It’s official – Casualty has been crowned the “Best Soap” of 2021, thanks to the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards.
The BBC One soap has been praised over the past year, as it worked the reality of the coronavirus pandemic into one poignant episode, highlighting the struggle faced by the NHS.
In their acceptance speech, the Casualty crew paid tribute to the NHS, thanking the nurses and doctors of the nation.
The Covid episode, which aired in early January, left viewers in tears, as it highlighted the lack of PPE equipment in hospitals up and down the country.
Airing after a four-month break, the Casualty scriptwriters felt it was important to address the pandemic with the hospital drama, rather than write around it.
Describing the episode, actress Amanda Mealing, who plays Connie Beauchamp, admitted the scenes were “heavy” to act out.
She told Digital Spy: “What we didn’t want to do though was drag everyone week after week through COVID.
“We all experienced it, we all lived through it, and we acknowledge it – because it is part of our lives now – but I don’t think people want to sit down every Saturday and trawl through that.
“It’s heavy and it’s a lot. I don’t think anyone wants to sit through that every week. We do have to move on in the following weeks but COVID is still a part of the ED experience.”
Four contenders were nominated for the Best Soap and Continuing Drama category in the star-studded ceremony, with Casualty, Coronation Street, EastEnders and Hollyoaks competing against one another.
Comedian and IT Crowd star Richard Ayoade hosted the event, which took place at London’s TV Centre in a socially distanced blow-out.
(Image: BBC)
Oti Mabuse and Bill Bailey – who won the Glitterball trophy on last year’s Strictly – hosted the award.
Emmerdale won the dong for Best Soap at last year’s BAFTA TV Awards, following a spectacular year of script-writing, which saw Moira Dingle have an affair with her son-in-law Nate Robinson.
While Emmerdale continued to produce more cutting edge drama throughout the pandemic, the ITV soap opera didn’t make the nominations this year.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
