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
Soap opera "Sti skia tou hrimatos" ("Money Shadows"), which ran from 1990 to 1991. September 1991 saw the debut of "Lampsi" ("the Shining"), from creator Nicos Foskolos. The series would become Greece's longest-running soap opera. After the success of "Lampsi" came the short lived "To galazio diamandi" ("Blue Diamond") and "Simphonia siopis" ("Omertà"). "Lampsi" was canceled in June 2005 due to declining ratings. It was replaced by "Erotas" ("Love"), a soap that ran from 2005 to 2008. After that series ended, ANT1 abandoned the soap opera genre and focused on comedy series and weekly dramas. Greece's second longest-running soap is "Kalimera Zoi"