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 (TV series) program was also nominated for Best TV Series—Musical/Comedy. Director Jay Sandrich was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series' at the DGA Awards in 1978 and 1979. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released all four seasons of "Soap" on DVD in Region 1. Season 1 has been released on DVD in Region 2 in Norway (as "Forviklingar"), Sweden (as "Lödder"), Spain (as "Enredo") and the UK. Seasons 1 and 2 have been released in Australia (Region 4). Some of the episodes on these DVD collections are edited or replaced with the syndicated versions, shortened by as much as 2