A crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings , or universes into the context of a single story . They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders (known as intercompany crossovers ), common corporate ownership or unofficial efforts by fans .
209-591: Casualty@Holby City (styled as CASUALY @ HOLBY CIY ) is a series of special crossover episodes of BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City . While Casualty was launched on 6 September 1986, and its spin-off Holby City was first aired on 12 January 1999, the first full crossover episode between the two programmes was not broadcast until 26 December 2004. As of 27 December 2005, four crossover specials have been aired, comprising nine episodes total. Although further crossovers of storylines and characters have since occurred, they have not been broadcast under
418-473: A sketch comedy show or as a humorous interlude on an award telecast. Such crossovers may sometimes involve the real actors—for example, a sketch on Royal Canadian Air Farce saw Yasir and Sarah from Little Mosque on the Prairie buying the gas station from Corner Gas , with many of the characters in the sketch being portrayed by the shows' real actors—although they may also feature one genuine star from
627-586: A video game meet and interact with each other. These can range from a character simply appearing as a playable character or boss in the game, as a special guest character, or a major crossover where two or more franchises encounter. Konami made the first crossover video game featuring Simon Belmont from Castlevania , Universal Pictures ' King Kong and Mikey from the Warner Bros. movie The Goonies in Konami Wai Wai World for
836-583: A " shared universe ". For example, in the Marvel Comics universe, Spider-Man has frequent dealings with another Marvel hero, Daredevil , just as in the DC Comics Universe, the Flash and Green Lantern often collaborate. In comic book terminology, these "guest star" roles are common enough that they are generally not considered crossovers; rather, this short-term collaboration to fight crime
1045-671: A Barratts office block in Brentford and an ex- MOD tank testing site in Chobham . A theme tune was devised, consisting of both the Casualty and Holby City theme tunes played over one another in sync. Terry Ramsey of the Evening Standard described it as "shambolic", opining: "it sounds like it was produced with The Big Boy's Box of Sound Mixing software by a seven-year-old on Christmas Day while playing his PlayStation with
1254-399: A January 2014 episode of Republic of Doyle as Bill Murdoch, a 21st-century descendant of his regular character William Murdoch. The earliest example of a crossover in children's television was PBS ' 1971 program The Electric Company . Crossovers can take the form of a promotional cameo appearance , used to draw attention to another work of fiction, with little rational explanation in
1463-447: A cameo to a full comedy sketch or episode—is an extremely popular way of circumventing this problem. By various means, such crossovers typically avoid outcry from fans by being obvious parody or homage . However, on rare occasion, the humor of such crossovers can be used by one show make a narrative point by capitalizing on the audience's experience of the other program. Parodic crossovers can be directly established as being outside
1672-446: A car accident. Emily Hamilton acts as his wife Sarah. Steven Pinder plays Tony Harvey, a potential recipient of Matt's donated heart, and Nina Wadia appears as his girlfriend Jean. Yvonne O'Grady plays Carol Beddows, whose daughter Lucy (Sarah Bedi) is also a potential recipient. The interactive segment of the episode is presented by Robert Winston . In the four-part Halloween crossover, James Gaddas guest-stars as Carl O'Leary,
1881-475: A car chase that ends when Steve crashes his car into a wall. Phil rescues Louise but the car explodes before he can help Steve, who dies in the inferno. Phil persuades Lisa to return to him and then makes it clear that it is Louise he and Peggy want, not Lisa. Phil and Peggy hire a nanny, Joanne Ryan ( Tara Lynne O'Neill ), without consulting her, telling her that Lisa is mentally unstable. Phil demands that Lisa change Louise's name to Mitchell legally and organises
2090-555: A car driven by Frank's daughter Janine Butcher ( Charlie Brooks ). Following Danielle's funeral, Peggy asks Phil to kill Archie so they could get justice for Danielle and Ronnie. He obliges and has Archie kidnapped, but lets him go after threatening him to stay away from Walford. However, Archie later returns to the square and ignores Phil's constant demands that he leave Walford again. As Christmas approaches in December 2009, Phil and Peggy are horrified to learn that Archie has extorted
2299-509: A case in the turmoil of the time after the fall of the Berlin Wall . The episode was produced during the short transition period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany . Phil Mitchell Phil Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders , played by Steve McFadden . He was introduced to the soap opera on 20 February 1990 and
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#17327934235002508-429: A charity abseil on top of The Queen Vic, Shirley proposes to Phil and he accepts. At their engagement party, Sharon returns, begging for help, as she has left her fiancé John Hewland ( Jesse Birdsall ) at the altar and he has her son, Dennis Rickman (Harry Hickles). Phil helps her to rescue Dennis and they return with Phil to Walford. When Phil gets home, he finds that Shirley knows the truth about Heather's death. After
2717-545: A christening. Lisa agrees until some of Phil's relatives, assuming she is the nanny, start talking about how unstable Louise's mother is. Furious at this, she and Louise flee to Portugal – with Jamie reluctantly assisting her after growing uncomfortable with Phil's violent tendencies. However, Phil soon takes his frustrations out of Jamie, who then dies after being struck by a car driven by Martin Fowler – leaving Phil devastated. After Jamie's funeral, Phil goes to Portugal and returns
2926-454: A crossover "event". In one case, a New York City blackout caused by Paul Reiser 's character on Mad About You was experienced by the characters on Friends and Madman of the People . Such "event nights" can also be linked by a single character's quest across multiple shows on the same evening. ABC attempted this kind of "event night" crossover with its Friday night programming during
3135-592: A device in establishing continuity in a shared fictional universe. This crossover is common in the Star Trek universe , where minor guest stars from one series have appeared as featured guest stars later ones. A good example of this crossover is that of the Klingons Kor , Koloth , and Kang . After the passage of about a century of narrative time, the three onetime adversaries of Captain Kirk appeared together in
3344-464: A divorce. Kathy agrees to marry Phil in 1994, despite the pair having to overcome a incident where he torched a vehicle in a car lot owned by his future stepfather Frank Butcher ( Mike Reid ) to secure an insurance scam; the result accidentally killed a homeless boy trapped inside. Intent on winning him back, Sharon kisses Phil but he ends things there. During Phil and Kathy's engagement party, Grant plays an audio cassette recording of Sharon admitting to
3553-469: A fifth floor window. Critically injured, he talks nurse Donna Jackson through a life saving procedure on another patient before dying. Inside the building, Jim removes the metal pole from Rosie's abdomen, and all those still trapped in the building congregate in the hospital's isolation room. Three patients are introduced: Matt, a thirty-year-old man involved in a road traffic accident, who arrives at Holby General having suffered significant head trauma and
3762-444: A furious confrontation, he tries to convince her not to tell the police but Ben confesses to the police and is charged with Heather's murder. Jay is charged with perverting the course of justice and Phil orders him to change his statement so Ben will not go to prison, but Jay refuses and Phil disowns him but does manage to convince Roxy to lie in her statement. His solicitor, Ritchie Scott ( Sian Webber ), tells him that Ben could face
3971-428: A group of thugs to beat Dennis up and later slaps Sharon when she confronts him over it. Phil and Kate get married. However, on their wedding day, Phil is unhappy when Lisa reappears – demanding access to Louise. When Phil refuses to do so, Lisa plans to shoot him again until she backs down. Towards the end of September 2003, Dennis and Sharon are reunited with their father Den Watts ( Leslie Grantham ) – who returns to
4180-685: A gun and shoots at the dashboard, causing Grant to crash into the River Thames . Phil is rescued, but Grant isn't found and is presumed dead. However, it is soon revealed that Grant is alive and he escapes to Brazil – though not before sending Phil and their mother Peggy ( Barbara Windsor ) the deeds for his half of The Queen Vic. Though Phil is entrusted by his mother to protect Grant's share of The Queen Vic, he ends up selling it to his business partner Dan Sullivan ( Craig Fairbrass ) for £5 to spite Peggy due to her favouritism towards Grant. By then, Phil and Dan have become close friends; with Phil being
4389-473: A major Valiant hero. Cartoon crossovers are not uncommon, and most of them – like comics or live-action TV shows – will often feature characters owned by the same company or network. One example is Cartoon Network 's The Grim Adventures of the KND . It features five crossovers – Ed, Edd n Eddy , Codename: Kids Next Door , The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy , a reference to The Powerpuff Girls , and
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#17327934235004598-552: A meet-up with his associates. However, he then deliberately crashes the car after releasing Phil's seatbelt – thus causing Phil to be thrown through the windscreen. He is airlifted to hospital and requires an operation. While he is recovering, he puts Ronnie in charge of his businesses. Carl tries to intimidate her and use the garage for illegal purposes. Shirley confronts Carl about his actions, and she mysteriously disappears after this, though her friends believe she has gone to Greece as she had planned. Once recovered, Phil learns that Carl
4807-460: A minimum of 10 years in prison. Shirley ends her relationship with Phil as she is unable to cope with his betrayal. Phil visits Ben in prison with Ian in the hope of persuading Ben to retract his confession but Ben refuses, insisting that he is doing the right thing as he needs to be punished. Ben refuses to have any contact with his family until his release. After Ben's departure, Phil bonds with Dennis. When Billy's great-granddaughter, Lexi Pearce ,
5016-444: A month later with Louise. This causes some of Phil's neighbors to suspect that he has murdered Lisa. Phil soon falls for Kate Morton ( Jill Halfpenny ), unaware that she is an undercover police officer investigating Lisa's disappearance. The police believe that Lisa is dead, and at one stage a body is found which the police fear may be that of Lisa. After Phil confesses that he manipulated Lisa to give him Louise and paid her to leave
5225-427: A new concept derivative of an older one. Another intention is to give fictional characters more emotional credibility and thus increase immersion for the fans. Crossovers generally occur between properties owned by a single holder, but they can, more rarely, involve properties from different holders, provided that the inherent legal obstacles can be overcome. They may also involve using characters that have passed into
5434-632: A number of different works. Illustrator Howard Pyle conceived his work Twilight Land as one such crossover. In it, a nameless narrator is transported to "Twilight Land" and meets famous fairy tale characters for a soirée in an inn: Mother Goose , Cinderella , Fortunatus , Sinbad the Sailor , Aladdin , Boots , the Valiant Little Tailor , and others gather in the framing device and tell each other adventurous tales featuring other literary personages. French author Jules Lemaître wrote
