BBC Hospital Drama ‘Holby City’ to End After 23 Years

Holby City, the long-running British medical drama that premiered on the BBC in 1999, is set to end.

The BBC announced on Wednesday that the show — which often served as a training ground for emerging writers and directors — would come to a close in early 2022 after 23 years on screens and more than 1,000 episodes, with the U.K. public broadcaster shifting its focus to making shows outside London (most of Holby City is shot at BBC Elstree Centre in Hertfordshire, near London).

“We are incredibly proud of Holby City but it’s with great sadness that we are announcing that after 23 years, the show will end on screen in March of next year,” the BBC said. “We sometimes have to make difficult decisions to make room for new opportunities and as part of the BBC’s commitment to make more programmes across the U.K., we have taken the difficult decision to bring the show to a close in order to reshape the BBC’s drama slate to better reflect, represent and serve all parts of the country.”

In March, the BBC unveiled a major push outside London, with almost $1 billion of spend being shifted outside the capital.

Holby City was first created as a spin-off from established BBC hospital drama Casualty and premiered in January 1999.

“Holby has been a stalwart with audiences, delighting millions of viewers each week and winning hundreds of awards with a compelling mix of cutting edge medical stories and explosive personal stories,” the BBC said. “We look forward to working with the team over the coming months to ensure that when it ends, Holby goes out on a high.”