TV Blog

I've worked on Holby City off and on since series four - a whole nine series ago. I came in as a script editor, moving across from the daytime soap Doctors.

I thought all my Christmases had come at once, working on a show with such a stellar cast: the wonderful Hugh Quarshie and the gorgeous Tina Hobley to name just two.

I did a couple of series of Holby, getting promoted to story editor. As story editor your job is to create and write all the regular character stories along with the lead writer. It's an amazing job - if you love being at the heart of the show, creating stories, characters and letting your imagination run wild, this is where it's at.

I then left to work on another medical BBC show, Born And Bred. Having worked on three medical shows, I'm half-convinced I've got a PhD or could at least diagnose a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG).

On returning from a couple of years' travelling, I heard they were looking for a story editor on Holby. I applied and here I am five years later, totally honoured and privileged to now be the acting series producer.

A series producer manages the show. You work alongside the line producer, managing the schedules and budgets, and with the consultant producer creating and shaping the regular characters' stories.

You oversee the process from attending the story conferences, where it all begins, right the way through production to signing of the show from a legal point of view.

Some of the things to be aware of are suicide, drug abuse - we have to be really careful we're not showing anything too distressing before eight o'clock or that there's anything people could copy, like drug use.

One of the key components of the job is just loving the show. And I do. Every time I read a script or watch an episode, I have to pinch myself to think I'm part of this all. The characters become part of your life.

I totally cried when Jac and Joseph were locked away with a killer virus on the loose and Jac finally told Joseph she loved him. Or when Elliot held Gina in his arms as she died... amazing drama.

As I've only really been series producer since we started to go to HD, I can't say my role has massively changed. I've been in my current role for five months. I do know we've had to do a lot of work on the sets to get them HD ready - every chip, hole and imperfection was totally naked.

So that was a big undertaking for our design team. The look of the show is going to be much more crisp - I guess that's the biggest change our viewers will notice.

I know that EastEnders burnt down the Vic as its launch into HD. We didn't have a big explosive storyline, if you'll pardon the pun, but what we do have is the arrival of one of our new leads, Henrik Hanssen, played by the fantastic Guy Henry.

However, Hanssen's arrival is pretty explosive in its own way. He ruffles a few Connie Beachamp-shaped feathers. There's going to be ructions at Holby City - that's all I'm going to say.

So as well as getting our sets HD-ready with regards to make-up, costume and prosthetics, I know we spent a long time choosing the right red for our HD-ready blood. That was very important to get right, because don't you just love our blood and prosthetics?

Myar Craig-Brown is acting series producer on Holby City.

Holby City moves in HD on Tuesday, 19 October at 8pm on BBC One and BBC HD.