something never done by Casualty before. In April 2017, this was revealed to be a "One Shot" episode that would center around Duffy showing two nurses around the ED, and it would be shot in one take with hidden microphones to catch character lines.

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, who appeared from October 2016 to January 2017. In February 2017, it was revealed that an old character will be returning to the show.

After executive producer Oliver Kent became Head of Continuing Drama, Simon Harper, Holby City ' s series producer, became acting executive producer of Casualty. It's currently unknown when Harper's first episode as executive producer will air, as he took on the role in 2017.

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 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. Poppy Jhakra and Pam St. Clement first appeared as Amira Zafar and Sally Hodge, respectively, and both reprised their role for an episode later in the series. 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. Russell Boulter reprised his role as Ryan Johnson in episode 14, appearing for the first time since the show's 17th series. His role continued into episode 15, in which Roly Botha also appeared in as Duffy's son Paul.

In the new year, episodes 17 and 18 saw a guest appearance from Holby City's Ric Griffin, portrayed by Hugh Quarshie, who was last seen on Casualty in 2005. Episode 19 of the series saw the first appearance of Gemma Dean, portrayed by Rebecca Ryan. Additionally, Siân Reeves appeared as Kim Harrison, Iain and Gemma's mother, in episode 23. Tonicha Lawrence also reprised her role as Steph Sims in episode 24.

It was announced in March 2017 that the Ellisson family, from the series 30 episode "Belief", would be returning in late April. John Killoran reprised his role as Roy Ellisson, while Lucy Benjamin returned as his wife Denise. Although their appearance in the previous series was a standalone episode, it was confirmed that this time they would be appearing in a recurring capacity. Additionally, Will Austin and Mitch Hewer were confirmed to be introduced as their sons Scott and Mickey. In March 2017, it was announced via a tweet from Charles Venn, that Ian Bleasedale would appear again as Josh in episode 41.

Cast

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

Main characters

 * 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 (until episode 33)
 * Crystal Yu as Lily Chao
 * Chelsea Halfpenny as Alicia Munroe
 * Rik Makarem as Sebastian Grayling (episodes 10 - 17)
 * Charles Venn as Jacob Masters
 * Derek Thompson as Charlie Fairhead
 * Cathy Shipton as Lisa "Duffy" Duffin (from episode 1)
 * 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

Recurring/Guest characters

 * Emily Carey as Grace Beauchamp
 * Tonicha Lawrence as Steph Sims (episodes 1 & 24)
 * Rosie Marcel as Jac Naylor (episodes 1 & 3)
 * Pam St. Clement as Sally Hodge (episodes 1 & 26)
 * Charles Dale as MacKenzie "Big Mac" Chalker (episode 1)
 * Ian Bleasdale as Josh Griffiths (episodes 1, 21 & 41)
 * 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 (episodes 1 & 22)
 * Owain Arthur as Glen Thomas (episodes 2 - 9)
 * James Gaddas as Howard Munroe (episodes 2 & 20)
 * Tracey Wilkinson as Jackie Munroe (episodes 2 & 20)
 * Tom Chambers as Sam Strachan (episode 3, from episodes 22)
 * John Michie as Guy Self (episode 3)
 * Lorraine Pilkington as Rosa Hide (episode 5)
 * Harry Collett as Oliver Hide (episodes 5, 17 & 25)
 * Jenny Howe as Lexy Morrell (episodes 8 & 21)
 * Ricky Nixon as Peter Duffin (episode 11)
 * Sophie Austin as Tanya Duffin (episode 11)
 * James Wilby as Archie Grayling (episodes 11 - 17)
 * Billy Angel as Hugo Bonning (episodes 12, 26, from episode 30)
 * James Daffern as Jim Bonning (episodes 12 & 30)
 * Tessie Orange-Turner as Keira Bradley (episodes 12 & 30)
 * Russell Boulter as Ryan Johnson (episodes 14 & 15)
 * Roly Botha as Paul Duffin (episode 15)
 * Hugh Quarshie as Ric Griffin (episodes 17 & 18)
 * Rebecca Ryan as Gemma Dean (from episode 19)
 * Sian Reeves as Kim Harrison (episode 23)
 * Chizzy Akudolu as Mo Effanga (episode 30)
 * Percelle Ascott as Kalen Gardner (from episode 31)
 * Lucy Benjamin as Denise Ellisson (from episode 33)
 * John Killoran as Roy Ellisson (episode 32 & 33 [uncredited])
 * Will Austin as Scott Ellisson (from episode 32)
 * Mitch Hewer as Mickey Ellisson (from episode 32)
 * Michael Greco as Phil Paterson (2017)

Specials
A special episode became available on 24 December 2016, and unlike other special episodes was only be available online, not on the red button.

Trivia

 * This series' premiere marked the 30th anniversary of the show.
 * At some point in the series, a main character is rumoured to die although this initially remained unconfirmed. In February 2017, the rumours were confirmed through inadvertent spoilers via a tweet on Twitter.https://twitter.com/HazardPressUK/status/828648264966742016
 * It's also been hinted that this series will contain Casualty's first ever three-part episode. Through the run of the show, over 30 two-part episodes have aired.
 * The series premiere is the longest ever episode of Casualty, but not the first feature length episode.

References and notes
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