5643-553: A poet and political refugee involved in a car accident, and Nikki Amuka-Bird plays his pregnant wife Moji. Louis Mahoney appears as their friend Raymond Opoku. The December 2005 crossover features Iain Fletcher as fire officer Iain Bain, Julia Hills as Woody's mother Caroline Joyner, Fiona Glascott as Tara Doyle, a girl trapped when a tunnel collapses, and Gary Whelan as Tara's father Bernie. As firefighters struggle to contain
5852-555: A quote from Scooby-Doo , which are all licensed Cartoon Network series. During the 1970s and 1980s, crossovers were particularly common among the Hanna-Barbera properties. Some of the earliest examples happened on The New Scooby-Doo Movies which featured appearances by characters from Harlem Globetrotters , Josie and the Pussycats , Jeannie , Speed Buggy , Batman and Robin , and The Addams Family . Later,
6061-674: A rich family history by speculating familial connections between them (such as a blood-relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan ). Roger Zelazny 's novel A Night in the Lonesome October combines Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Frankenstein, Jack the Ripper, and the Cthulhu Mythos, although he never specifically identifies them as such ("The Count", "The Good Doctor", "Jack", etc.). Occasionally, authors will include into crossovers classic fictional characters whose copyright
6270-417: A sexual relationship with drug addict Rainie Cross ( Tanya Franks ) and begins to use crack cocaine – developing an addiction. When Peggy finds out about this, she locks him inside her home so he cannot have access to drugs; however, Phil – suffering from withdrawal symptoms – escapes and confronts Peggy, setting the pub on fire as a result. Within minutes, the pub is ablaze and the roof collapses on Phil. He
6479-418: A sort of sequel to Cinderella , named Princess Mimi , where Cinderella's daughter is courted by Polyphemus and Charles Perrault 's Hop-o'-My-Thumb . It is also common for authors to 'crossover' characters who have passed into the public domain, and thus do not require copyright or royalty payments for their use in other works. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
Casualty@Holby City - Misplaced Pages Continue
6688-564: A study by the Stirling Media Research Institute, where men were asked questions about the violence contained within a spectrum of broadcast television material. The study reported that much group discussion centred on the Alcoholics Anonymous group scene, which was, for the most part, seen as an accurate depiction of an AA group therapy session. In addition, Phil's portrayal of a suffering alcoholic
6897-436: A surrogate child. Before Sharon leaves, she tells Phil that he is the father of Lisa's daughter Louise (Rachel Cox) – not Mark, as she had earlier claimed. Phil confronts Lisa, demanding contact. Unhappy at this, Steve and Mel ask Lisa and Louise to emigrate to California with them. She agrees but changes her mind and telephones Steve, asking him to return Louise. He refuses to, so Phil attempts to get Louise back, resulting in
7106-413: A tryst with and supposedly fallen pregnant by his daughter Louise's fiancé Keanu Taylor ( Danny Walters ), the culmination of his feud with Keanu sparking the 35th anniversary episodes which sees Phil's stepson Dennis Rickman ( Bleu Landau ) die in a boat crash partly caused by Phil and Keanu's fight, and marrying Kat Slater ( Jessie Wallace ). As such Phil has also been a father figure to characters on
7315-570: A young cystic fibrosis patient, over Tony, a widow twenty years her senior. Two different endings were filmed, to account for both possible outcomes of the public vote. The alternative ending was made available on the Casualty@Holby City DoNation Interactive website. The third Casualty@Holby City crossover was aired in October 2005, two months after the interactive special. The four-part storyline tackled
7524-441: Is gay , and makes it clear that he prefers Billy's foster son, Jay Brown ( Jamie Borthwick ). Jay likes spending time with Phil and changes his surname to Mitchell, becoming Phil's surrogate son. Ben secretly enacts revenge on Phil for this rejection, terrorising him with letters, implying he has evidence to incriminate Phil for past misdemeanours. Among other deeds, Ben sends Denise Fox ( Diane Parish ) evidence that Phil supplied
7733-547: Is a fighting game engine that features many fan-created and fictional characters and stages from various television series, movies, as well as other video games. Crossovers of multiple characters, owned by one company or published by one publisher , have been used to set an established continuity, where characters can frequently meet within one setting. This is especially true of comic book publishers , as different characters in various Marvel , DC , or Valiant comic books frequently interact with one another since they live in
7942-616: Is also having an affair with his enemy Ian, he threatens to tell Ian's wife Jane Beale ( Laurie Brett ), unless he pays him £5,000. Phil's bullying of Ian almost costs him his life: when Ian finds Phil having a heart attack, he threatens to let him die but helps Phil for Ben's sake. Phil re-evaluates his life following his near-death experience and proposes to Shirley. Shirley initially accepts, but later changes her mind after discovering Phil's affair with Glenda; though she later forgives Phil for his infidelity, Shirley refuses to marry him. Phil reacts badly when he discovers Ben (now Joshua Pascoe)
8151-425: Is angry and tells Shirley what he has discovered only for their conversation to turn to passion. Phil later changes his mind; he realises that since Sharon is returning the money, it should not matter to him as he still wants to go through with the wedding. They later marry, but are oblivious to Shirley's bitterness – up to the point where she attempts to persuade him to be with her, rather than Sharon, only hours before
8360-493: Is another example of this, as all of the main characters and most of the secondary / background characters are fictional characters whose copyright has expired, and all are characters of different authors and creators brought together within one massive extended universe. Many of the works of Philip José Farmer 's Wold Newton family sequences (which has also been explored and developed by other authors) also utilize and interweave numerous otherwise unrelated fictional characters into
8569-464: Is brief, and amidst more rowing and physical violence, Grant is arrested and imprisoned. In his absence, Phil and Sharon continue their affair but when Grant is released, Sharon reconciles with him, leaving Phil heartbroken. On the rebound, Phil enters into a marriage of convenience with Nadia Borovac (Anna Barkan) - a Romanian refugee - enabling her to stay in Britain, with Nadia departing after
Casualty@Holby City - Misplaced Pages Continue
8778-772: Is called a team-up . A crossover in comic book terms only occurs when a story spans more than one title. This has led to "crossover events" in which major occurrences are shown as affecting most or all of the stories in the shared universe; see Category:Crossover comics . The earliest such crossover event was Gardner Fox 's Zatanna's Search which took place in Hawkman #4 (October/November 1964), Detective Comics #336 (February 1965), The Atom #19 (June/July 1965), Green Lantern #42 (January 1966), Detective Comics #355 (September 1966), and Justice League of America #51 (February 1967). This story dealt with Zatanna attempting to reconnect with her father, Zatara , and seeking
8987-480: Is clearly intended in appearance and description by other characters to be Dr. Fu Manchu appears as a significant villain; however, as this character was not in the public domain at the time of writing and the rights still held by the estate of his creator Sax Rohmer , he is not directly named as such in the work and is only referred to as 'the Devil Doctor'. Crossovers involving principals can also occur when
9196-564: Is conning him; he stays with Suzy until he discovers she has been forging her pregnancy in a bid to con money from him. Soon afterwards, Phil recoups his alcoholism upon struggling to cope with his turbulent relationships with Stella and Suzy – up to the point where he nearly takes his frustrations out of Ben. During a family meal where Peggy is set to announce her engagement to her brother-in-law Archie ( Larry Lamb ), tensions build when Phil upsets Ben and nearly lashes out at him. This prompts Archie to confront Phil over his behaviour. In doing so,
9405-400: Is different from a spoof , where one discrete character, setting, or universe, copies another character, setting, or universe, often in a comedic manner. Crossovers often occur in an official capacity in order for the intellectual property rights holders to reap the financial reward of combining two or more popular, established properties. In other cases, the crossover can serve to introduce
9614-2526: Is difficult and stressful at the best of times, but doing all that in a tunnel doubled it. The great advantage was that there was no problem with the weather, it was a totally controlled environment with excellent parking facilities for the unit, and a warm welcome from the locals, which is always nice." Casualty@Holby City focuses on the medical staff at Holby General, with main roles filled by regular Casualty and Holby City cast members. The first crossover, broadcast in December 2004, features Casualty 's emergency medicine consultant Harry Harper ( Simon MacCorkindale ), consultant paediatrician Jim Brodie ( Maxwell Caulfield ), Clinical Nurse Manager Tess Bateman ( Suzanne Packer ), paramedics Luke Warren (Matthew Wait) and Josh Griffiths ( Ian Bleasdale ) and receptionist Bex Reynolds ( Sarah Manners ). Holby City characters who appear are cardiothoracic consultant Connie Beauchamp ( Amanda Mealing ), general surgical consultant Ric Griffin ( Hugh Quarshie ), midwife Rosie Sattar ( Kim Vithana ), obstetrics registrar Mubbs Hussein ( Ian Aspinall ), staff nurse Donna Jackson ( Jaye Jacobs ), and cardiac consultant Alistair Taylor ( Dominic Jephcott ). The interactive episode again stars MacCorkindale, Bleasdale, Packer and Wait. Additional Casualty characters who appear are paramedic Comfort Jones (Martina Laird), senior staff nurse Abs Denham ( James Redmond ), Emergency Medical Technician Nina Farr (Rebekah Gibbs) and specialist registrar Maggie Coldwell ( Susan Cookson ). Holby City 's critical care consultant Lola Griffin ( Sharon D. Clarke ) and matron Lisa Fox ( Luisa Bradshaw-White ) also star. The four-part October 2005 crossover again stars MacCorkindale, Bleasdale, Packer, Wait, Laird, Redmond, Gibbs, Mealing and Quarshie. It also features Casualty 's paramedic Paul "Woody" Joyner ( Will Thorp ), staff nurse Kelsey Phillips ( Janine Mellor ), senior staff nurse Bruno Jenkins ( Mark Bonnar ), neurology associate specialist Selena Donovan ( Elizabeth Carling ) and SHO Guppy Sandhu ( Elyes Gabel ). Holby City characters who appear are registrar Diane Lloyd ( Patricia Potter ), matron Chrissie Williams ( Tina Hobley ), consultant obstetrician Owen Davis ( Mark Moraghan ), medical student Matt Parker ( Adam Best ), staff nurse Tricia Williams ( Sharon Maughan ) and cardiothoracic consultant Ed Loftwood ( Graeme Garden ). "Deny Thy Father",
9823-487: Is doing it so she will stay quiet about his involvement in Heather's death. Shirley demands money from Phil, which he does not have, forcing him to accept a deal from Derek's associate Carl White ( Daniel Coonan ) – who had recently arrived in the square. They soon clash, however, when it becomes clear that Carl plans to usurp Phil as the square's reigning hardman. After luring Phil into his car, Carl seemingly drives them to
10032-717: Is framing their business partner Max Branning ( Jake Wood ) for causing the car crash – as well as using Ian as a false witness. Phil kidnaps Ian on the day of Max's trial so he cannot testify, and then kidnaps Carl once Max is acquitted. Phil prepares to kill Carl, but Carl implies that he caused harm to Shirley. He takes Phil to a block of run-down flats where Shirley is staying with her sister Tina Carter ( Luisa Bradshaw-White ). It quickly turns out Carl threatened Shirley to stay away from Walford or he would harm Phil's family. Carl leaves, and Phil pleads with Shirley to return to Walford. She agrees and they return together, after which Phil confronts Carl once Shirley returns to her home. Carl
