Emergency – Ward 9
Encyclopedia
Emergency – Ward 9 is a Dennis Potter
television play first broadcast by the BBC in the Thirty-Minute Theatre series on 11 April 1966.
Potter had praised the gritty storylines and sense of urgency of the ITV hospital soap Emergency – Ward 10 in his television reviews for The Daily Herald
. He was inspired to write a play that connected his experiences in a National Health
hospital with events depicted in the series. The play featured —specified in Potter's script— an "Alf Garnett
-type" character who suddenly finds himself sharing a ward with a black man. The play was controversial for its unflinching depiction of institutionalised racism but was critically applauded.
The play was repeated eighteen months after its first transmission. A recording was long thought not to have survived, but the play has been scheduled for a screening at the BFI's Missing Believed Wiped
event in December 2011.
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter was an English dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective. His widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. He was particularly fond of using themes and images from popular culture.-Biography:Dennis Potter was born...
television play first broadcast by the BBC in the Thirty-Minute Theatre series on 11 April 1966.
Potter had praised the gritty storylines and sense of urgency of the ITV hospital soap Emergency – Ward 10 in his television reviews for The Daily Herald
The Daily Herald
The Daily Herald may refer to:* Daily Herald , a defunct top circulation British newspaper* Daily Herald , a newspaper in suburban Chicago...
. He was inspired to write a play that connected his experiences in a National Health
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
hospital with events depicted in the series. The play featured —specified in Potter's script— an "Alf Garnett
Alf Garnett
Alf Garnett is a fictional character in the British sitcoms Till Death Us Do Part, Till Death... and In Sickness and in Health, and chat show The Thoughts of Chairman Alf. He was created by Johnny Speight and played by Warren Mitchell....
-type" character who suddenly finds himself sharing a ward with a black man. The play was controversial for its unflinching depiction of institutionalised racism but was critically applauded.
The play was repeated eighteen months after its first transmission. A recording was long thought not to have survived, but the play has been scheduled for a screening at the BFI's Missing Believed Wiped
Missing Believed Wiped
Missing Believed Wiped is an annual event hosted by the British Film Institute in which previously "wiped" television material from the UK, which has recently been recovered is screened....
event in December 2011.