<P> McHale was the show's lead writer for several years, and was the first British writer ever to become the "showrunner" of a major prime time drama . Under his tenure as executive producer, attempts were made at modernising the programme and appealing to a younger audience by taking on the filmising technique and introducing musical montage segments into each episode . Seventeen complete series of Holby City have aired, and an eighteenth began airing in October 2015 . The show has run for over 600 hour - long episodes . It is filmed in studios at the BBC Elstree Centre in Hertfordshire, with the 1960s office building Neptune House being used for multiple exteriors and interiors in the series . It has occasionally featured special episodes filmed on location abroad . From October 2010, Holby City moved to high definition broadcasting . </P> <P> In September 2016, as part of the broadcaster's Compete Or Compare Strategy, the BBC confirmed the show would be one of the first put up for tender . In the tender released in October, it was confirmed the contract, open to independent producers and BBC Studios, would be for 3 series of a minimum 50 episodes per series, delivered from December 2017 with no break in transmission and produced from the existing production base at BBC Elstree Centre . BBC Studios was announced as the winning bidder and will continue to produce the show through to 2020 . </P> <P> Holby City was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin - off from the BBC medical drama Casualty, which is set in the emergency department of the fictional Holby City Hospital . Young wanted to explore what happened to patients treated in Casualty once they were taken away to the hospital's surgical wards . While Casualty's scope is limited to "accident of the week" storylines about patients entering hospital, Holby City allowed the possibility of storylines about long - term care, rather than immediate life and death decisions . The series was commissioned by BBC One Controller Peter Salmon, and began airing on BBC One on 12 January 1999 . </P> <P> Series producer Richard Stokes believes that the series' popularity stems from the fact the hospital setting presents numerous plotline opportunities, explaining: "You have licence to create life - and - death situations every week, something you cannot do in any other set piece . The interaction of the characters can be sexy and social issues also permeate the writing . But, basically, hospital drama is successful because the viewers will forgive all the yukky bits for the wonder of a life saved ." The focus of the series has developed since its conception, expanding to cover extra wards, including a gynaecology ward, an acute assessment unit and a maternity ward . When the maternity ward and a special care baby unit were introduced during series four, Young explained that new wards were necessary to allow the crew to rotate sets, maximising filming potential . </P>

Are holby city and casualty set in the same hospital