History of the National Health Service Emergency Ward 10 was first broadcast in 1957 on ITV and ran until 1967 and followed the life and loves of the staff and patients of the fictionalised Oxbridge General. ITV later followed this up with General Hospital which borrowed much from Emergency Ward 10 in terms of its themes and focus. The idea of a medical hospital as a suitable and popular setting for a soap opera continued to take root in the 1980s. Casualty, set in an A&E department, was first broadcast in 1986 and has since become the longest running medical drama in the world. At a
A World Apart (TV series) A World Apart (TV series) A World Apart is an American daytime drama that ran from March 30, 1970, to June 25, 1971, on the ABC television network. The initial stories were written by Katherine Phillips (adopted daughter of Irna Phillips, who created "Guiding Light", "As the World Turns" and "Another World"). The story concerned a soap opera writer who adopted two children, a fictionalized version of Irna Phillips' life. Soap opera writer Betty Kahlman (Elizabeth Lawrence, Augusta Dabney) raised her adopted children without a husband. Her sounding board and friend was fellow soap opera writer Meg Johns, played by