10241-640: Is going to be an explosive episode in the Mitchells' history." Phil also loses his son Ben (Charlie Jones), who makes a temporary departure from the show in order for the part to be recast. Subsequently, Phil becomes addicted to crack cocaine. Producers worked closely with drug and alcohol charities, including Addaction and DrugScope . Viewers never see Phil take drugs to make sure the episodes are suitable for all audiences. Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope, commented: "If EastEnders sensitively reflect
10450-455: Is heartbroken and decides to keep quiet about her pregnancy, but not before telling her lover Mark Fowler ( Todd Carty ) about it; Mark, who has grown to resent Phil for his abusive treatment of Lisa, suggests they tell people that the baby is his and she agrees. Mel soon becomes outraged by Phil's volatile behaviour, such as his treatment of Lisa and Ian after refusing to help the latter when he undergoes financial bankruptcy. On 1st March 2001,
10659-743: Is hiding anymore secrets from her – up to the point when she asks him what could be worse than covering up a murder. This prompts Phil to finally reveal the true circumstances of how Dennis died on New Year's Eve 2005, explaining how he is the reason Dennis attacked Johnny, prior to the latter having him killed. In response, Sharon runs away from Phil and becomes so distraught that she refuses to rebuild their relationship – though she eventually reconsiders after Phil apologizes to her about Dennis, and she forgives him soon afterwards. When Phil learns that Jake and Danny's cousin Alfie Moon ( Shane Richie ) has upset Roxy no sooner after she started working for him and
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#173279342350010868-493: Is horrified by Ben's behaviour, and tells the police that Ben is lying; but Ben thinks Shirley's best friend, Heather Trott ( Cheryl Fergison ), is responsible. Fearful and angry, Ben retaliates by murdering Heather just as Phil returns to confront him. Blaming himself for Ben's actions, Phil makes the murder look like a burglary, spurns a grieving Shirley, allows his neighbors and family to become murder suspects, and bullies Ian into keeping quiet after Ben confesses to him. During
11077-518: Is infertile due to a botched abortion; Sharon later admits that the baby she aborted six years earlier was that of Grant. This soon puts a strain on their relationship and by Christmas they have separated, resulting in Sharon returning to the United States. They had been intent on adopting a baby until Peggy reacts to the suggestion with horror, and Sharon is not keen on Phil's suggestion of having
11286-454: Is joined by his younger brother Grant ( Ross Kemp ). Two years later, Phil goes into partnership at The Queen Victoria public house with Grant and his wife Sharon Watts ( Letitia Dean ) – up to the point where he moves in with them. Phil grows close to Sharon, who turns to him for comfort during Grant's violent outbursts. Sharon and Phil have sex but she stays with Grant, who is unaware of their betrayal. Sharon and Grant's reconciliation
11495-403: Is later pronounced brain-stem dead; Lucy, a nineteen-year-old student who has cystic fibrosis and is awaiting a heart and lung transplant, and Tony, a forty-one-year-old ex-smoker in the end stages of heart failure , who is also in need of a transplant. While Matt's parents and pregnant wife deliberate over the decision to donate his organs, Lucy's father and Tony's fiance create conflict amongst
11704-818: Is later sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of Andy and Dennis, though he later dies of a heart attack in October 2006. After resolving matters with Grant and securing Jake's safety from being exposed as a killer following the discovery of Danny's death, Phil resumes life with his family and Sharon. Following the supposed death of Kathy and her husband Gavin Sullivan ( Paul Nicholas ) earlier on, Ben returns to England and moves in with Ian – much to Phil's surprise. Phil and Ben later spend time together and they slowly bond, eventually leading to Ben moving in with Phil. Phil starts dating Stella Crawford ( Sophie Thompson ), but she mentally and physically abuses Ben – forcing him into persuading Phil to propose to her. Ben reveals
11913-569: Is logistically more practical than previous crossover events. In more recent years, characters have attained different positions within the hospital which sees them crossover permanently. Connie Beauchamp began appearing permanently in Casualty in March 2014 following her departure from Holby City in December 2010. Fletch departed Casualty in June 2014 before appearing permanently on Holby City from August
12122-444: Is more common on animated programs, such as when Bender found and ate Bart Simpson 's shorts on Futurama , or Milhouse had a talking Bender doll on The Simpsons . This would seem to be another case when a popular franchise is acknowledged as fiction and not a crossover of the stories. Perhaps the most obvious parodic crossover is found when characters from two series interact outside either series. This occurs most commonly on
12331-538: Is not ready for him to be in a relationship yet. Casualty@Holby City episodes have received mixed reviews from critics. Terry Ramsey of the Evening Standard selected the first episode as a televisual "Pick of the Day". The inaugural crossover was named one of the "Best TV shows for Christmas & New Year" in The Mirror , receiving generally favourable reviews by Mirror writers Jane Simon and Jim Shelley —despite
12540-436: Is rescued and Peggy leaves the next day, realising he is better off without her. Shirley supports Phil through recovery. They steal a large amount of money from Ronnie's sister, Roxy ( Rita Simons ), to buy a house together. This is soon discovered by Ronnie and Roxy's mother, Glenda ( Glynis Barber ). In response, she makes a deal with Phil for her daughters' sake and the two later begin an affair. When Phil discovers Glenda
12749-490: Is staying with Phil while Lisa is away. Trouble stirs, however, when Phil ends up getting distant from both his children in 2010: Ben is sent to a juvenile offenders' unit for attacking his friend Jordan Johnson ( Michael-Joel David Stuart ), which sparks a clash between Jordan's father Lucas ( Don Gilet ) and Phil himself in the process, and Louise returns to her mother before the pair disappear under Lisa's guise that Phil can have contact at any time. Depressed, Phil embarks on
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#173279342350012958-464: Is still held by the original authors (or at least their estates), but who are nevertheless considered iconic or 'mythic' enough to be recognised from a few character traits or descriptions without being directly named (thus not requiring royalties payments to be made to the copyright holder). A prominent example occurs within The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One , wherein a character who
13167-417: Is stunned when Ritchie tells him that Ben has already been released from prison. Phil starts to track down Ben, but is convinced by Jay and Sharon that Ben will return when he is ready. Phil is stunned when he realises that Mick is in fact Shirley's son, who she had at fourteen, subsequently raised by Shirley's parents as their son, without Mick ever discovering the truth. Phil then agrees to be her confidant for
13376-414: Is subsequently arrested when the police arrive on the scene. When she discovers this, Lisa tells Kate that she is taking Louise. Unable to stop her legally, Kate agrees; however, Phil discovers this and his marriage with Kate ends after he refuses to forgive her for costing him Louise. Just before Christmas 2003, Phil escapes from prison and confronts Den; they fight until Den gives him £200,000 to survive 'on
13585-430: Is taken into care, Lexi's mother Lola ( Danielle Harold ) tells Phil that Ben is Lexi's father and Phil is her grandfather. Lola agrees for Phil to have residence of Lexi and he suggests to Sharon that they pretend to be in a relationship to increase the chances of success, even though she is in a relationship with Jack Branning ( Scott Maslen ). They tell social workers that they are engaged but Shirley threatens to tell
13794-483: Is that of Mad About You and Friends , which share the character of Ursula Buffay . Neither show shares any production or distribution commonality, but rather an actress ( Lisa Kudrow ), a setting ( New York City ) and a schedule ( Friends initially followed Mad About You on NBC 's Thursday night schedule ). Mad About You and Friends share another type of "network crossover". On rare occasions, networks have chosen to theme an entire night's programming around
14003-409: Is unfazed by Phil's threats for retribution and gloats that he has contacts inside prison who can harm Ben if Phil does anything to him. At the start of 2014, Phil learns that Carl has entrapped Ronnie into having a relationship with him – though she quickly ends it upon discovering his actions against the Mitchells. Phil later kidnaps Carl in the garage and plans to kill him, though Ronnie stops him at
14212-512: Is unwell, Phil praises Lola's actions, and decides to tell Social Services that Lola may be ready to have Lexi back. Phil and Sharon reunite after her relationship with Jack ends. However, it ends when Sharon's painkiller addiction puts Lexi in danger. Lola regains full custody of Lexi, leaving Phil to feel lonely. When Shirley's benefits are cut and she is forced to move out of the B&;B, Phil secretly pays her rent. Shirley finds out and believes he
14421-605: Is upset by Lisa's accusation and Phil comforts her, leading to a one-night stand. Mel, however, realises it was a mistake and reconciles with his sworn enemy Steve Owen ( Martin Kemp ), making Phil jealous. The day before the wedding, Steve finds out that about Mel's one-night stand with Phil after overhearing the pair talk about it. Elsewhere, Lisa decides that a baby will improve their relationship so stops taking contraceptive pills. But Phil wants Lisa to leave him, not get pregnant, and so admits to Lisa that he and Mel slept together. Lisa
14630-571: Is when the characters from all three shows split into groups, where the members all share the same clichéd character archetypes, such the main characters Goku, Luffy, and Toriko falling into the dumb, good-natured, strong character archetype. Manga artist Leiji Matsumoto has been known to cross over the characters of his various stories and characters such as Captain Harlock , Galaxy Express 999 , and Queen Millennia , all of which were originally written as separate, self-contained stories. In
14839-476: Is wrongfully remanded in custody for Den's murder; Den was murdered by his second wife and Sam's nemesis, Chrissie ( Tracy-Ann Oberman ), after the duo and Sam's friend Zoe Slater ( Michelle Ryan ) initially worked together to get revenge on Den for his nefarious activities – including Sam's intent to avenge Phil's ordeal. Upon arriving at the square, Phil and Grant notice Peggy being mugged and end up rescuing her. Shortly afterwards, they learn that Peggy's mugging
15048-486: The Daily Record deemed the crossover: "Two turkeys for the price of one", while Terry Ramsey of The Evening Standard wrote that: "even by Casualty and Holby City standards, this one is boringly formulaic. A monotoned, badly paced, cornily written, unexciting (despite its most desperate efforts), predictable, high-pitch squeal of a drama. For die-hard fans only." The Daily Post were more positive, stating that
15257-926: The Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 set of movies involved several crossovers, including such combinations as The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones . This was taken to an extreme in the 1977–79 series Laff-A-Lympics , which was essentially a gathering of the Hanna-Barbera characters for a regular series. Crossovers are not necessarily composed of characters under common ownership. Two of the most notable cartoon crossovers consisted of characters from different companies. Disney's movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit had characters from various companies, most notably Disney and Warner Bros. The film also includes cameos of characters from MGM . Another cartoon crossover would occur in 1990, Cartoon All-Stars to
