All Saints is an Australian medical drama television series that first screened on the Seven Network on 24 February 1998. Set in the fictional All Saints Western General Hospital, it focused on the staff of Ward 17 until the ward's closure in 2004, which is when the focus changed and began following the staff of the emergency department. The show was produced by John Holmes, alongside Jo Porter, MaryAnne Carroll, and Di Drew. The final episode aired on 27 October 2009, completing its record-breaking 12-year run.
Plot All Saints follows the lives of the staff at All Saints Western General Hospital. Until the ward's closure in 2004 (season seven), the show primarily focused on the staff in Ward 17. Known as the "garbage ward", as it took all the overflow from the other wards, Ward 17 was run by compassionate nun, Sister Terri Sullivan (Georgie Parker). Her staff included her nurses Connor Costello (Jeremy Cumpston), Von Ryan (Judith McGrath), Bronwyn Craig (Libby Tanner), Jared Levine (Ben Tari), and Stephanie Markham (Kirrily White) and her ward clerk Jaz Hillerman (Sam Healy). Luke Forlano (Martin Lynes) and Peter Morrison (Andrew McKaige) were doctors who frequently worked with Terri and her staff. Ben Markham (Brian Vriends) was an ambulance officer who worked closely with Luke, despite their rivalry. Bronwyn left Ward 17 and became an ambulance officer at the end of 1998, but returned to the ward full-time at the end of season three.
Peter and Jaz were written out early on in the second season, which introduced Doctor Mitch Stevens (Erik Thomson, an old boyfriend of Terri's with whom she had unfinished business. More of the original cast left: Stephanie was killed in a car accident in season three and Connor left in season four. The beginning of the fourth season gave Ben a new ambulance partner, Scott Zinenko (Conrad Coleby), and the concluding episodes introduced two new nurses, Paula Morgan (Jenni Baird) and Nelson Curtis (Paul Tassone). Long-serving doctor Charlotte Beaumont (Tammy Macintosh) made her debut in the fifth season.
Cast
Main cast Actor Character Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Georgie Parker Terri Sullivan colspan="8" colspan="4" Jeremy Cumpston Connor Costello colspan="4" colspan="8" Sam Healy Jaz Hillerman colspan="2" colspan="10" Martin Lynes Luke Forlano colspan="7" colspan="5" Judith McGrath Von Ryan colspan="12" Andrew McKaige Peter Morrison colspan="2" colspan="10" Libby Tanner Bronwyn Craig colspan="6" colspan="6" Ben Tari Jared Levine colspan="6" colspan="4" Kirrily White Stephanie Markham colspan="3" colspan="8" Brian Vriends Ben Markham colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="6" Erik Thomson Mitch Stevens colspan="5" colspan="6" Conrad Coleby Scott Zinenko colspan="3" colspan="4" colspan="5" Jenni Baird Paula Morgan colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="5" Paul Tassone Nelson Curtis colspan="3" colspan="4" colspan="3" Tammy Macintosh Charlotte Beaumont colspan="4" colspan="7" Christopher Gabardi Vincent Hughes colspan="5" colspan="5" colspan="2" John Howard Frank Campion colspan="6" colspan="6" Wil Traval Jack Quade colspan="6" colspan="5" Natalie Saleeba Jessica Singelton colspan="6" colspan="3" colspan="3" Alexandra Davies Cate McMasters colspan="6" colspan="4" Mark Priestley Dan Goldman colspan="6" colspan="5" Chris Vance Sean Everleigh colspan="7" colspan="2" colspan="2" Andrew Supanz Bartholomew West colspan="8" colspan="4" Jolene Anderson Erica Templeton colspan="8" colspan="3" John Waters Mike Vlasek colspan="8" colspan="3" Virginia Gay Gabrielle Jaegar colspan="8" colspan="3" Allison Cratchley Zoe Gallagher colspan="8" colspan="3" Jack Campbell Steve Taylor colspan="9" colspan="3" Kip Gamblin Adam Rossi colspan="10" colspan="2" Ella Scott Lynch Claire Anderson colspan="10" colspan="2" Alix Bidstrup Amy Fielding colspan="10" colspan="2" Mirrah Foulkes Jo Mathieson colspan="11"
