Since its first broadcast in 1986, Casualty has remained one of the most popular shows on the BBC. Line Producer Wendy Wright explains how a new episode puts fans into the heart of the action like never before, with an interactive edition to watch and play along with on BBC Taster.
I’ve always loved playing computer games and for a while dreamed of working in the gaming industry, so I was very excited when a couple of colleagues returned from a workshop run by Connected Studio and announced that we were going to be making an interactive episode of Casualty.
From the outset we all knew that tackling this project would require us to think and plan in a different way to usual. We make over 40 episodes of Casualty every year and after 30 years the processes involved in producing an episode are almost second nature. However, we have always operated in a very linear fashion and the interactive project was going to take us all into the world of non-linearity for the first time. Luckily, we weren’t expected to embark on this journey alone, and Connected Studio teamed us up with digital production studio fish in a bottle, and we were really happy with the work they produced.
Tackling this project would require us to think and plan in a different way to usual
Simon Norman (writer) and Stuart Cheetham (co-producer) worked with fish in a bottle from the initial development and pitch at the Development Studio, so they had a good knowledge of what we were keen to do from the outset, which really helped as we continued to work with them and Connected Studio throughout the pilot development.
Simon and Stu already had a good idea of the story we wanted to tell, but whereas on a normal episode of Casualty the writers and producers continue to develop a script, the non-linear nature of this project meant spending time developing a storyboard and plotting - in detail - where all the different branches and player choices would lead, and ultimately, how they would all be resolved. For a long time the script was actually a diagram that covered several sheets of A3! The actual script format that we are used to working with was literally the last piece of the jigsaw and was only finalised a couple of days before filming began.
From the beginning we were determined that the player should have real choice in the episode and that there should be different endings dependent on those choices. We also wanted to do more than just offer dialogue options. We’re a medical show, so it seemed obvious that the player should be given the chance to perform procedures and save lives (or not!).
This level of interactivity turned out to be one of the more challenging aspects for fish in a bottle, as the project was being built using the interactive video tool, Interlude, and we were testing this technology to its limits due to the story we had devised and the way in which we wanted to the audience to be able to navigate through it.
An important decision made early on was to tell the story with a first-person perspective
Another important decision we made early on - and against advice from other game developers - was to tell the story in the first person, rather than the traditional third person style. The reason for this was two-fold; it seemed the best and quickest way to involve the player in the heart of the action, but it also served to make the best use of the time we had on set with the actors. Looking back this was a really key decision as it has made First Day feel really immersive, distinctive and unique.
These decisions meant that the director, Kodjo Tsakpo, was involved in the project at a much earlier stage than if we were still in the linear world. We are very lucky to work with so many talented people on Casualty, and Kodjo was the first person I spoke to about the project. He understood what we were trying to achieve immediately, and his ion, enthusiasm and commitment all the way through the project was incredible.
Filming proved to be a lot easier than we anticipated. Of course it took a while for us all to get used to acting and interacting with the camera and there were a couple of head scratching moments and poring over the storyboard whilst we figured out just where that particular version of the scene fitted in. Again, Rob Sloan and Drew Wilkins from fish in a bottle were brilliant, along with the ever-present storyboard diagram.
We filmed it all in just three days, which is a testament to the dedication, enthusiasm and professionalism of everyone involved - both in front of and behind the camera. There was a real feeling of adventure on set and everyone embraced the ambition and scale of what we wanted to achieve. My constant comment became “we’re making it up as we go along!”.
Post production proved to be a little more fiddly, and the real challenge was converting the non-linear structure of First Day into a linear process - crucial for ensuring a consistent look and sound from scene to scene. The answer was to playout and treat every branch of the story separately, which proved to be very time consuming. End to end the entire project spans more than an hour, and once again the storyboard was invaluable for keeping us on track. Rhys Davies, the Editor, earned himself a gold medal for stamina, perseverance and dedication, but finally our part of the process was complete. It was then on to the technical challenge for Connected Studio and fish in a bottle to get the pilot live and functioning on the BBC’s audience facing innovation platform BBC Taster. You can enjoy Casualty: First Day here.
