Casualty, the popular BBC One hospital-themed drama-come-soap, is turning 35 this week, which means we’ve been watching accidents, emergencies and exciting storylines unravel for 35 years… We can’t believe it either.
With guest appearances from the likes of Kate Winslet, Danny Dyer, Orlando Bloom and Tom Hiddleston, it seems that Casualty’s Holby City Hospital isn’t just a place to go when you want to get better – it’s also a place that creates Hollywood careers.
And because of Casualty’s 35th anniversary, Daily Star has rounded up the most famous celebrity guests to appear on the show and compiled them all in a list full of A-list celebs who you may or may not remember starring in the programme.
Kate Winslet
(Image: PA)
She’s starred in Titanic, The Holiday and countless other Hollywood blockbusters, but believe it or not, Kate Winslet once starred in Casualty.
Back in 1993 Kate guest starred in an episode where she played the role of Suzanne, a girl who had an abusive boyfriend.
These days Kate Winslet, 45, plays the lead role in the limited series Mare of Easttown, where she plays Mare Sheehan, a police investigator in a small Pennsylvania town.
In the programme, which could become the first limited series to win three Emmys, Kate’s character investigates a brutal murder as she tries to keep her life from falling apart.
When she’s not acting, Kate lives in the Sussex-countryside with her husband and children.
Orlando Bloom
(Image: PA)
Just like Kate Winslet, Orlando Bloom is a pretty big Hollywood star.
With acting credits in the likes of Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, he’s a pretty big deal Stateside.
Orlando’s humble beginnings saw him make an uncredited appearance in 1994, before returning as a builder called Noel Harrison in 1996.
These days he’s living it up in America with his wife-to-be Katy Perry and their first-born daughter.
Oh, and he’s got some pretty famous neighbours too – former royals the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – yep, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
A recent acting stint of Orlando’s is voicing Prince Harry in the controversial HBO Max cartoon, The Prince.
Tom Hiddleston
(Image: PA)
Some may know him as Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriend, many will know him from Loki, Thor and Avengers, but only a fair few will remember his humble beginnings at Holby City Hospital.
Starring in Casualty in 2007 – which wasn’t actually that long ago – Tom played a character named Chris Vaughn and was seen abseiling down a high rise building.
Tom’s character, Chris, was a builder who accidentally knocked an innocent bystander off her balcony while making his way down a block of flats.
Since dating the famous singer/songwriter Taylor Swift, Tom has kept his private life very… well, private.
McFly
(Image: BBC)
Making a cameo as themselves, McFly showed up in BBC One’s Casualty back in 2005.
The boys, who were much younger and fresh-faced back then, were visiting the hospital to check on a fan who had got into danger after trying to get a photo with the band.
Casualty royalty Charlie Fairhead didn’t give the famous boyband any special treatment, and warned their fan that she could only have the boys’ company for “two minutes max”.
Kathy Burke
Kathy Burke starred in the popular hospital soap in 1991, where she played the guest role of Lorraine McCullier, the daughter of a man suffering from mental illness.
By 1991 Kathy had already starred in TV shows like French & Saunders and Gimme Gimme Gimme, as well as movies too – like Nil By Mouth, where she co-starred alongside fellow Casualty cameo Ray Winstone.
Danny Dyer
A big TV star these days, Danny Dyer is a permanent fixture in BBC’s EastEnders playing the no-nonsense Mick Carter.
But nine years ago back in 2012, Danny played a paramedic called Rossy appearing alongside show regulars and loveable paramedics Jeff and Dixie.
Speaking in an interview at the time, Danny said: “I make a lot of movies, I don’t do a lot of TV. It’s tough for the actors. Some of these actors are doing three episodes at the same time, so they’re jumping in a lot of storylines, there’s a lot of dialogue to learn and I totally respect them for that.”
David Walliams
(Image: PA)
Around the same time that Little Britain was a big hit on TV, David Walliams made a cameo in Casualty, playing the role of Jon Fielding.
Jon was a father who was trying to do what was best for his young daughter, but his efforts had actually left her seriously ill – sparking some very mixed reactions among the staff in the ED.
In his personal life, David has suffered with his mental health and he described his 2006 swim of the English Channel as “some sort of redemption”.
He has hinted at being pansexual in the book Inside Little Britain, but said he did not like to be labelled by that word. In an interview with Radio Times in 2013, he stated: “I think it’s all about falling in love with the person and that is overlooked, really. I hate it when people ‘confess’ or ‘reveal’ their sexuality and also things can change for people over the years.
“So it is about the person but I also think it goes beyond that. You don’t just fall in love with someone’s body, do you? You fall in love with someone’s soul and heart and brain.”
Ray Winstone
(Image: BBC)
Appearing in the soap as Terry Brennan in 1995, Ray had an extensive acting career before heading into Holby.
Ray was playing a signature hard-man character, which is a role he has often acted.
Playing Terry, a prisoner who was a pretty big character, Ray definitely left his mark on the emergency department.
Two years later, Ray was nominated for a BAFTA for his lead role in Nil By Mouth, where he starred alongside Kathy Burke.
Casualty airs every Saturday at 9:30pm on BBC One
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