Set in the fictitious Oxbridge General Hospital, the programme focused equally on the lives and loves of its medical staff and the pressure of their work. This simple prescription provided the show with a twin approach to storytelling that was endlessly reworked over its 10-year run. And although it restricted itself to just five patient deaths a year, its core formula has proved remarkably robust - modern medical series like Casualty and Holby City still follow its basic blueprint: the quiet heroics of doctors and nurses as they battle for their patients' lives while trying to maintain a normal life away from the turbulence of their jobs.

This new four disc DVD features the earliest surviving shows from 1959 and 1960. The episodes show how British life has changed in the 50 years since the programme was made - we are so used to the fast paced medical soaps of today that EW10 may seem slow.

Emergency - Ward 10 was the creation of ATV continuity writer Tessa Diamond. Within a year of the show's launch the adventures of the staff at Oxbridge General Hospital transferred to the big screen in a full-length feature film, Life in Emergency Ward 10 (d. Robert Day, 1958). The show also launched a brief spin-off series, Call Oxbridge 2000 (ITV, 1961-62).

These early episodes are almost a public information film to show people that hospital isn‘t a frightening place and the doctors and nurses are human and caring, the NHS (in its early form) is there to cure.

The show courted controversy in 1964 with its portrayal of an interracial relationship between surgeon Louise Mahler (Joan Hooley) and Doctor Giles Farmer (John White). A love scene between the two was cut because it was considered "a little too suggestive".  EastEnders fans will remember Hooley, who in 1998 was cast as Josie McFarlane, the mother of Mick McFarlane. Oddly enough, later on in EW10’s life the series was made at Elstree, home of Albert Square, then owned by ATV.

The early episodes featured on this DVD were made at ATV’s Highbury studios. The show was broadcast live from the studios each Tuesday and Friday(it was rehearsed at the De Walden rehearsal rooms, St John's Wood). When Highbury closed on 30th September 1961, with an edition of EW10, the programme moved to Elstree. As Highbury was a converted music studio, the studios were small and so EW10’s sets were also small and very limited, and it shows.