I think what the program demonstrated was the perceived need, particularly in a series that has been running 25 years, to aspire to ever greater levels of drama, jeopardy, and conflict. I worked on a Casualty episode featuring cave rescue way back in the mid 80s and I don't think the script they used at that time would be considered sufficiently dramatic now.
The question is where does it all stop? In this episode we not only had the two victims down the shaft but another paramedic slipping and breaking his leg which despite prompt hospital treatment inexplicably developed into 'compartment syndrome'. While the two ill-fated lovers in the shaft were having to stick chest drains in each other the two highly professional doctors were openly arguing about their marriage.
There is a limit to how much drama, jeopardy, and conflict you can squeeze out of one episode before the whole thing becomes ludicrous. Now I am susceptible to a bit of emotional manipulation (ask my wife) and often get a lump in my throat while watching TV drama but it was never going to happen with this episode. We met the two would-be lovers for about one minute before they fell down the hole and it just wasn't sufficient to develop any real emotional connection.
The point I am trying to make is that is not just a really crap episode about cave rescue - it's a really crap episode of would-be drama. And while the producers are seeking ever heightened levels of drama, jeopardy, and conflict they are losing vital components - characterisation, empathy and credibility.
