The thirteenth series of the British medical drama television series Holby City began airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 October 2010, and ran for 52 episodes, concluding on 11 October 2011. Episodes Production The series is produced by the BBC and airs on BBC One in the United Kingdom. It is 52 episodes long, a reduction on the twelfth series which ran for 55 episodes. On 28 May 2010, the BBC announced that it would be launching a high definition (HD) simulcast of BBC One from the autumn, and that Holby City would move to HD by the end of the year. Prior to its HD broadcast, Holby City was produced using Panasonic P2 Varicam camcorders. Coach House Studios purchased a new Avid Unity Media Network to produce the series in HD, also upgrading the Avid Media Composers and Symphony Nitris systems to the latest software version. The series was simulcast on BBC HD beginning with the opening episode, "Shifts", and on the new BBC One HD channel from its launch in November 2010. Danielle Nagler, head of BBC HD, was pleased with the series' HD debut, which she stated was not flawless, but was a "big improvement" on standard definition. For series thirteen, Myar Craig-Brown became Holby City series producer, following Diana Kyle, who held the role during the previous series. Craig-Brown had worked on Holby City as a script editor since its fourth series, being promoted to story editor before departing for several years. She then re-applied for a story editor position, and was made acting series producer. The series' consultant producer and lead writer was Justin Young, who was appointed after series creator Tony McHale stood down during series twelve. Young intended to introduce a more writer-led commissioning process, with writers creating more of the theme and story of their episodes than was previously the case. Belinda Campbell initially served as the series' executive producer. In February 2011, it was announced that Holby City founding producer Johnathan Young would return to the BBC from March, succeeding Campbell as executive producer of both Casualty and Holby City. Cast Overview The series began with 16 roles receiving star billing. Connie Beauchamp (Amanda Mealing) and Elliot Hope (Paul Bradley) are consultants on the cardiothoracic surgery ward, Darwin. Ric Griffin (Hugh Quarshie), Michael Spence (Hari Dhillon) and Jac Naylor (Rosie Marcel) are consultants on the general surgery