15466-593: The Liverpool Echo 's Paddy Shennan suggested "the blood should instead be flowing in the BBC boardroom" for commissioning the crossover. Thomas Sutcliffe of The Independent called the crossover "the funniest programme on television", with a "sublimely cloth-eared script", describing it as: "A masterpiece of sustained comic timing [which] had this casual viewer of the dramas that spawned it scrabbling wildly for an explanatory hypothesis." The interactive episode
15675-530: The Maetel Legend , Queen Promethium is revealed to be having been Yukino Yaoi, the protagonist from Queen Millennia . Matsumoto has also created various crossovers with Space Battleship Yamato , an anime on which he served as director, although the rights to Yamato are actually owned by Yoshinobu Nishizaki. The first film crossover in a series of Universal Studios monster films was Frankenstein Meets
15884-554: The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, " Blood Oath " – as the Klingons and Federation had become allies in the century between, the former villains are now portrayed as heroes. The distinction between "spin-off" and "crossover" is sometimes narrow. The two terms can become especially conflated if two shows are linked by a guest star with a single appearance. There is debate, for instance over whether Out of
16093-511: The Casualty@Holby City title. The suggestion to produce the first Casualty and Holby City crossover originated from a member of the BBC comedy department. The station's Controller of Drama approved of the idea and had the crossover commissioned, spearheaded by Casualty 's executive producer Mervyn Watson, and Holby City 's Tony McHale . The writer and producer for the first, two-part crossover were selected from
16302-466: The Evening Standard 's Ramsey. The crossover was also a "Drama Choice" of Sarah Moolla of The People , who commented that: "There's something weirdly thrilling when these two medical shows collide." The Christmas 2005 episodes were less favourable received, described by David Chater of The Times as: "Intentionally or not [...] one of the comic highlights of Christmas." Paul English of
16511-610: The Holby City crew. Logistical difficulties arose from the fact the two series are usually produced 120 miles apart, with Casualty based in Bristol and Holby City in Elstree . Both series are usually in continuous production 52 weeks a year, so in order to produce the first crossover, work on both shows has to be halted for two weeks to release a number of cast members to appear in the special. Once regular production began again,
16720-511: The ITV soap opera Emmerdale , which were shown in the same timeslot and attained 9.1 million viewers. The remainder of the Halloween crossover received similarly low ratings, with the second episode watched by 5.96 million viewers, the third instalment by 4.57 million viewers, and the concluding episode by 5.64 million viewers. The fourth Casualty@Holby City crossover saw a ratings revival, with
16929-464: The cut-and-shut car responsible for her ex-husband, Kevin Wicks ' ( Phil Daniels ), death in 2008. Denise's attempts to get Phil imprisoned fail; however, Marsden soon investigates the allegations and Ben tells her that Phil forced Stella to jump from the roof back in 2007. Phil is held on remand in prison on suspicion of Stella's murder and Ben delights in the distress he causes his father. Ian, however,
17138-487: The public domain with those concurrently under copyright protection . A crossover story may try to explain its own reason for the crossover, such as characters being neighbors (notable examples being the casts from The Golden Girls and Empty Nest ) or meeting via dimensional rift or similar phenomenon (a common explanation for science fiction properties that have different owners). Some crossovers are not explained at all. Others are absurd or simply impossible within
17347-411: The river , saying their marriage was over for good. Phil begins sleeping rough, gambling, and blaming Kathy for his decline. This prompts her to leave Walford for South Africa , letting it be known that an offer of reconciliation from Phil would make her reconsider. Phil is undecided until Lorna stops him going after Kathy by locking herself in his bathroom and attempts suicide. He later follows Kathy to
17556-551: The " Get Johnny Week " storyline; becoming a prime suspect in the murder of his uncle Archie ( Larry Lamb ) (see " Who Killed Archie? "); developing an addiction to crack cocaine that sparks the events of The Queen Vic Fire Week ; his ongoing struggle to bond with his children Ben ( Max Bowden ) and Louise ( Tilly Keeper ), a tempestuous relationship with Shirley Carter ( Linda Henry ), which ends when Phil covers up her best friend Heather Trott 's ( Cheryl Fergison ) murder after Ben kills her, discovering that his wife Sharon had
17765-533: The 1997 season. There, they proposed that the title character of Sabrina the Teenage Witch should chase her cat, Salem , through Boy Meets World , You Wish and Teen Angel because it had run away with a "time ball" that was displacing each show through time. In 2013, the Canadian crime drama series Republic of Doyle and Murdoch Mysteries produced a crossover, which was complicated by
17974-482: The BBC, poached Ferguson to become executive producer of EastEnders . For the roles of Phil and Grant Mitchell many actors were screen-tested together. This was done to assure the chosen actors – who would work together – had a strong rapport and physical resemblance. Producer Corinne Hollingworth commented: "There were some good actors we had to turn down because we couldn't find the 'right' brother." Steve McFadden , an actor who had worked extensively in television,
18183-471: The Blue is a spin-off of Happy Days , or whether the star of Out of the Blue merely crossed over into Happy Days . Often, the problems of bringing together two shows with different narrative ambitions make the writing of a crossover burdensome. Such difficulties are encountered by situation comedies that wish to crossover with dramatic television programs. The satirical crossover—ranging in length from
18392-654: The Chipmunks , the Smurfs , ALF (from his short-lived cartoon spinoff ), Garfield , and the trio of Baby Kermit , Baby Piggy , and Baby Gonzo (from Jim Henson's Muppet Babies ). Animation companies granted unlimited, royalty-free use of their cartoon characters for this project, a feat that has been unequalled before or since. This cartoon was also introduced by then- President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush , and would be distributed to schools and video stores free of charge nationwide. Webtoons (animated shows from
18601-611: The December 2004 crossover, John McArdle and Kerry Peers play husband and wife Frank and Sarah Morgan, whose daughter Danielle (Zoe Morgan) receives a heart transplant . René Zagger appears as Bob Smith, a tanker driver who crashes into the hospital, and Nicola Stapleton plays his wife Shirley. Freema Agyeman plays Kate Hindley, a patient trapped under rubble following the collision, and Keith-Lee Castle appears as isolation ward doctor Phil. Annette Badland and Hywel Bennett guest-star in "Something We Can Do" as Wendy and David Winters, whose son Matt (David Alderman) dies following
18810-585: The Famicom in 1988. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games , released in Japan two months before Super Smash Bros. Brawl , was the first time that Mario and Sonic (as well as their associated characters) appeared in a game together. In literature , some authors also engage in crossovers by including characters from different novels they have written in one. The first popular crossover in literature
19019-788: The Mitchell brothers – six years since they last appeared together. 13 million viewers tuned in to see their return giving the BBC a 52.9% British audience share, a massive coup for the show which had come under heavy criticism in the British media after it drew its lowest audience in more than five years (6.6 million viewers tuning in to one episode in September 2005). Phil Mitchell first arrives in Walford in February 1990 to open an automobile repair shop, known as The Arches; he
19228-508: The Mitchell brothers' fragile and damaged relationship. After discovering that Grant had vengefully slept with Kathy, Phil went ballistic with a handgun causing the hijacked Vauxhall Astra they were driving to career at high speed into the River Thames , in an episode that was watched by 19.5 million viewers. Shot in London's Docklands, the scenes required stunt doubles , divers and crash test dummies and it has been hailed as "one of
19437-686: The Mitchells still celebrate Chrissie's imprisonment when Sharon announces that she forged a contract that Ian had signed – thereby meaning that Ian does not officially own the pub, and thus the Mitchells are the true owners of The Queen Vic once more. Around Christmas 2005, Phil escalates his feud with Johnny and ends up entrapping Dennis on his behalf; Dennis and Johnny embark on a conflict afterwards. When Phil discovers that Johnny threatened Sharon with Dennis' life, he attempts to intimidate Dennis in attacking Johnny in retribution; Dennis refuses, but relents when Phil tells him that Johnny killed Andy and throttled Sharon. Unfortunately, after Dennis batters Johnny at
19646-625: The Rescue . This cartoon featured popular characters from children's Saturday morning cartoons, banding together to promote an anti-drug message. ABC , CBS , Fox , and NBC aired this half-hour special one Saturday morning with characters from all their networks, including Huey, Dewey, and Louie (from Disney's DuckTales ), Winnie the Pooh , Tigger , Slimer (from The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters ), Michelangelo (from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ), Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Alvin and
19855-568: The Wolf Man , in 1943. After the comics publishing house Marvel Comics ventured into movie production , they set off to produce solitary films with popular superheroes from the Avengers team, with characters from upcoming films making cameo appearances in films starring another superhero, leading up to the crossover film The Avengers (2012). Inspired by Marvel's success, Warner Bros. , who hold movie rights for DC Comics ' heroes, announced
20064-592: The abuse during the wedding ceremony, and Stella flees to an abandoned warehouse with Phil in pursuit – where she kills herself by jumping from the roof. Later on, Phil claims to have killed Stella and is taken into custody – but is later released without charge. He then forms a relationship with local beautician Suzy Branning ( Maggie O'Neill ) in an attempt to move on from Stella, and the two end up getting engaged with each other after she falsely claims to be pregnant with his child. Phil does not believe his friend, Shirley Carter ( Linda Henry ), when she tells him that Suzy
20273-456: The affair. Kathy is incensed, and Grant beats Phil so badly that he has to go to hospital, due to a blood clot on his brain. Phil undergoes surgery, which stirs remorse in Grant. He pressures Phil into blaming Sharon for their affair and Grant forces her to leave Walford. Phil and Grant make peace but things between them are not the same. Kathy and Phil eventually sort out their differences, up to
20482-417: The aftermath of the explosion, Connie is joined in theatre by Harry as they continue the transplant by torchlight. Rosie and Jim manage to get the baby to safety, but as debris falls, Rosie is impaled on a piece of metal. Bex, having been trapped under rubble and abandoned by the fake pharmaceutical representative, is discovered by firemen and carried to safety. Alistair abandons the transplant and jumps from
20691-506: The agent has issues over possibly becoming a sperm donor, with David Boreanaz (who plays Booth) repaying the favor in " Road to the North Pole ". An appearance by Elmo , from Sesame Street , was made, in a hallucination of Connie Ray 's, on TV sitcom The Torkelsons . Fan fiction fusions between different science fiction movies and series are often created, such as Star Wars and Star Trek or Babylon 5 and Stargate . M.U.G.E.N.
