Important reason why there’s only one Grey’s Anatomy episode title that breaks its own tradition

Warning: This article contains discussion of domestic violence which some readers may find distressing.

There's an extremely important reason why there's only one Grey's Anatomy episode title that breaks its own tradition.

Now, any die-hard fans of the long-running TV drama series will know that every single episode follows the same rule when it comes to its title.

In 20 seasons of Grey's Anatomy, which first hit our screens nearly two decades ago in 2005, all of its episodes are named after a reference to a song.

Some of the more famous episodes includes titles like; 'Losing My Religion' like R.E.M's 1991 smash-hit, 'A Hard Day’s Night' like The Beatles' 1964 classic and 'The First Cut Is The Deepest' which was written by singer Cat Stevens back in the late 60s.

However, there is one episode out of the entire series - which, by the way, spanning over 400 episodes - which breaks this tradition.

The one and only exception to date took place in the 14th season which came out back in 2017.

Season 14's episode 9 is titled '1-800-799-7233'. (Richard Cartwright / Contributor / Getty Images)

The ninth episode in this season was not named after a song but instead titled '1-800-799-7233' which is actually the phone number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Originally titled 'Four Seasons in One Day', the episode in question which centres around a general surgeon named Paul Stadler (Matthew Morrison), who also happened to be Jo's (Camilla Luddington) abusive ex-husband, shines a much-needed light on the extremely serious impact of domestic violence and abuse.

Showrunner, Krista Vernoff, tweeted back in 2018 that the 'brilliant' idea to rename the episode to the hotline number was suggested to her by actor Giacomo Gianniotti, who plays Dr. Andrew DeLuca.

The title is the phone number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. (Richard Cartwright / Contributor / Getty Images)

She wrote at the time: "Giving credit where it's due: this title change was pitched to me by @GiacomoKG.

"Brilliant idea. Important. Thank you!"

Luddington opened up about the episode to Entertainment Weekly that same year, saying: "Krista [Vernoff], and myself and all the writers, because it’s been such a long time coming, there have been so many conversations with domestic abuse organisations.

"We ended up feeling like even just the words and the dialogue that we wanted to use in several scenes, we were just particular with it, because at the end of the day, we wanted to tell this story right, and also educate people that have misconceptions about domestic abuse, who it happens to, and what it looks like."

She added: "Conversations have been going on for a very, very long time in order to tell this story the right way that we felt like got the message across that we needed to get across with it."

If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247, available 24/7, or via live chat, available 3pm-10pm, Monday to Friday.

• Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane revealed real reason he was 'fired' from show