Children's Ward (briefly retitled The Ward in 1995) was 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 the children's ward of a hospital, and told the stories of the patients and staff present there. Aimed at older children and teenagers, Children's Ward was an incredibly long-lived series, first broadcast in 1988 and running from then until 2000. 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Granada TV logo, used from 1956 to 1968. ... Company logo Independent Television (ITV) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to the BBC. In England and Wales the channel was recently rebranded ITV1 by ITVplc who own the regional broadcasting licences for the regions. ... The current CiTV logo CiTV (short for Childrens ITV) is ITVs brand for childrens television output on its primary television channel known as ITV1. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The series was conceived by Granada staff writers Paul Abbott and Kay Mellor, both of whom have subsequently gone on to enjoy highly 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 the Dramarama anthology series. Paul Abbott (born February 22, 1960 in Burnley, Lancashire, UK) is a British television scriptwriter, who has worked on many critically acclaimed and highly popular series and is widely regarded as being one of the finest dramatists currently working in the medium. ... Kay Mellor (born 1950 in Leeds, Yorkshire, UK) is a British actress and scriptwriter, best known for her work on several successful television drama series. ... The opening title of Coronation Street, since 2002. ...

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 addicton and child abuse in a sensitive manner. The programme won many awards, including in 1996 a BAFTA Children's Award for Best Drama, won by an episode in which a murderer lures children to him via the internet and is - highly unusually for children's television - not eventually caught. 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ...

As well as Abbott and Mellor, the series has been worked on by many writers who have gone on to enjoy successful careers in adult television drama, perhaps most notably Russell T. Davies, who was the show's Producer, and writer of several episodes, from 1992 to 1995. Russell T. Davies, pictured in 2003. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Trivia

Filmed at Bolton General Hospital (now the Royal Bolton Hospital), in Bolton, Lancashire This page is about the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. ... Lancashire (archaically, the County of Lancaster) is a county palatine of England, lying on the Irish Sea. ...