Cairo | Tuesday 21st, June 2011

ART Hekayat, owned by the Jeddah-based Arab Radio & Television Network (ART), has been recently airing Season II of the popular medical drama series Critical Moments (Critical Moments).

Re-runs of the hour-long series, which is set primarily in the emergency room of a fictional hospital in Cairo, are airing on Hekayat at 11pm (Cairo time), followed by repeats at 5am, 11am and 5pm.

The series, which is now in its third season, is produced by Dubai-based Outlook Entertainment.

Among the actors who headlined Season II are: Hesham Selim, Amr Waked, Amir Karara, Injy El Mokaddem, Ammar Chalak, Sawsan Badr, Yasser Galal, Yosra El Louzy, Hanan Motawie, Tarek Lotfy, Dorra, Emy Samir Ghanem, Ahmed Rateb, and Ramzy Lehner. Guest stars who appeared during Season II included Ahmed El Sakka. The series is directed by Ahmed Saleh and written by Ahmed El Nasser.

Behind-the-scenes, Critical Moments has been a pioneer among Arab-language TV shows in cultivating an avid fan base through innovative use of social media and online communications. The e-mail for each actor/actress is published on the official website of Critical Moments allowing audiences direct and constant access to their favourite stars and their on-screen personas.

For four consecutive weeks now, fans have also been able to chat online with cast members though a weekly live discussion session that takes place every Saturday from 6 pm to 8 pm (Cairo time) via the series' official website. To date, nine starts have taken taken part in these online chat sessions: Amr Waked, Mahmoud Abdel Moghny, Dorra, Nidal El Shafie, Tarek Lotfy, Sawsan Badr, Injy El Mokaddem, Yosra El Louzy and Hanan Motawie.

In addition, Outlook recently launched its latest competition aimed at the series' broad following throughout the Arab-speaking world. Contestants go on the official website to answer a weekly set of questions. The 20 weekly winners are awarded exclusive gifts from Critical Moments.