AustLit

'A character drama set in 1969 in Kings Cross; the time and place Australia came of age and the new generation broke all the rules. It was the Summer of Love. Mick Jagger was in town, Australia was glued to the telecast of the moon landing and American sailors clashed on the street with anti-Vietnam war protesters. We follow Joan Millar, 28, a maverick midwife returning to Australia and five young pregnant women, whose choices for their babies and own lives exemplify the radical changes at the heart of the cultural and sexual revolution. Their lives intersect between a maternity hospital, a home for unwed mothers and the wild streets of Darlinghurst.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 13/2/2014)

One of Australia's highest rating dramas, All Saints is a Logie Award-winning Australian medical drama set in the fictional All Saints Western General Hospital in suburban Sydney. The stories originally focused on the nursing staff of Ward 17 run by Nursing Unit Manager Terri Sullivan. It was sometimes referred to as the 'garbage ward' because it took the overflow of patients.

In 2004 Network Seven producers overhauled the series in an effort to increase the show's gradually dwindling audience. They achieved this by closing down Ward 17 and transferring some of the staff to the Emergency Department managed by Frank Campion. Several other new lead characters were also introduced. The changes also saw the storylines begin to focus more on the lives of the doctors and nurses.

Another significant change to the series came in early 2009 when the producers introduced the Medical Response Unit. Central to this development was the helicopter which took doctors to rescue situations outside the hopsital and which in turn brought patients to the All Saints Emergency Department. The show's name was also changed at this time to All Saints: Medical Response Unit. The increased production costs created by having scenes shot on location played a part, however, in the series being cancelled mid-year. The series ended with the Emergency Department and Medical Response Unit teams having a dinner to farewell the last remaining original character, Von Ryan on her final day at All Saints.

All Saints was popular in many countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium and Iran.