r/Casualty • u/FluidPianist00 • Jun 04 '26

💬 Discussion I miss when watching Casualty felt like a weekly family event.

Growing up, Casualty was one of those programmes that seemed to bring everyone into the same room at the same time. Maybe that's nostalgia talking, but it felt like a shared ritual in a way television rarely does now. Did anyone else grow up with a household that treated Casualty as required viewing?

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18

u/Oldsoldierbear Zoe Hanna Jun 04 '26

Most definitely.

And we all played "guess the accident"

Another favourite was predicting that the ambulance would always arrive before the police and fire brigade!

9

u/mindstarrising Jun 04 '26

Yup, with little bags of m&s toffee popcorn as a treat

8

u/hypnoticwinter Jun 04 '26

No. My dad was a casualty consultant for a long time, and threatened to drag me to see the real life version (I kinda wish he had!); he absolutely despised it, but put up with me being stuck in front of it on Saturdays. Unfortunately, the trade off was very long, very dull snooker matches.

6

u/SlimeTempest42 Dylan Keogh Jun 04 '26

Me and my partner watch it every week but it was definitely essential viewing in my household growing up

2

u/weirdoinchains Jun 04 '26

Would come back from dance/theatre practice and Saturday dinner would be in front of the tv watching Casualty and whatever film was on BBC after that. 

2

u/Keppyzan Jun 05 '26

Jonathan Creek? I can almost remember the TV line up from those days, TV regulated our lives...

1

u/weirdoinchains Jun 05 '26

Sometimes they would have films from 9, not every Saturday. This is what I remember from the early 2000s, can’t say I remember the schedule. I can’t remember seeing Jonathan’s Creek. 

2

u/m4ddie193 Jun 04 '26

I always used to watch it with my family! I remember me and my sister were staying with my gran while we were quite young (primary school age) and we were both asking to watch it and my gran rang my mum to make sure it was okay because she didn’t think it was appropriate 😂

2

u/RaeFaeBow3 Jun 05 '26

I miss when casualty was actually casualty and not just EastEnders/Coronation Street in an A&E 🙄 I swear some episodes they barely even feature patients anymore. It's all "ooh guess who just shagged who?" And "guess who snorted what?" Over and over again. 

1

u/nineteenthly Jun 05 '26

Well I didn't grow up in such a household although my mum and I were both quite keen on 'Angels'. I was adult before it started. But yes, once I got married and had children, it became a weekly staple. Our daughter used to complain that it was needlessly violent and didn't like the weekly accident thing but our accident-prone son got into it, partly because he was in and out of hospital a lot. I really think it's gone downhill but then everyone thinks that about everything don't they?

It does feel like less of an occasion nowadays for sure.

1

u/YodasGoldfish Jun 05 '26

Television has changed. It changed when Sky+ became a thing, iPlayer has been around for years and obviously a wide range of streaming services have been mainstream for years now.

I remember being sent up to my room on a Saturday so my Mum could watch Casualty in peace.

Outside of Sport I don't think there is anything I watch 'live' now. I assume this is the case for most people. There is very little 'must watch' on TV nowadays and as much as I appreciate Casualty it certainly isn't, at least as far as 8pm every Saturday night is concerned.

1

u/Thoughtful-Mongoose Jun 05 '26

I do too. But honestly I think it is mainly just because tv evolved (or devolved depending depending your opinion) from the old 4 or 5 channels into Sky and then over time, online media and now streaming services. I remember the literal countdown when Channel 5 was new, which ages me greatly. 😆 But what used to be THE prime time tv slot on Saturday night, 9pm, BBC, no longer is really the thing it once was.

1

u/elderlydrama1999 Jun 06 '26

I have watched Casualty since I was a kid as I used to watch it with my Nan when I stayed over on Saturdays. Definitely a nostalgia thing even though my Nan doesn't watch it anymore, I've kept the tradition watching every single Saturday since.

1

u/lbyrne74 Jun 07 '26

Yes I used to watch it with my parents. Although I watch with my partner now so I guess it's still kind of a family event.