20900-710: The aid of Hawkman, Batman, Robin , the Atom, Green Lantern, and the Elongated Man along the way. The first major crossover event was spearheaded by the Marvel Editor-in-Chief at the time, Jim Shooter . As a way to further toy sales he devised the Secret Wars crossover which brought all the major Marvel heroes into a 12-issue miniseries to battle a common threat. After the threat was dealt with, they all returned to their regular titles. Secret Wars
21109-427: The airport but is stopped by Kathy's son, Ian ( Adam Woodyatt ), who persuades him that Kathy and Ben are better off without him. Phil agonies over the loss of his son. To distract himself, Phil gets involved in a protection racket with Annie Palmer ( Nadia Sawalha ), who he is also having casual sex with, but grows tired of being bossed around by her and quits. He starts seeing Lisa Shaw ( Lucy Benjamin ), but
21318-611: The availability of cast members set to appear in the crossover was limited, and both series had to rely for the most part on the remaining characters who were not in the special. Filming took six weeks to complete, and occurred for the most part at Casualty 's emergency department in Bristol. Additional filming took place at the Holby City set in Elstree, as well as the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children ,
21527-419: The bar when she is unimpressed at his lack of interest in her work. Closing up one night after an event, two men break in and vandalize the bar, and when Sharon attempts to defend herself alone, she is severely beaten and left for dead. She is later hospitalized with a ruptured spleen , leaving Phil distraught – though he later admits to Shirley that he arranged for the men to scare Sharon at the bar, but believed
21736-630: The bodyguards that he hired for her would have protected her and did not realise that she would be hurt. When Shirley confesses she still loves Phil, he spurns her advances and instead proposes marriage to Sharon after she regains consciousness. Unaware of Phil's role in her attack, Sharon accepts. However, she later overhears his secret and begins plotting against him with the help from their family solicitor Marcus Christie ( Stephen Churchett ). Despite this, she later changes her mind and asks Marcus to return all Phil's money to his accounts – unaware that Phil has seen them. After meeting with his accountant, Phil
21945-408: The breadth and depth of what we have to offer. Changing the scheduling of established favourites and the format for presenting period drama is exactly what I want BBC1 to be doing, challenging our audiences with top quality programming." Based on the success of the 2004 Casualty@Holby City Christmas special, another crossover was ordered for Christmas 2005. Rather than dividing the episodes between
22154-487: The brothers pursue him. However, Phil's squabbling with Grant allows Johnny to capture them and Johnny orders Jake's brother Danny Moon ( Jake Maskall ) to kill the brothers. But before Danny can execute Grant, Jake arrives and shoots Danny – accidentally killing him, as Jake meant to merely stop his brother by shooting him in the arm or leg. While Jake buries Danny's body alone, Phil and Grant return to Johnny's home and find that Johnny has surrendered at Ruby's request; Johnny
22363-407: The canisters underneath the car with the baby in. He picks it up and attempts to run out of harm's way with it, however ends up breathing in a fatal dose of fumes and dies in resus. Donna remains with the father and baby, and fulfills the father's dying wish by contacting his parents so that they can meet their grandson. Charlie is re-united with Louis, but Helen breaks up with him, believing that Louis
22572-406: The ceaseless degradation of Lisa showed a particularly malicious side to the character. While Phil has shown compassion to the women in his life, he frequently finds he is unable to give them the emotional security needed to sustain the relationship. Several women have left him due to this and his inability to put their needs before the needs of his family. The Mitchell brothers quickly became two of
22781-418: The character down a darker, more destructive route. Phil can be very violent, but unlike Grant, he occasionally showed restraint when dealing with various enemies encountered – exacting revenge over time, using mind games or getting others to do his dirty work, amongst other things. Phil has occasionally shown sadistic traits. His bullying of Ian Beale is often done as a means of deriving pleasure. Equally
22990-412: The character finally received his comeuppance in one of EastEnders most highly anticipated storylines, dubbed " Who Shot Phil? ". Phil was gunned down outside his home in March 2001 in a " Dallas -style" whodunit mystery. Various key characters were in the frame for the deed and viewers were left guessing for weeks as to which of them was the real culprit. Several outcomes were allegedly filmed and it
23199-455: The characters have no prior relationship, but are related by time period, locale or profession. The Law and Order series, for example, afford a commonality of setting and profession which lends itself to crossovers, both within the franchise and in a wider universe. Following the cancellation of the ABC soap opera One Life to Live and its high-rated finale, several characters crossed over into
23408-427: The cliffhanger at the end of the thirtieth series , by focusing on the events surrounding the aftermath of an accident involving Connie Beauchamp ( Amanda Mealing ) and her daughter Grace ( Emily Carey ), including a helicopter crash outside Holby City Hospital 's emergency department, during celebrations of Charlie Fairhead 's ( Derek Thompson ) thirtieth year working at the hospital. Another series of crossovers
23617-435: The context of the hosting show's narrative. When not clearly presented as parody, this is frequently scorned by fans as blatant commercialism. A notable example of this is The Simpsons episode " A Star Is Burns ", in which the character of Jay Sherman (from The Critic ) appeared. It originally aired on March 5, 1995, on FOX right before The Critic began its second season, its first season having aired on ABC. This episode
23826-444: The continuity of one or all of the properties being crossed over. A good example is the crossover between The Simpsons and The X-Files , which was largely accepted as being outside standard X-Files continuity. They can occur by virtue of a dream sequence , in which the characters of one show will appear as part of a dream had by a character on another show. This method was perhaps used most famously to explain to audiences that
24035-439: The controller of BBC One wants them, then we'll be happy to oblige." In November 2007, Kyle re-iterated that the separate series' 52-week filming schedules make it logistically difficult to produce crossovers, but revealed that the production teams were trying to create more opportunities for the two shows to merge. A new set of crossover episodes written by Casualty 's lead writer Mark Catley were planned for February 2010. In
24244-497: The court hearing to determine Lexi's future, Phil exposes Lola's lateness and temper during her scheduled meetings with Lexi, sabotaging her chances of winning Lexi back. He later tells Billy that Lola will never get Lexi back, which Lola overhears. She snatches Lexi from his house. Lola evades Phil, Billy and Sharon, until eventually they find her. Phil tells Social Services it is his fault for being too relaxed with Lola, but then allows Lola to look after Lexi while he goes out. When Lexi
24453-522: The culprit-reveal episode was watched by 23 million viewers. In late 1989 EastEnders acquired a new executive producer, Michael Ferguson , who took over from Mike Gibbon . Ferguson had previously been a producer on ITV 's The Bill which seemed to be challenging EastEnders in providing a realistic vision of modern life in London . Due to his success on The Bill , Peter Cregeen , the Head of Series at
24662-819: The day of Steve and Mel's wedding, Phil has created many enemies around him; Lisa, Steve, Mark, Ian, and Dan. Later on that night, Phil is shot and collapses in a pool of blood. Steve is the prime suspect and is arrested, but Phil – knowing Steve is innocent – confronts the real culprit, Lisa, weeks later after he is discharged from hospital. Realizing he drove her to it, Phil gradually forgives Lisa and instead decides to frame Dan upon learning that he has been extorting money from his godson Jamie ( Jack Ryder ) – whom Phil had taken under his wing to spare him from being further abused by his legal guardian and uncle, Billy ( Perry Fenwick ). His plan come to fruition when Phil contacts Dan's former crime boss, Ritchie Stringer ( Gareth Hunt ), and together to pair conspire to incriminate Dan for
24871-447: The day. The interactive donation episode, "Something We Can Do", attained 7.32 million viewers, again making it the second most watched terrestrial programme of the day, and also the BBC's second best rated programme of the week, behind only EastEnders . The October 2005 episodes received the lowest ratings of any Casualty@Holby City crossover to date. On its opening night, the show was watched by 5.56 million viewers, in contrast to
25080-468: The end of the year, and Phil even proposes to Sharon, though she accepts Jack's proposal of marriage instead. When Phil offers Sharon an increase of her salary, and a 19% stake in club, Jack is not pleased and punches Phil, who falls into the vehicle pit in the garage. Jack thinks he has killed Phil, but Phil later arrives at the pub and announces Jack's guilt. Jack is arrested but Phil does not press charges after Sharon convinces him for her and Lexi's sake. At
25289-509: The entirety of Newhart had been the dream of Bob Newhart 's character on The Bob Newhart Show . It has more recently been used to demonstrate that cast members of The Young and the Restless appeared in a dream of a character on The King of Queens . Parodic crossovers can take the form of " gag " cameos by characters of one property appearing on another. Crossovers of this type can also be completely wordless. This type of crossover
25498-416: The episodes "will have Casualty and Holby City fans glued to their TV sets over the festive period." The December 2004 Casualty@Holby City crossover received strong ratings. The first episode averaged 8.91 million viewers, making it the third most watched terrestrial programme of the day. The second episode was watched by 8.82 million viewers, making it the second highest rated terrestrial programme of
25707-591: The episodes as dramatic highlights of the Christmas season, despite going on to discuss the aptness of the BBC's press release describing the two episodes as "thrown together." Other reviews were more openly negative, with Charlie Brooker of The Guardian describing the episodes as "two virtually identical and rubbish shitcasts for the price of one." Frances Traynor of the Daily Record commented similarly that: "It can be quite difficult to tell these medical drama twins apart. After all, they're both rubbish", while
25916-510: The ethical dilemmas of those involved, is about as didactic as it gets. Let's hope this benevolent propaganda works." The four crossover episodes which broadcast in November 2005 were generally well received by the press. The opening episode was a recommended "TV Choice" of The Daily Telegraph 's Chris Riley, a "Pick of the Day" of The Mirror 's Simon, and a "Pick of the Night" of
26125-471: The event, however, the episodes which saw Casualty 's Charlie Fairhead ( Derek Thompson ) operated on by Holby City 's Elliot Hope ( Paul Bradley ) after suffering a heart attack were broadcast as regular Casualty and Holby City episodes, rather than under the Casualty@Holby City title. Since then, characters periodically crossover typically for a single episode at a time to fit an ongoing storyline. This has proved popular among fans and
26334-545: The fact that Sharon was married to Grant, EastEnders writer Tony Jordan revealed in The Mitchells – The Full Story that the love-triangle storyline had been planned since Phil and Grant's introduction, after the writers decided Sharon was perfect for them both. This storyline was slow burning and spread over several years, providing a plethora of dramatic tension along the way. The episode in which Phil betrayed his brother with Sharon occurred in September 1992 in one of
26543-439: The fictional setting, and have to be ignored by the series' respective continuities . Still others intentionally make the relations between two or more fictional universes confusing, as with The Simpsons and Futurama , where each show is fiction in the other. In contrast with legal crossovers, unofficial crossovers are created solely because of the artistic pleasure derived by their creators. Unofficial crossovers often take