Recurring cast Actor Character Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Elizabeth Maywald Sophie Williams colspan="10" Kim Hillas Joan Marden colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="4" Michael Angus John Ahearn colspan="2" colspan="9" John Noble John Madsen colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="5" Justine Clarke Samantha O'Hara colspan="2" colspan="10" Damon Herriman Danny Bucknell colspan="10" Rod Mullinar Prof. Richard Craig colspan="11" Robert Coleby colspan="3" colspan="4" colspan="5" Jake Blundell Tony Hurst colspan="2" colspan="8" Celia Ireland Regina Butcher colspan="2" colspan="3" colspan="4" Joy Smithers Rose Carlton Stevens colspan="4" colspan="6" Ling-Hsueh Tang Kylie Preece colspan="4" colspan="7" Kim De Lury Mick Todd colspan="2" colspan="8" Sarah Vassallo A&E Nurse Stella colspan="2" colspan="8" Pia Miranda Brittany Finlay colspan="2" colspan="9" Belinda Emmett Jodi Horner colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="8" Emma Jane Fowler Vicky Dernakov colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="7" Natasha Beaumont Rebecca Green colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="6" Josh Quong Tart Matt Horner colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="5" Rochelle Whyte Cara Windom colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="6" Chris Haywood Peter Buchanan colspan="4" colspan="7" Rebecca Massey Various colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="3" Troy Planet Dennis Poole colspan="5" colspan="4" Alan Flower Morris the Florist colspan="5" colspan="6" Rachel McNamara Frances Regan colspan="5" colspan="6" Fletcher Humphrys Alex Kearns colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="5" Henry Nixon Sterling McCormack colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="5" Liz Alexander Alison Newell colspan="5" colspan="4" colspan="4" Anne Looby Julia Archer colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="5" Grant Bowler Nigel "Mac" MacPherson colspan="6" colspan="2" colspan="4" Jaime Mears Kerry Lytton colspan="6" colspan="2" colspan="3" Peter Phelps Doug Spencer colspan="7" colspan="2" colspan="2" Sibylla Budd Deanna Richardson colspan="7" colspan="2" colspan="3" Nicole da Silva Sasha Fernandez colspan="7" colspan="4" Panda Likoudis Bryce the Ambo colspan="7" colspan ="3" Guy Edmonds Stuart Mapleston colspan="7" colspan="4" Wendy Strehlow Lorraine Tanner colspan="7" colspan="4" Douglas Hansell Aaron Roth colspan="7" colspan="4" Celeste Barber Bree Matthews colspan="7" colspan="5" Alexandra Fowler Eve Ballantyne colspan="7" colspan="2" colspan="2" Jacinta Stapleton Jo Henderson colspan="8" colspan="3" Yael Stone Ann-Maree Preston colspan="9" colspan="2" colspan="2" Mike Smith Heath Velaga colspan="9" colspan="2" Renee Lim Suzi Lau colspan="10" Petra Yared Rhiannon Wilson colspan="10" Donald Sword Crewman Paul colspan="11" Ben Wood Troy Sanders colspan="11" Jonathan Wood Elliott Parker colspan="11"
Production After the death of Dr. Mitch Stevens (Erik Thomson) and the departure of Bron Craig (Libby Tanner) in 2003, the producers decided to do something in response to considerable drop in ratings and to prolong the life of the series.
