Leslie Ash hopes TV isn’t ‘moving away from soaps’ after Holby City axing

Leslie Ash

Leslie Ash hopes TV bosses aren’t “moving away from soaps”.

The former ‘Holby City’ star – who played Vanessa Lytton on the BBC hospital drama from 2009 to 2010 – is set to reprise her role on sister show ‘Casualty’ this weekend, and she admitted she was stunned by the Beeb’s decision to axe long-running ‘Holby’.

She told Digital Spy: “I didn’t see it coming at all. It is a shame and I am sure a lot of people are devastated.

“‘Casualty’ will run on though and it will maybe give way to something new coming in.

“I hope we aren’t moving away from soaps. TV is changing – we’ve got Netflix and everyone can watch TV in a different way now.”

With Leslie playing Vanessa – who will be a patient on the ward – on Saturday (10.07.21), she also suggested more ‘Holby’ favourites might appear in ‘Casualty’ in the future.

She added: “Yes, I do think so.

“Connie [Beauchamp] from ‘Holby’ ended up in ‘Casualty’ and it’s happened a good few times over the years. So yes, I imagine it’s very likely.”

The actress teased that her character will have a “lovely moment” with Derek Thompson’s alter-ego Charlie Fairhead around four decades after they worked together on ‘The Gentle Touch’.

And she also suggested there could be more to her one-off appearance this weekend, as she’d love to make a return to ‘Casualty’ one day.

Leslie said: “She’s got this ongoing story and it still doesn’t finish, even in this episode.”

Last month, the BBC revealed ‘Holby City’ is to end after 23 years, with the series set to come to a conclusion on screen in March next year.

In a statement, the broadcaster said: “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.

“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 UK, 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.”