26752-457: The form of fan-written fiction and fan art , but the trope is increasingly prevalent in amateur films and audio . Whereas official crossovers are frequently stymied by such concerns as copyright, royalties payments, quality of writing and ownership of the characters, unofficial crossovers are unfettered by such concerns, so long as property holders do not exercise their right to enjoin the distribution of such material. A good example would be
26961-414: The former lambasting the realism of the plot: "The building collapses, there's a little girl upstairs about to have a heart transplant, the tanker's leaking fuel and there's a velociraptor loose in radiology . Sorry, I made that last one up."—and the latter commenting that " Casualty@Holby City was deeply weird, like watching Casualty on acid." Similarly, Daniel Davies of The Western Mail also selected
27170-439: The gun to go after Dalton, and is later surprised to learn that Dennis actually killed Dalton as he promised. Following Dalton's death, his representative Andy Hunter ( Michael Higgs ) confronts Phil over the circumstances of his and Dennis's alleged involvement; Andy manipulates Phil into confirming that Dennis was the one who killed Dalton, reigniting their feud when Dennis finds out. In the ensuing clash between them, Phil orders
27379-464: The headmaster of a failing school. James Pearson plays Adrian Lucas, a pupil who puts acid in the water used in apple bobbing . Jason Maza appears as Kris Burrows, whose girlfriend Emma Blakely (Kate Scott) is burned by the acid, and Red Madrell plays Shania Campbell, Emma's best friend who is also burned. Regé-Jean Page (credited as Rege Page) appears as Daniel Kimpton, a friend of Kris’ who hijacks an ambulance. Ade Sapara appears as Edgar Muzenda,
27588-452: The identity of the assailant. The storyline captivated the public's imagination leading to thousands of bets being placed at the bookies across the UK – bookmaker William Hill said there was about 50,000 bets on who was responsible. An estimated 22 million viewers watched EastEnders on 5 April 2001 to find out that Lisa Shaw – Phil's ex-girlfriend – was the culprit. The episode caused
27797-640: The impact that drug use has on Phil, it could help." The storyline also sees Phil become more violent. McFadden explained: All he can see is Peggy's betrayed him. She knows how much he fought for custody, for contact and how important it was for him to see his children. He's really angry about it and feels the world is against him. [...] What he's really doing is self-harm which is a common response to anger. People do crazy, mad things like this when they're desperate. It's very ugly and disturbing. [...] He's hit his kids and his mum, so yes, [worse violence is] something he's capable of. McFadden decided to lose weight for
28006-558: The internet) can also have crossovers with different webtoons, franchises, YouTubers and more. Some examples are when Kate from TomSka 's Crash Zoom series makes an appearance in Eddsworld as a trick or treater who possesses Matt and Edd in the episode, "Trick or Threat". In addition to this a couple of characters from Eddsworld make appearances in some Crash Zoom episodes such as "Orcs and Dorks". Anime has also participated in many crossover events featuring characters or shows from
28215-486: The issue of youth violence, following the events of a turbulent A&E demonstration at an inner-city school. The crossover was broadcast in the same week that the BBC launched a new adaptation of Charles Dickens ' Bleak House starring Gillian Anderson and Charles Dance , and Phil and Grant Mitchell returned to the station's soap opera EastEnders . BBC1 controller Peter Fincham explained: "We have got three very different dramas playing this week that emphasise
28424-517: The last minute. However, as they reluctantly agree to force him out of Walford, Ronnie ends up killing Carl after he attempts to rape her whilst Phil is out of the garage. After discovering this, Phil helps Ronnie cover up the murder – only for Sharon to investigate the pair upon learning of Carl's death. When she eventually confronts Phil about this, he confines to Sharon about how Ronnie killed Carl to protect their family against his threats. Sharon grows to accept his theory, but then demands to know if he
28633-484: The lights to distract Phil, which allows Dan to overpower him. Dan then escapes with the money, never to be seen in Walford again, while Phil recovers and returns to the square upon helping Steve rescue Mel. Shortly before the events of Dan's trial and Mel's kidnapping, Sharon returns to the square; she reconciles with Phil and they run The Queen Vic together. Phil soon wants children with Sharon, but she reveals that she
28842-543: The liver ; various criminal dealings; having an affair with Grant's wife Sharon Watts ( Letitia Dean ) — a storyline popularly dubbed " Sharongate "; a failed marriage to Kathy Beale ( Gillian Taylforth ); a longstanding animosity with his tormented stepson Ian Beale ( Adam Woodyatt ); sparking numerous feuds and rivalries; having relationship problems; seeking to avenge the death of Sharon's adoptive brother and later husband Dennis Rickman ( Nigel Harman ) by confronting his gangland killer, Johnny Allen ( Billy Murray ), in
29051-807: The monsters forming teams in numerous movies, much like the Marvel movie franchise. Godzilla , Mothra and Rodan (Radon) each first appeared in standalone films before being set against each other or even teaming up against stronger enemies. Their first encounter was in 1964, first in Mothra vs. Godzilla and a few months later of all three in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster . In 1962, Toho released King Kong vs. Godzilla . Crossovers in video games occur when otherwise separated fictional characters, stories , settings , universes , or media in
29260-533: The more level-headed of the two thugs. Storylines featuring the Mitchell family dominated the soap opera throughout the 1990s, with Phil serving as one of the show's central characters and protagonists since the 1990s. McFadden temporarily left the series in late 2003, then returned in April 2005 for a brief appearance before making a permanent return in October 2005, and has now overtaken Dot Cotton ( June Brown ) as
29469-441: The murder investigation; as Phil and Marsden became sworn enemies ever since she investigated his shooting – before going on to intercept Phil's criminal activities prior to him being set up for the robbery. During the investigation, Phil clashes with Janine as they both plan to retake various properties from the square. However, it is later revealed that Archie's killer was in fact his rape victim Stacey Slater ( Lacey Turner ); this
29678-526: The network's remaining soap opera General Hospital , remaining in the same timeline as their former show. Though most common on shows of the same production company (see, for example, " Hurricane Saturday "), crossovers have also occurred because shows share the same distributor or television network . A notable example of this kind of link is that between Murder, She Wrote and Magnum, P.I. These shows were made by different companies, but owned by Universal Studios and broadcast on CBS . Another case
29887-570: The news that Lucy Benjamin was to return for a single episode, reprising her role as Lisa, the mother of Phil's daughter Louise (Brittany Papple). In the storyline, Phil gains custody of Louise after she is dropped off in Walford by an unseen person; however, Peggy eventually returns Louise to Lisa after Phil punches his mother in the face. A spokesperson for the show said "Lisa Fowler was a major part of Phil's life – she knows him as well as anyone, so she won't be happy about him looking after his daughter. With their history, you know that this storyline
30096-423: The night of the shooting, Dan kidnaps Mel and alerts both Phil and Steve about this – threatening to kill her unless they pay him £200,000. After the two are forced to work together to provide £200,000 for Mel's release, Phil plans to take Dan down during the exchange. He momentarily subdues Dan and prepares to shoot him, but Mel – after learning how Phil and Steve framed Dan for the shooting – helps Dan by turning off
30305-420: The only person to defend Dan when he is revealed to have cheated on his girlfriend Carol Jackson ( Lindsey Coulson ) by having an affair with her daughter Bianca ( Patsy Palmer ), the wife of Frank's son Ricky ( Sid Owen ). By this stage, Phil's mother Peggy has married Frank. Phil and Dan's friendship soon ends after Dan tells the police about a motor scam Phil was involved in and Phil cons Dan into signing
30514-524: The other hand." A second crossover was commissioned in 2005 as part of the BBC's DoNation season. In August 2005, the station ran a week-long campaign to raise public awareness of organ donation , aiming to help viewers make an informed decision about whether to sign up to the Organ Donation Register. An interactive episode of Casualty@Holby City was one of the headlining shows of the season, allowing viewers to vote by phone to determine
30723-429: The outcome of a fictional organ donation. The episode was part documentary, and a segment presented by Robert Winston both detailed the guidelines for matching organ donors with recipients, and dispelled common myths about organ donation. Viewers were then invited to vote for one of two characters to receive a heart transplant . 98,800 viewers voted, with a 65 percent majority favouring that the organ be received by Lucy,
30932-482: The pair later got married, he retaliates by selling the pub to get one over Alfie. However, Phil is surprised when the pub's new owner turns out to be Shirley's brother Mick Carter ( Danny Dyer ). He then learns from Ben that Lola has ended their relationship and has begun dating Ian's son Peter Beale ( Ben Hardy ). When Phil confronts her about this, she tells Phil that he cannot see Lexi if he objects. This prompts Phil to confront Ian once more, forcing him to object to
31141-400: The party, however when Charlie receives a phone call informing him his son has run away, he is forced to head home. Selena single handedly copes outside of the collapsed tunnel until the emergency services arrive. One of the casualties confesses to possessing stolen toxic chemicals, which have started to leak. Those trapped inside quickly become engulfed by the noxious fumes. Woody finds one of
31350-506: The point where it manages to reveal the basis of his problem – the physical abuse he received from his late father, Eric ( George Russo ) when he was a boy, and his fear that he may abuse Ben. He and Kathy reconcile when he attends counselling, but soon he cheats on Kathy by sleeping with fellow alcoholic Lorna Cartwright ( Janet Dibley ) – who starts stalking him. With his marriage in jeopardy, Phil takes Kathy to Paris and admits his dalliance with Lorna so Kathy throws her wedding ring into
31559-432: The point where they get married and Kathy later gives birth to their son – Ben (Matthew Silver). As time goes on, however, Phil becomes depressed and turns to alcohol – which causes him to develop an addiction. This makes him bitter and neglectful towards Kathy and Ben, so Kathy takes Ben and moves out. Realizing what he has lost, Phil gives up alcohol and attends Alcoholics Anonymous . This progressively helps Phil, up to
31768-412: The police catch up to Chrissie just as she prepares to flee the country at the airport and Sharon punches her in revenge for her father's death; Chrissie is then arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment, while Sam is released from prison – only to end up fleeing the country when she finds herself implicated for perverting the course of justice for Den's murder. Despite the circumstances over Sam's ordeal,
31977-456: The police involved, Kate allows Phil to deal with Dalton on his own. This Phil does by frogmarching Peters back to Dalton's nightclub, the "Imperial Room", and urging Dalton himself to let Kate go free. Dalton agrees to spare Kate, but tells Phil that he now owes him a favor. It is at this point where Sharon's adoptive brother, Dennis Rickman ( Nigel Harman ), arrives in Walford. Dennis is nearing 30 but Sharon had only discovered his existence in
32186-529: The production of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and further plans to develop the cinematic DC Extended Universe , while Paramount Pictures and Entertainment One announced plans to create a cinematic universe on the Transformers film series . There have been numerous crossovers in Japanese cinema. The boom of kaiju films saw a lot of crossovers produced at Toho Studios , with some of
32395-441: The pub from them after he formed a relationship with Janine and the two conspired to have Ian collaborate with them – particularly when Phil gave Ian a loan and gets beaten up as a result of not being able to pay it back. This could have been a motive for both Phil and Peggy, along with their family, when Archie is later murdered on Christmas night. Afterwards, Phil is surprised when DCI Jill Marsden ( Sophie Stanton ) takes charge of
