The series was set in the busy casualty department of a major fictional Melbourne hospital, and is notable for being one of the first-ever dramas shown on Australian television.
Cast
Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time. Made by Melbourne's GTV-9 in co-operation with the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and based on Britain's Emergency Ward 10, Emergency starred Brian James as Dr. Geoffrey Thompson, Syd Conabere as orderly George Rogers, and Judith Godden as Nurse Jill Adamson. Moira Carleton also featured as Matron Evans.
Production
The series was produced primarily in the GTV-9 studio, with brief exterior sequences shot on 35mm film by newsreel cameramen. The episodes were not broadcast live, but were kinescoped to meet programming requirements, and facilitate later screening in Sydney. The series' premise was simple: a basic dramatic exploration of cases passing through the Casualty ward. Scripts were written by GTV staffers Roland Strong and Denzil Howson under pseudonyms. Sponsorship came from British Petroleum, and a contract was signed for 52 half-hour episodes. The series debuted on GTV-9 on 16 February 1959, and on Sydney's ATN-7 a week later. Critics initially appeared fairly neutral, however a highly negative article on the series in a Sydney newspaper caused BP to withdraw sponsorship 16 weeks into the series run. Faced with having to carry the production expenses alone, GTV-9 discontinued production, with the final episode airing in Melbourne on 1 June 1959. Patricia Kennedy called it "exhausting but exciting."
Reception
The Australian Women's Weekly called it "shudderingly bad."
Following the series demise, the actors went onto other roles Brian James went on to lead roles in the ABC serial Stormy Petrel in 1960, and ATN-7's period dramaJonah in 1962, later appearing as George Tippit in the drama serial "Skyways", before becoming best known for his trole in cult seriesPrisoner Moira Carleton appeared in guest roles in most of the Australian TV dramas on the 1960s and 1970s, with a permanent role as Olive Turner on Bellbird, whilst Syd Conabere starred in serial Sons and Daughters.
