The BBC has broken its silence about the future of

Casualty amid reports the soap is in danger. The long

-running medical drama has been a mainstay on

Saturday nights for 37 years.

But now there will be a lot less Casualty than fans

have come to expect. Casualty started in 1986 as a 15-part series and eventually hit 48 episodes a year.

However, ignoring Covid, the show has reduced episode numbers significantly. The latest series has just 36 episodes. The last time it had fewer episodes was more than two decades ago in 2000. The show is currently on a break – and it is unlikely to return to screens for another two months.

Casualty in danger?
The episode cuts has come as the BBC faces issues with budgets being stretched. It has led to the corporation cutting back the number of episodes in order to preserve quality.

A source claimed to The Sun: “Casualty peaked in the noughties when it was on our screens on a Saturday night almost all year round, and that’s what many people have come to expect. The only year that saw a shorter series was 2021 because of the pandemic when all TV productions were severely affected.

“Now it seems the cost of living crisis could prove just as devastating,” the source went on to speculate.