32604-487: The pub over to Peggy. Phil is unsupportive when his girlfriend, Lisa, has a miscarriage and he starts domestically abusing her by getting her sacked from her job and insists she stays at home. This makes her dependent on him so he moves on to her best friend, Mel Healy ( Tamzin Outhwaite ). Lisa is paranoid that Phil is having an affair and accuses Mel of being his other woman, which she is not, at that point. However, Mel
32813-456: The pub's ownership. When Billy uses his job as Johnny's nightclub to discover CCTV footage of Chrissie confessing Den's murder to her boyfriend Jake Moon ( Joel Beckett ) and Johnny's henchman from an earlier night, Billy informs Phil – who goes to confront Johnny without Grant's consent. At first Phil attempts to negotiate with Johnny to no avail, but they end up fighting when Grant intervenes – punching Jake and helping Phil batter Johnny to steal
33022-467: The reception; Phil witnesses his cousin, Ronnie ( Samantha Womack ), discover that Archie – her father – had manipulated her into believing that her long-lost daughter Danielle Jones ( Lauren Crace ), whom she previously employed as her secretary, was dead. When Peggy learns the extent of Archie's deceit, she ends their marriage by ordering Phil to throw him out of the pub – shortly before the family learn that Danielle has died after being fatally struck by
33231-444: The recording. As Jake flees to alert Chrissie of the situation, Johnny holds Phil and Grant at gunpoint to reclaim the recording – but relents in letting them escape when his daughter Ruby Allen ( Louisa Lytton ) walks in on the incident. Before fleeing with the recording, Phil learns from Johnny that Ian is Chrissie's mystery buyer for the pub; he and Billy confront Ian, while Grant helps Sharon and Dennis look for Chrissie. Eventually,
33440-498: The relationship instead. Phil repairs his fractured relationship with Sharon and they have sex. Sharon resumes her relationship with Phil and moves in with him. Together, they buy 10 Turpin Road and convert it into a new bar, which Sharon names "The Albert". When Ian's daughter Lucy dies, Phil begins supporting his former enemy and helps him get back on his feet. Witnessing Ian's grief prompts Phil to try to get back in touch with Ben, but he
33649-484: The relationship stalls when Kathy returns briefly in 1999 and sleeps with Grant. Before Kathy returns to South Africa, she asks Phil to go with her but he declines as Grant has planned an armed robbery and Phil refuses to let him do the job alone. Infuriated by Phil's loyalty to Grant, Kathy reveals their recent tryst, leading to Phil confronting Grant and Grant's confession that he slept with Kathy as revenge for Phil's affair with Sharon. While trying to escape, Phil pulls out
33858-478: The run', and Phil punches Dennis in revenge for their earlier differences. Phil then flees Walford and is not seen for over a year afterwards. Phil returns 18 months later, needing more money. He attacks Ian, who calls the police and Phil is arrested. However, the case collapses after Grant returns to Walford and pays a witness to change his testimony and Phil is released. The brothers return to Walford when Peggy requests they help his sister Sam ( Kim Medcalf ), who
34067-444: The same company or network. One of the biggest projects down would be Dream 9 Toriko x One Piece x Dragon Ball Z Super Special Collaboration as it includes three Shonen Jump franchises, being Dragon Ball Z , One Piece , and Toriko , crossed over into an hour long special-like most crossovers, this special is filler, a fan-service episode that follows the common plot line in most crossovers. What makes this crossover unique
34276-578: The same year. Lee Mead portrayed Lofty on Casualty from March 2014 to March 2016. Following his departure, it was announced Mead would be reprising his role in Holby City from April 2017. Another smaller scale crossover event was broadcast in August 2016, in " Too Old for This Shift " and " Protect and Serve " The episodes were co-written by Matthew Barry and Andy Bayliss (Casualty) and Steve Brett and Joe Ainsworth (Holby City). The episodes follow on from
34485-467: The second-longest-serving character in EastEnders – surpassed only by original character Ian Beale ( Adam Woodyatt ). A teenage version of Phil, played by Daniel Delaney, appeared in a flashback episode broadcast on 5 September 2022, which focuses on the Mitchell family in the 1970s. Phil's most prominent storylines include his battles with alcoholism and addiction ; suffering from cirrhosis of
34694-420: The secret in exchange for money, which Shirley steals from her younger son Dean Wicks ( Matt Di Angelo ) at his salon; he later discovers this and confronts his mother about her involvement with Phil, who later warns Dean off when they cross paths. Phil soon gets into a disagreement with Sharon when she continually puts her work at The Albert before their relationship, only beginning to become more involved with
34903-545: The shooting; with Ritchie giving Dan the same gun that Lisa used to shoot Phil. Unaware that he is being set up, Dan holds Phil at gunpoint – demanding money until he is arrested for attempted murder. Despite the pair still being fierce enemies, Steve later conspires with Phil to have Dan sent down in order to rid Mel from her tormentor for good, but Dan is ultimately acquitted despite their efforts. Dan later seeks revenge on Phil and Steve. After blackmailing Billy into telling him that Mel slept with Phil before she married Steve on
35112-510: The show amid a cast comprised otherwise of the sketch show's own stable of actors. Parodic crossovers can be used to lend verisimilitude to the fictional world of a program. Characters from a fictional television series may appear on a stylized version of an established non-fictional television series, such as game shows or reality shows . These crossovers between celebrity hosts and fictional characters are quite common on situation comedies . Mama's Family once appeared on Family Feud and
35321-399: The show, evaluated the episode in an article about social realism, education and the moral messages within EastEnders storylines, commenting: "The episode blames his destructiveness on the 'male' response to self-hate: violence. It says that unless problems are worked through (the female method), they will be repeated generation after generation". This particular episode has also been used in
35530-571: The show, taking several under his wing including Ricky Butcher ( Sid Owen ), his relative Jamie ( Jack Ryder ), Jay Brown ( Jamie Borthwick ), and his stepsons Dennis and Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall). One of the most culturally significant storylines featuring the character aired in 2001 and was dubbed " Who Shot Phil? ". The events saw Phil shot in a whodunit mystery, with the assailant eventually revealed to be his former girlfriend and Louise's mother Lisa Shaw ( Lucy Benjamin ). The "Who Shot Phil?" storyline captured viewer and media interest and
35739-448: The shows' incompatible historical settings; Murdoch Mysteries is a historical series set in the 1890s, while Republic of Doyle is set in the present day. The problem was solved by having the actors cross over as relatives of their primary characters; Allan Hawco appeared on the November 25, 2013 episode of Murdoch Mysteries as Jacob Doyle, a 19th-century ancestor of his regular character Jake Doyle, while Yannick Bisson appeared on
35948-468: The slow deterioration of their marriage, which gripped viewers throughout 1997. Of particular note is an episode where Phil attends Alcoholics Anonymous (February 1997), an "alien and uncomfortable arena" where he was forced to talk about his condition, expose his vulnerability and reveal the basis of his problem – the physical abuse he'd received from his father and his fear that he will do the same. Writer Jacquetta May , who once played Rachel Kominski in
36157-463: The soap's most dramatic storylines ever." Phil's behaviour earned him a number of sworn enemies in Albert Square and by 2001 the character had become one of the soap's nastiest villains. In an interview with The Guardian McFadden commented on his alter ego's descent into villainy "Phil's been had over by a lot of people, so now he feels like he can do it back. It's his history". However,
36366-487: The soap's most popular characters and storylines involving them began to dominate the programme. Their arrival heralded a new era for the soap, which aptly coincided with the beginning of a new decade – EastEnders during the 1980s having been very much dominated by the hugely popular Watts family. One of the most notable and popular early storylines involving Phil was a love triangle between him, his brother and his brother's wife Sharon (played by Letitia Dean ). Despite
36575-433: The soap's notorious three-handers . Things finally came to a head in 1994 with some of EastEnders most popular and renowned episodes, which were dubbed " Sharongate " – centred around Grant's discovery of the affair and his reaction. The repercussions of Phil's betrayal contributed to many subsequent storylines involving the Mitchell brothers during the 1990s. Sharongate has also proven a popular storyline with viewers and it
36784-573: The spring of 2003 – he was the product of an affair between Sharon's adoptive father Den Watts (who had disappeared and supposedly died in 1989) and a younger woman called Paula Rickman, who dies just before Sharon finally manages to locate him. Phil and Dennis waste no time in becoming enemies, clashing when Dennis punches Phil in The Queen Vic. During this time, Phil rebuilds his relationship with Kate, but he later grows annoyed when Kate befriends Dennis, and ends up punching him upon learning that
36993-435: The square after 14 years, when he had supposedly been shot dead on Dalton's orders. When Phil and Den cross paths with each other, they quickly become enemies, although Den manages to feign an admiration for Phil as part of his bid to bring about his downfall. Their feud culminates badly for Phil, when he reluctantly joins Den in an armed robbery – only to learn that Den had set him up on behalf of both Lisa and his family; Phil
37202-709: The square for good, Kate reveals her true identity. In response, Phil ends his romance with Kate and threatens to kill her – even when she admits to loving him with the promise of quitting her job. Kate disappears, but several months later, Phil finds her working as the secretary for the Walford's veteran reigning gangland kingpin – Jack Dalton ( Hywel Bennett ). He soon begins to visit Dalton, most notably when Phil finds out that Dalton discovers Kate's identity. When Dalton plans to have her killed, sending his bouncer George Peters ( Andy Beckwith ) to rape and murder Kate in her house, Phil comes to Kate's rescue by knocking out Peters just as he attacks Kate. Though she insists on getting
37411-518: The staff over which patient is more deserving of a transplant. Consultants Ric Griffin and Harry Harper interview candidates for a locum general surgery position, including former staff member Nick Jordan . In need of a lift to the staff Christmas party, nurse Kelsey Phillips persuades Nick to take her spare ticket to the event, in exchange for driving her, fellow nurse Donna Jackson , and paramedic Woody Joyner there. Nurse Charlie Fairhead and his new girlfriend Helen are already in attendance at
37620-442: The storyline by going on a crash diet, saying that food would not be one of Phil's priorities. The character continues to be featured heavily in high-profile storylines which have included various feuds, police enquiries, armed robbery, kidnapping, numerous affairs and relationship problems and an ongoing plot concentrating on the character's struggles to bond with his children. 2005 saw the highly anticipated screen return of both of
37829-497: The stroke of the New Year, Johnny arranges for him to be stabbed and Dennis dies in Sharon's arms – leaving her devastated, while Phil becomes ridden with guilt for Dennis' death and vows revenge against Johnny. After comforting Sharon when she lashes out at Johnny in the wake of Dennis' funeral, Phil promises to avenge his death. Phil later convinces Grant to help him confront Johnny at his new home in rural Essex , but he escapes and
38038-413: The third episode watched by 8 million viewers, making it the third most watched terrestrial programme of the day, and the second episode watched by 8.82 million viewers, becoming the second most watched terrestrial programme of the day. Asked about the potential for future crossover episodes, Watson stated in 2005: "We can't guarantee any crossovers for next year, but the audience likes them. And as long as