In February 2004, John Holmes told The Age journalist Debi Enker that All Saints would be undergoing "major surgery" when the focus shifted from Ward 17 to the emergency department. He also stated that while four familiar faces will be leaving, new characters would be introduced to fill the void. Holmes recalled a statement that he made in May 2003 in which he said, "we [myself and Seven script executive Bevan Lee] were seeing the scripts and watching episodes and we were feeling that there was a little bit of a sameness in it. We started to think, 'Don't know about this. Sixth year. Maybe we've had a few too many people through the door of Ward 17 on a trolley and had the 'Hi, I'm Von, I'm your nurse. Room Three, thanks Sterlo.'" After tossing up between cancelling the show and using it as the foundation of a spin-off series, Holmes and Lee decided to rejuvenate the show by changing the setting. Ward 17 would then close and the show would be relocated to the Emergency Department.
As a result of the shift, several cast members decided to leave the show. Paula Morgan (Jenni Baird), Luke Forlano (Martin Lynes), Alex Kearns (Fletcher Humphrys), and Sterling McCormack (Henry Nixon) were all written out of the show. Former Always Greener star John Howard signed a three-year deal and was added to the cast as the cranky head of emergency, Dr. Frank Campion. Other new faces included Wil Traval as Dr. Jack Quade, Mark Priestley and Natalie Saleeba as nurses Dan Goldman and Jessica Singleton, respectively, and Alexandra Davies as ambulance officer Cate McMasters.
Season eight had one of the biggest changes yet, as Terri Sullivan (Georgie Parker), who until then had been the main character, was written out halfway through the year, leaving Von Ryan (Judith McGrath) as the last remaining original character, and resulting in John Howard being moved into top billing. The last two episodes of the season introduced Chris Vance as Doctor Sean Everleigh.
The ninth season had another large cast turnover. Nelson and Jessica both left, while arriving were Allison Cratchley as Doctor Zoe Gallagher, Andrew Supanz as intern Bartholomew West, Virginia Gay as new nurse unit manager Gabrielle Jaeger, and Jolene Anderson as nurse Erica Templeton. John Waters appeared for a run of episodes as surgeon Mike Vlasek before returning full-time the following season. Season 10 had Vincent and Cate written out, while Sean was killed off. His replacement was Steve Taylor (Jack Campbell), an old boyfriend of Gabrielle's.
The 11th season had more comings and goings as Zoe departed midseason. The latter part of the year saw Erica murdered off-screen, while the death of actor Mark Priestley resulted in Dan Goldman making his last appearance in the season's penultimate episode, in which Jack Quade also departed. As a result, the final run of episodes introduced Kip Gamblin as Doctor Adam Rossi and Ella Scott Lynch as nurse Claire Anderson. Alix Bidstrup, who had appeared for a run of episodes earlier in the year as Amy Fielding, Frank's niece and a newly qualified nurse, returned as a regular.
In 2009, in another attempt to stem the softening ratings and add a bit of excitement to the series, Seven Network executives decided to rejuvenate again, introducing a medical response unit to deal with tricky rescues, which involved a helicopter going to remote locations to rescue patients who needed assistance. They would then bring those patients back to the department and the staff there would assist in their treatments. Along with the addition of the new "department", the show was also renamed to All Saints: Medical Response Unit (MRU); the introduction of Mirrah Foulkes and the new MRU proved to lift the ratings substantially, but then levelled out at where they were prior to the revamp.
In June 2009, after months of rumours that the cancellation of All Saints was imminent, a spokeswoman from the Seven Network informed The Daily Telegraph that the episode order had been trimmed. Season 12 of All Saints would screen 24 episodes instead of the usual 40 episodes, then production would cease in August instead of November.
In July 2009, a month later after the first announcement, Tim Worner, Seven's director of programming at the time, announced that All Saints had been cancelled. He told Michael Idato of the Sydney Morning Herald, "All Saints is a show which Seven and viewers have loved. However, an audience shift and increased production costs are behind this tough decision." He also informed Idato that the episode order trim had been reverted and the season would complete a 37-episode order, finishing on episode 493. After the announcement, the introduction of the MRU in 2009 was reported to have inflated the cost of each episode to $500,000. Many people still argue as to why the MRU was introduced in the first place or should have been removed instead of axing the show if the network were wanting to cut costs.