| Runtime: | 30 minutes |
| Creator: | Tony Jordan |
| Executive Producer: | Tony Jordan Claire Phillips Rob Gittins |
| Starring: | Elin Phillips Gareth Milton Kezia Burrows Simon Rivers Mark Lewis Jones Nia Roberts Ian Virgo Kezrena James |
| Country: | Wales |
| Network: | BBC One Wales, BBC HD |
| Num Episodes: | 12 |
| List Episodes: |
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| Location: | Caerphilly, Wales |
Crash is an English-language Welsh television drama series created by Tony Jordan and produced by Red Planet Pictures for BBC Wales. The series follows the lives of four newly qualified doctors.[1]
The series is filmed in Cardiff. The series first aired at 20:30 BST on BBC One Wales and BBC HD on Wednesday 9 September 2009.[2] [3]
The plot of the show follows the lives of junior doctors Cath, Rob, Rhian and Ameer as they start work at the fictional Cardiff City Hospital.[3] The show will focus on the main characters personal relationships rather than on medical issues, as creator Tony Jordan states: "...it’s not a medical show, it’s just set in a hospital."[4]
Crash was commissioned by Clare Hudson and Piers Wenger of BBC Wales for a 12-episode run to be produced by Tony Jordan's independent production company Red Planet Pictures. The show was filmed at the former site for St. Ilan's High School in Caerphilly, which closed down and became abandoned in 2008, which was re-dressed to become the wards and corridors of the fictional Cardiff Metropolitan Hospital. Cardiff University's bioscience and psychology buildings were used for many of the hospital's exterior shots. The Cardiff University optometry building is also used for some of the interior shots. The series was filmed in HD and shot on Panasonic P2 cameras. 85% of the cast and crew were made up of local people.[5]
The episodes of Crash are each written by one writer, with the whole production overseen by Tony Jordan. Jordan himself wrote the first episode of the show, while subsequent episodes have been written by a range of new and established writers including playwright Kit Lambert, actor Richard Harrington and winner of the first Red Planet Prize, Joanna Leigh. Unlike other shows that use this writing model, Jordan doesn't rewrite or add to any of the other writers scripts. Instead each writer has to go through several drafts of rewriting their own scripts before they are filmed.[5]
Reviews for the show's first episode have been mixed. Gavin Allen at Media Wales said that the show was of "...much better quality than you might expect for regional programming.".[4] Caroline Hitt at the Western Mail felt the show looked good but bemoaned the death of Rob after just one episode.[6] DeeDee Ramona at Mental Health Nursing site Mental Nurse however thought that the storyline of Rob and his patient was sensationlised,[7] while TV reviewer and blogger Dan Owen awarded the show one and a half out of five stars and summed up the show as being like "...Scrubs with the jokes taken out, only not as hard-hitting."[8]
Viewing figures for the show however have been quite positive. The first episode peaked with 170,000 viewers and an 18% audience share with a further 85,000 watching the Tuesday night repeat. BBC Wales head of programmes Clare Hudson said she was “...delighted with how well Crash has been received by the audience."[9]