38247-597: The third-largest power surge on record, and the Liverpool and Barcelona UEFA Cup semi-final was postponed for 10 minutes to accommodate a special 40-minute edition of the soap. In February 2003, it was confirmed that Steve McFadden would be taking a year hiatus. McFadden said: "I'm going to stick my mechanic's overalls in a locker while I take a look at a few other projects. EastEnders will always be No1 in my heart and I look forward to returning to Albert Square." Executive producer Louise Berridge went on to say that she
38456-720: The townsfolk of The Vicar of Dibley have had their heirlooms valuated on Antiques Roadshow , for instance. One of the earlier instances of crossovers in TV productions outside the US is the episode Unter Brüdern [ de ] (1990), which was produced by WDR and DFF as a crossover between the West German crime series Tatort and the East German crime series Polizeiruf 110 . Their respective popular heroes Horst Schimanski and Peter Fuchs join forces to solve
38665-400: The truth about Chrissie killing Den and they end up joining forces with the Mitchells to help Sam against Chrissie – with Phil and Dennis putting their differences aside over their previous rivalry. While Grant also make amends with Sharon by making peace with Dennis as well, Phil begins a feud with Johnny over his issue with Peggy and the fact that he and Chrissie are having a partnership over
38874-425: The truth, so Phil tells them the engagement is over. Phil is appointed Lexi's foster carer and ordered to arrange for Lola to visit Lexi three times a week but he immediately takes over, angering Lola by calling Lexi his baby, refusing to take presents that Lola buys for her and having her christened with the name Mitchell, instead of Pearce. Phil and Jack become rivals when Phil tells Jack that he will be with Sharon by
39083-604: The two nearly had sex together. Later on, Phil learns that Dennis has previously been involved in Dalton's criminal organization – The Firm. This is further notified when Dalton summons Phil to carry out his favour with a task: killing Dennis. At first, Phil is willing to go along with it and goes to confront Dennis at Sharon's nightclub, "Angie's Den", where he holds him at gunpoint. Phil prepares to kill Dennis, but changes his mind when Dennis offers to kill Dalton himself – so that they can both be free of him; Phil reluctantly gives Dennis
39292-493: The two series' crews as had previously been standard, this crossover operated as an entirely separate production, with Diana Kyle producing and Paul Harrison directing. A large proportion of the crossover was filmed in a road tunnel in Caernarfon , Wales. Watson commented: "It was the only one that we could hire for two weeks without causing huge traffic jams. The whole shoot was five weeks long. Staging stunts like car accidents
39501-496: The two share a conversation about how they were respectively abused by their fathers – with Phil confining to Archie about to extent of how Eric treated him, before Archie explains that both he and Eric were mistreated by their father prior to his death; which Archie claims to be the "best thing that happened to him". Afterwards, Phil makes amends with Ben and the two support Archie when he and Peggy plan to get married. Their wedding initially appears successful, but it ends in disaster at
39710-471: The two-part December 2005 crossover, stars Casualty 's MacCorkindale, Bleasdale, Packer, Wait, Cookson, Thorp, Mellor and Carling, as well as Clinical Nurse Specialist Charlie Fairhead ( Derek Thompson ) and receptionist Sam Bateman ( Luke Bailey ). Mealing, Quarshie, Jacobs and Clarke of the Holby City cast also star, along with general surgical registrar Nick Jordan ( Michael French ) and midwife Mickie Hendrie ( Kelly Adams ). Thorp's character
39919-643: The unauthorised live action fan film Batman: Dead End which brings together the properties of Batman , Alien and Predator in one setting. Unofficial crossovers can also occur in a "what-if" scenario. Roger makes frequent cameo appearances in Family Guy , while Brian makes cameos on American Dad! . Roger, Rallo Tubbs , and Klaus Heissler were seen in the final Family Guy Star Wars spoof, " It's A Trap! ", as Moff Jerjerrod , Nien Nunb , and Admiral Ackbar , respectively. Stewie also appears as an interactive hallucination of Booth on Bones when
40128-401: The wedding. Phil begins a relationship with a divorced Kathy Beale ( Gillian Taylforth ), but Nadia returns, needing Phil to prove he is her husband to prevent deportation. She moves in with him while she is investigated. Nadia seduces and sleeps with a drunken Phil. He regrets it, denying it to Kathy so Grant threatens to kill her to make her leave but Phil later bribes her into agreeing to
40337-437: The wedding. After the reception, Shirley enters their house and confronts them; Sharon is left devastated when she realises Phil has been cheating behind her back even after he asked her to marry him. However, she decides that she still loves Phil and wants to be with him. After Phil insults Shirley and makes hurtful remarks about the fling they had together, an enraged Shirley attempts to go for him, but Sharon stops her, and after
40546-442: Was "looking forward to Steve returning in 2004". In July 2004, it was announced that McFadden had delayed his return. In February 2005, it was confirmed that McFadden would return. His return scenes aired in April 2005 for a brief stint before returning full-time in October. In June 2010, it was reported that Phil would develop an addiction to crack cocaine after his troubled personal life leads to depression. The report followed
40755-435: Was also seen as realistic and a "typical portrayal of bottled-up masculinity". Phil's disposition altered during the early 2000s when a darker more menacing side to his personality began to surface. This change was perhaps a consequence of Grant's departure, who up until this point had always been depicted as the more selfish, thuggish and nastier of the two. The storyline signifying the departure of Ross Kemp played heavily on
40964-420: Was cast as Phil. His shape, skills in stage fighting and a variety of sports including boxing, football and karate made him an ideal choice to play one of Walford 's latest "tough-men". Ross Kemp got the role of Grant. Both actors worked well together and shared similar physical characteristics, such as short cropped hair and a "round, open face" – facial characteristics also shared by Danniella Westbrook , who
41173-431: Was chosen to play their sister Samantha because of this. Initially, Phil was calmer than Grant but both brothers had a sense of physical danger, displaying stereotypical masculinity, thuggish behaviour and a tendency to resolve problems through violence. Phil was originally depicted as the thinker and the more streetwise of the pair, often bailing his more spontaneous brother out of trouble, although later plotlines drove
41382-431: Was deemed "a horrible mess" by Shelley, while Garry Bushell of The People kept his criticism brief, limiting his review to: " Casualty@Holby City ? Takings up@pub." Paul Hoggart of The Times was dubious about the episode's purported "interactive" element, given the limited choices involved. He commented: "The twin hospital dramas have never been afraid of didactic storylines, but this example, constructed to illustrate
41591-428: Was discovered just moments after her husband Bradley Branning ( Charlie Clements ) fell to his death whilst on the run from the police, which Phil had witnessed in the midst of celebrating Ricky and Bianca's second wedding. Although troubled by lapses in alcoholism due to numerous family upsets, Phil begins to settle into a relationship with Shirley – particularly when she becomes a mother figure for Ben and Louise, who
41800-418: Was followed by his brother Grant ( Ross Kemp ), sister Sam ( Danniella Westbrook / Kim Medcalf ) and mother Peggy ( Jo Warne / Barbara Windsor ). Phil was one of the major characters introduced by executive producer Michael Ferguson , who wanted to bring in some macho male leads. Phil and his brother Grant became popularly known as the Mitchell brothers in the British media, with Phil initially portrayed as
42009-570: Was hailed as both a critical and commercial success, largely because the events of the crossover had lasting effects on the characters (such as the introduction of Spider-Man 's black suit which would later become the villain Venom ). Jim Shooter later perfected his crossover technique at Valiant Comics with the Unity event. Unity brought all the Valiant characters together to defeat Mothergod , but
42218-517: Was implemented in late 2017, with a number of characters that swapped over for episodes. Another crossover happened in 2019 called CasualtyXHolby this centred around Holby City Hospital experience a loss of power due to a cyberattack . Consultants Connie Beauchamp ( Amanda Mealing ) and Jac Naylor ( Rosie Marcel ) also come into conflict when they learn there is only one theatre available while treating two of their colleagues. Fictional crossover#Crossovers between established shows This
42427-412: Was killed off during the second episode. The actor praised the crossover, commenting: "Filming it was like filming a feature film. Massive stunts and good storylines. There was a really good buzz on set all the time... As an actor, you couldn't wish for a better exit. It was absolutely brilliant." The crossover episodes include numerous guest stars, typically as patients and their friends and relatives. In
42636-721: Was largely condemned by fans of The Simpsons as existing to promote The Critic , an animated series considered inferior by comparison. Even Simpsons creator Matt Groening objected, preferring to remove his name from the credits of that particular episode in protest. In its simplest and most common form, a television crossover involves a starring character on a parent show appearing on a spin-off or vice versa because of established character relationships. An obvious example of this type of crossover occurred when Cliff Huxtable of The Cosby Show visited his daughter, Denise , on A Different World . More complex multi-production franchises can utilize crossovers of characters to serve as
42845-404: Was organised by her enemy and Walford's newly installed crime kingpin: Johnny Allen ( Billy Murray ). This prompts Phil and Grant to confront Johnny, warning him to stay away from Peggy under the threat of further violence. The pair then confront Chrissie in the pub, where Phil stops Grant from attacking her and Dennis, before Sharon intervenes on their behalf. However, Sharon and Dennis soon learn
43054-433: Was reported that only a few TV executives knew the identity of the would-be assassin – even the actors were kept in the dark. A spokesman commented "The cast are only getting their own scripts. They are not being told anyone else's storylines. Not even Phil knows who shot him. It's top secret." Script writers were reportedly given private security after a writer's laptop was stolen in what was believed to be an attempt to gain
43263-1163: Was the 1885 Mark Twain novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , which had an important guest appearance by Tom Sawyer . Similarly, Lady Glencora Palliser from the Pallisers series of Anthony Trollope appears towards the end of Miss Mackenzie , a novel published between the first and second Palliser novels in 1865, a character first introduced in the novel, Can You Forgive Her? (1864). Andrew Lang 's 1890 collection, Old Friends: Essays in Epistolary Parody , contains letters combining characters from different sources, including one based on Jane Austen 's Northanger Abbey and Charlotte Brontë 's Jane Eyre . Kim Newman frequently uses this device, as does Stephen King . The works of James Branch Cabell , J.D. Salinger , William Faulkner , Margaret Laurence , Thomas Pynchon , Kurt Vonnegut , Mordecai Richler , Sir H. Rider Haggard , Edgar Rice Burroughs , Robert Heinlein , and Isaac Asimov also cross over with each other, linking different characters and settings together over
43472-462: Was told within the existing Valiant Comics titles (and two bookend special issues). Readers were not obliged to buy all 18 chapters as the story was coherent when reading just one title, but far more layered when all were read. Like Secret Wars , the Unity crossover had lasting effects on the Valiant universe; most notably the introduction of Turok , the birth of Magnus, Robot Fighter and the death of
43681-401: Was voted the sixth top soap opera moment of the decade in a poll of 17,000 people for What's on TV magazine. Among the many issues Phil has been used to cover is alcoholism and the consequences the condition has upon the sufferer's life. The relationship between alcohol abuse and domestic violence was explored between Phil and his wife Kathy (played by Gillian Taylforth ) culminating in
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