Casualty's Oscar links

Saturday 26 February
www.bbc.co.uk/casualty


This week, Casualty director Ian Barnes anxiously waits to hear if he's won an Oscar for his short film, Wish 143, which was written by Casualty writer Tom Bidwell.

"Casualty is now in its 25th year but it continues to attract some of the UK's finest talent, both in front of and behind the camera," says series producer Oliver Kent. "We're incredibly excited about Ian's Oscar nomination but, win or lose, he'll always be welcome at Casualty!"

This isn't the medical drama's only link with the world's most glittering awards ceremony, as Programme Information reveals...


In 1990 former Casualty favourite Brenda Fricker held the little golden statuette aloft for her performance as Christy Brown's mother in My Left Foot. The star returned to Casualty last July to reprise the role of the hugely popular Megan, filming some of Casualty's most moving scenes ever alongside former co-star Derek Thompson.


Hollywood superstar Kate Winslet picked up a Best Actress Oscar in 2009 for her role in The Reader. Back in 1993, a young Kate appeared as Suzanne in a Casualty episode called Family Matters. She once told the Radio Times that appearing in Casualty taught her a big lesson in how to be natural in front of the camera.


In 1968, actor Ron Moody pick-pocketed an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his role as thief Fagin in Oliver!. Ron guest starred in the last series of Casualty as a Scottish war veteran. And the late Pete Postlethwaite, nominated for an Oscar for his role in In The Name Of The Father, appeared in Casualty twice: once in 1990 as a character called Ralph and once in 1993 as Hank.


Casualty creator Jeremy Brock co-wrote the screenplay for 2006 film The Last King Of Scotland, which netted the prestigious Best Actor Oscar in 2007 for its star, Forrest Whittaker.


In 1994 low-budget British film Four Weddings And A Funeral took the world by storm and earned an Oscar nomination for its script for writer Richard Curtis. In 2007 Richard put pen to paper to write a special episode of Casualty for Comic Relief, starring Oscar-winner Brenda Fricker and Angus Deayton.


And finally, Casualty's longest-serving supporting artist Paul Anderson, who has been with the show since its very first episode, is now widely known – after his porter character – as Paul "Oscar" Anderson.