One of Australia's earliest drama series, Emergency was set in the casualty ward of an inner-city hospital. Created and written by radio script-writer Roland Strong, it was, according to Don Storey in his Classic Australian Television, made with the assistance of the Royal Melbourne Hospital (which provided machines and coached actors in how to use them plausibly) and the Victorian Civil Ambulance Service (which provided an ambulance and driver).
Filmed in GTV-9's studios, with some brief instances of location shooting, the production was, according to Storey, plagued by technical difficulties, including the inability to re-shoot failed or flubbed lines (since 'GTV-9 management decreed that sliced film could not be telecast').
Storey says, in summary, that
It must be remembered that Emergency was one of Australia's first drama series, and very much a pioneer effort. Regular production of Australia drama series did not come about until 1964 with Homicide, by which time video tape was available for studio scenes, with outdoor location work being shot on film. The early episodes of Emergency rated fairly well and, given time, the production difficulties could have been sorted out.
In the end, Emergency was cancelled after sixteen episodes when a scathing attack on the program in a Sydney newspaper frightened BP/COR Petroleum into withdrawing their sponsorship, leaving GTV-9 unable to bear the cost alone.
