Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Directors: Various, Via Vision Entertainment.
Cast: Georgie Parker, Jeremy Cumpston, Judith McGrath, Libby Tanner, Ben Tari, Kirrily White, Eric Thomson, Sam Healy.
On a trip down another Australian serial memory lane, we revisit Ward 17 at All Saints Western General Hospital. It’s known affectionately as ‘the garbage ward’ because it takes patients the rest of the hospital finds too difficult to place.
This special 31-disc DVD collection brings together all 125 episodes from seasons
1-3.
Unit nurse manager is compassionate nun Terri Sullivan (Gold Logie Award-winner Parker), who knows her ward is the saviour of the Emergency Department. She knows somehow her nursing staff will cope with any case that comes their way.
Their endurance is tested every day because you never know what’s going to hit you next. It takes a special personality to want to be on the line all the time.
The Logie-winning drama series centred on the lives of the nurses at All Saints. As we see the nurses working hard, we also get a chance to reach into their personal lives and watch close relationships and bonds develop between many unanticipated characters.
Delivered from the viewpoint of the vanguard of the hospital, viewers are able to get an in-depth view of the real life of a nurse. They share their hopes and disappointments with each other and the pressures they experience. Some days they are disillusioned, angry or frustrated. Their friendships and their relationships show what pulls them through the frantic daily life.
The show also reveals how much authority the nurses have, the way they are often forced to make crucial decisions, but at times don’t have the power to do so, causing very assertive, fervent storylines.
An interesting melody catches the ear with the credits in the series produced by John Holmes alongside Jo Porter, MaryAnne Carroll and Di Drew.
