Children's Ward


Children's Ward is a British children's television drama series produced by Granada Television and broadcast on the ITV network as part of its Children's ITV strand on weekday afternoons. The programme was set – as the title suggests – in Ward B1, the children's ward of the fictitious South Park Hospital, and told the stories of the young patients and the staff present there.
Aimed at older children and teenagers, Children's Ward was a long-lived series for a children's drama, starting life in 1988 as a contribution to the Dramarama anthology strand, "Blackbird Singing In The Dead of Night", then first broadcast as a series in 1989 and running from then until 2000.

Production history

The series was conceived by Granada staff writers Paul Abbott and Kay Mellor, both of whom went on to enjoy successful careers as award-winning writers of adult television drama. At the time, they were both working on the soap opera Coronation Street, and had recently collaborated on a script for Dramarama.
Abbott, who had been through a troubled childhood himself, had initially wanted to set the series in a children's care home rather than a hospital, but this was vetoed by Granada executives. During the course of its run, however, Children's Ward won many plaudits for covering difficult issues such as cancer, alcoholism, drug addiction and child abuse in a sensitive manner. The programme won many awards, including in 1997 a BAFTA Children's Award for Best Drama, won by an episode in which a serial killer lures children to him via the internet and is – highly unusually for children's television – not eventually caught.
Welsh television producer Russell T Davies was the show's producer, and writer of several episodes, from 1992 to 1995.
The decision to end Children's Ward came in mid-2000, after transmission of the final series, and ironically came as the sole original cast member Rita May – who played Auxiliary Nurse Mags – said she had no plans to leave the show.
On 5 and 6 January 2013, the show was repeated as part of CITV's Old Skool Weekend, which celebrated thirty years of the children's strand. This was also the first time the programme was seen on the CITV Channel.

Filming location

Filmed at Bolton General Hospital, in Bolton, Greater Manchester. Some exterior shots were filmed outside the now demolished Maternity Hospital entrance at the former Withington Hospital, South Manchester.
30 Years of CITV, which aired on ITV1 on 29 December 2012, revealed that interior sets for the hospital were filmed next door to some of the Coronation Street interiors.

Characters

These are the original main characters from the first three series. Some lasted several years and appeared in subsequent series.
CharacterActor/ActressOccupationDurationRole
Dr. McKeownIan McCullochConsultant Paediatrician1989Staff
Dr. Charlotte WoodsCarol HarveyOriginally Houseman to Dr McKeown, later Consultant Paediatrician1989–1991Staff
Charge Nurse Dave SpencerAndrew HallCharge Nurse1989Staff
Sister Diane MeadowsJanette BeverleyStaff Nurse
Senior Staff Nurse
Ward Sister 		1989–1994, 1996Staff
Senior Sister Margaret 'Mags' DavisRita MayAuxiliary Nurse
Senior Staff Nurse
Ward Sister
Senior Ward Sister
Clinical Matron 		1989–2000Staff
Student Nurse Gary MillerTim StanleyStudent Nurse1989–1991Staff
Jack CrossleyKen ParryPorter and Sweet Trolley Man1989–1991Staff
Staff Nurse Jan StevensNina Baden-SemperStaff Nurse1989Staff
Unnamed CharacterRoss KingHospital Radio DJ1989Staff
Steve BaileyMichael BraySocial Worker1989–1991Staff
Sister Sandra MitchellJudy HoltStaff Nurse
Senior Staff Nurse
Acting Deputy Clinical Matron
Ward Sister 		1990–1994Staff
Dr. Kieran GallagherTom HigginsSenior House Officer, Emergency Medicine1990–1991Staff
Katie GrahamsMargery BoneStudent Nurse1990–1991Staff
Keely JohnsonJenny LuckraftPatient
Play Assistant
Student Nurse
Staff Nurse		1989–1994Patients
Billy RyanTim Vincent1989–1991Patients
Fiona BrettRebecca Sowden1989Patients
Darren WalshWilliam Ash1989–1991Patients
Dawn KhatirLeyla Nejad1989–1990Patients
Mathew McCannDean Gatiss1990Patients
Lisa DixonRachel Egan1990Patients
Ian Cassin.Paul Swaine1998Patients
J.J.Chris Bisson1990Patients
TheaChloe Newsome1990Patients
James BoyceCarl Rice1990Patients
Lee JonesKieran O'Brien1990Patients
Cal SpicerMark Dixon1990Patients
Bryony ShaefferSarah Cooper1990Patients
Ben RowlingsonWilliam Mellor1990Patients
Mickey BellStephen Graham1990Patients
Scott MorrisAnthony Lewis1996–1998Patients

Novelisations

Unlike many UK shows, Children's Ward has not been available in other English-speaking countries such as Australia or the U.S.A. prior to the U.K.. In May 2011, a U.K. DVD release was announced for release in July 2011 for the first series from Network DVD. Series 2 followed in October 2011, and Series 3 in January 2012. Series 4 was originally scheduled June 2013, but as yet has not been released.