All Saints (TV series)

On 20 April 2004, episode 265, "Brave New World" aired, which saw the introduction of John Howard's character, Frank Campion. It was also the first episode to be set in the Emergency Department. This episode attracted lots of controversy.

One patient came into the triage and tried to get help, but he was told to wait. Later on, Nelson heard a phone ring coming from the patient and asked him to turn off the phone. It was later hinted that he had been using the phone to masturbate and it had gotten stuck in his rectum.

The end of the episode saw Frank go introduce himself to Terri (Georgie Parker), who was recovering from heart surgery. During a heated argument about staff members, Frank blatantly said to Terri, "if you ever use your influence with your previous employees to white-ant me again, you will never work in Emergency." Before Terri could get a word in, Frank added, "can I make it any fucking clearer?"[7]

The next day, Channel Seven announced that they had received more than 100 phone calls in Melbourne alone. Parker told the media, "it's a good response because it's not about the shock words—we've sworn on the show before—but because people clearly feel really protective about Terri. It's like they really feel for her as a character and don't like her being under attack by a very confronting man. It's great to know they care for her so much."[7]

On 22 April, the network issued a statement that read, "within an M classification code, coarse language is permitted provided it is appropriate to the storyline or program context." An apology was not made.[7]

On 27 May 2008, episode 432, "Never Tell" aired.

This episode saw a woman pregnant from an incestuous relationship with her brother, told her child may have Down syndrome as a result.

Leading geneticist Dr. David Amor of Murdoch Children's Research Institute stated, "There is absolutely no increase in the risk of Down syndrome for the offspring of incestuous relationships."[8]

Down Syndrome Australia considered legal action, complained to the media regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority and called for a boycott by the show's advertisers if an apology and correction was not aired on All Saints the following week.[8]

Seven responded with, "All Saints values its audience and has the greatest respect for their commitment to the program. Without reservation, to any members of the audience who have found an element of a recent story offensive, Channel Seven apologises."[8]

The longer-than-usual 49-minute episode aired at 9:30pm on Tuesday, 27 October 2009. The episode, unlike those in the rest of the season, went back to basics and focused more on the lives of the nurses and doctors as they tended to patients.

The episode saw Judith McGrath's character, Von Ryan tending to a teenage girl who comes into the ED and gives birth without knowing she was pregnant. Tammy Macintosh and John Howard finished their seven- and five-year reigns as Dr. Charlotte Beaumont and Dr. Frank Campion respectively, caring for a woman played by Heather Mitchell who had cystic fibrosis. Ella Scott Lynch and Jonathan Wood left the show on a high with their characters, Claire Anderson and Elliott Parker treating a man (Luke Pegler) with a disease consistent with diabetes and promiscuity.

Secretly, Von decides to resign from All Saints, telling only Frank that she wouldn't be returning. He offers to take her out for dinner, but instead plans a surprise farewell dinner for her. Throughout the dinner, Gabrielle (Virginia Gay) and Steve (Jack Campbell) decide to raise their child together and get back together, Bart (Andrew Supanz) proposes to his girlfriend Amy (Alix Bidstrup) and Charlotte and Adam (Kip Gamblin) share an intense moment.

At the table, Von is pressured to make a speech by her colleagues and friends and reluctantly, she does, uttering her famous line: "I spent a lot of time at All Saints and I'd just like to thank you all for your loyalty, your support and love. Oh bugger this, here's to us." She raises her glass and toasts.

The finale is capped off by a montage of scenes from over the show's twelve-year run, including Mitch's final scene, the closure of Ward 17 and Bron & Ben's wedding, all to The Beatles song, "In My Life".

The final scene sees Frank raise his glass at Von, who raises hers and smiles.

The first opening theme song for All Saints began with several deep breaths and then went into a tune played by a saxophone. The melody bears a striking similarity to "Fly By Night", the first track on Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson's 1983 debut album Walk Into Light. This played over the top of several shots of the cast members. Actors names were in the font Zurich Extra Condensed and underlined. Intercut were shots of hands, various medical equipment and medicine.

The second opening theme song was first used when the opening was upgraded in mid-season two. The same song was used however drums were added to give it more of an authentic sound. The shots of cast changed and names of actors and their characters were now present. The font remained the same. Shots of hands, medical vehicles and equipment were also present.

The first major overhaul of the opening happened in season four, when the titles were completely changed. They now began with several deep breaths over a blue screen with a vision of hands in the background. The screen was set up with a slide of the actor in the centre, with deep blue all around and medical notation. The theme was more stringy and only involved a small saxophone part. Medical crosses, bottles and syringes were present in the opening. This coincided with the change from the standard TV 4:3 aspect ratio to widescreen 16:9.

The second major overhaul of the opening happened in season seven, when the whole layout and font used were completely changed to mark the revamp of the show and its change of focus to the Emergency Department. The basic undertone of the theme was still there, however another saxophone overtone was added tho give the theme more authenticity. The images were also upgraded to include ambulances, surgical equipment and people rushing around in the background. The font changed and actors and characters were now in the font Imprint MT Shadow. This set of opening titles continues until the end of season eight.

At the beginning of season nine, the opening titles credits were ditched and the main cast were listed at the last of every episode with the names returning to their original format and font. This continues until the final episode. In seasons ten and eleven, the actor's name and their corresponding character name flew in from either side, however this idea was dumped when the show returned for its final season.

An intertitle card appeared before every ad break in season nine, however the show returned to fading out in the tenth and eleventh seasons.

At the beginning of the eleventh season, a new title card premiered and this appeared at the start of every episode.

This title card was refurbished for the twelfth and final season to coincide with the change of name. This title card saw the show out.

The show has been nominated for fifty six Logie awards and won nine.

All Saints has won two AFI Awards from the Australian Film Institute and has been nominated for various others.