‘ALL SAINTS’ IS 20 YEARS OLD And Georgie Parker says bring it back!

Twenty years after ‘All Saints’ premiered, star Georgie Parker says it’s time to revive the drama

For more than a decade, the ratings-busting, Logieswinning All Saints was the hospital drama of choice for Australian viewers. But, as Orange is the New Black star Yael Stone recalls, it was also the TV drama du jour for local actors who were starting out and looking to get their first foot on the rung. “All Saints gave so many of us great work, and we were always thrilled to land a role in a series as good as All Saints,” Yael Stone, 32, says of her featured extended guest role in 2008 as Ann-marie, a dying cancer patient who won the hearts of the entire ward staff. Twenty years ago the drama—set in the fictional All Saints Western General Hospital—made its debut on Feb. 24, 1998, on the Seven Network. It ran for 12 seasons and 493 episodes, winning nine Logies and two AFI Awards by the time it ended in 2009. For nine seasons, Georgie Parker played the central role of nurse Terri Sullivan, a nun whose devotion to the convent was challenged the day a former lover, Dr Mitch Stevens (Erik Thomson), arrived to work alongside her on Ward 17. Parker won two Gold Logie awards and says it remains the drama series fans still most want to discuss with her. “People always say to me, ‘I’ve seen you on Home and Away, but I loved you on All Saints— it was my favourite show,’ ” says Parker, 53. “It was the golden time of Aussie drama. The stars aligned when they conceived it, and there’s been nothing like it since.”

In the current TV landscape where reimagining old ideas is in vogue, Parker believes producers should consider breathing new life into the favourite. “I reckon they could easily reboot All Saints— I really do,” Parker enthuses, revealing she would be open to returning. “Terri would definitely come back—i would do it, absolutely. We were rating 2 million viewers a week for a long time, and many of those viewers are still there. It could work.”

Thomson, 50, who worked for five seasons

“It was the golden time of Aussie drama” —Georgie Parker

on the series, tells WHO: “We were making 40 episodes a year, and it was all about getting up a momentum with a group of actors who had such great chemistry. There was a quality to All Saints, with the combination of characters and strong storylines and a cast that was superb.”

While storylines dealt with joy and heartache, the series had real-life grief. Among the cast was Belinda Emmett, who played clerk Jodi, when Emmett was in remission from her battle with cancer. She later died in 2006. The 2008 death of actor Mark Priestley, who played nurse Dan Goldman, was a turning point, when he died in the same week as the on-screen wedding of Dan to Erica (Jolene Anderson). A griefstricken Anderson soon exited the series.

But it was veteran actress Judith Mcgrath—she died in October—who remained with All Saints from its debut to finale in her role as nurse Von Ryan. “Jude was the heart and soul of the whole series,” says Thomson. “If you got a laugh out of Jude, you knew you were doing well. We loved her.”

“I absolutely loved doing that show—it was my first job after graduating from drama school, and it was so meaningful,” Yael Stone tells WHO.

Nun Terri Sullivan (Parker) and Mitch (Thomson): “The producers wanted to shake things up, and Mitch took the shine off Terri’s halo!” says Thomson.

John Howard joined the cast in 2001. “John is a thoroughbred who brought with him so much skill,” says Parker.

“I would take a break from Home and Away and step back to take Terri onto the ward again,” says Parker, advocating a reboot of the beloved medical series.

In a heartbreaking development, Mitch (Thomson) decided to marry Rose (Joy Smithers) just as Terri decided to leave the convent to be with him.