BBC has confirmed that its Saturday night schedule will undergo a shake up, with long-running fan favourite series Casualty set to take a break.

The medical drama series is being taken off air for two weeks to make room in the schedule for a brand new show.

Casualty is currently airing a mini-series called Learning Curve, which only has two episodes left, but fans will have to wait until Saturday 11 April at 8:30pm to find out what happens next.

Instead, Big Night of Musicals 2026 by the National Lottery will be airing in the Casualty’s usual slot on BBC One.

The programme is a celebration of West End shows like Wicked, Les Miserables, Matilda and Phantom of the Opera, and will be hosted by Jason Manford.

The 44-year-old comedian has already done a lot of presenting for the BBC including A Question of Sport, The One Show and Children in Need.

 

Manford himself has also starred in musicals in the West End and across the UK such as Sweeney Todd, The Producers, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Guys and Dolls, Curtains and The Wizard of Oz.

Casualty went off air last year in September and took a five month hiatus before returning January 1o this year.

It was announced in December that BBC Studios had once again won the contract to produce Casualty after a competitive process was launched last May where other companies could bid for the contract to produce the show.

Having first aired in 1986, Casualty is the longest running primetime medical drama in the world.

The show formerly had a spin-off series Holby City which ran for over 20 years from 1999 until its cancellation in 2022.