australian television information archive

1915

Year: June 1982
Producer: Ray Alchin
Directors: Di Drew, Chris Thomson
Writer: Peter Yeldham (Based on the novel by Roger McDonald)

1915 takes us inside a bustling rural community and captures the dreams and heartaches of two young men as they grow up and ultimately embark on the greatest and worst adventure of their lives.
Billy MacKenzie and Walter Gilchrist are two best mates who forge their friendship fighting over girls, horses and family. But the biggest test of their metal is about to reveal itself as news filters through of a major conflict unfolding on the other side of the world.
Caught up in the enthusiasm to defend mother England, Billy and Walter set off to discover the adventure, the glory and the horror of the "war to end all wars". (7x 55 min)

Cast: Scott Burgess, Scott McGregor, Lorraine Bayly, Maurie Fields, Anne Haddy, Bill Hunter, Gerard Kennedy, Bill Kerr, Serge Lazareff, Andrew McFarlane, Richard Moir, Russell Newman, Ilona Rodgers, Nell Schofield, Sigrid Thornton, Martin Vaughan, Arna-Maria Winchester, Jackie Woodburn

After Marcuse

Year: 1984
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Producer: Alan Burke
Writer: Alma De Groen
Director: Ted Robinson

A woman artist's affair with a younger man jeopardises her marriage, her career and her child's future. He personifies the nihilistic philosophy of Albert Marcuse and tries to manipulate her. Her dependence on him forces her to reassess all the values of her art and life. We observe these events at three levels; a woman writer uses them as the basis of a play and in the process reveals parallels in her own experience.

Cast: Diane Craig, David Whitney, Grigor Taylor, Penne Hackforth-Jones

Alterations

Year: 1987
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Producer: Julian Pringle
Writer: Cory Taylor
Director: Julian Pringle

Richard and Anne's marriage has become a victim of his career ambitions and her degree studies, leaving the children to sense something is wrong. A look at a failed marriage from both perspectives, within the same timeframe.

Cast: Richard Moir, Angela Punch McGregor, Peter Kowitz, Linden Wilkenson

Always Afternoon

Year: 1988
Produced by Afternoon Pictures Pty Ltd
Producer: Henry Crawford
Writer: David Stevens
Director: David Stevens

A love story between an Australian girl and a German violinist in 1914. Set at Trial Bay Gaol near Kempsey, New South Wales, and based on a novel by Gwen Kelly. (4 x 60min)

Cast: Tushka Bergen, Jochen Horst, Dieter Kirchlechner, Lisa Harrow, Taya Stratlon, Nina Landis, Matthew Burton, Ben Becker, Herbert Trattnig

Anzacs

Year: October 1985
Producer: Geoff Burrowes
Writers: John Dixon, John Clarke
Directors: John Dixon, George Miller, Pino Amenta

This epic six hour drama follows the lives of a dozen Australia Australian soldiers who served in the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) during World War I which follows them from the 1915 battle of Galipoli, to the brutal trenches of France during the 1916 Somme battles, the 1917 Arias and Vimy Ridge battles to the final 1918 German offensives and the final victory drive as well as the hardships, mid-adventures and the casualties of friends encountered at each one.

Cast: Andrew Clarke, Paul Hogan, Jon Blake, Mark Hembrow, Christopher Cummins, Megan Williams, Tony Bonner, Shane Briant, Peter Finlay, Patrick Ward, Vincent Ball, Jonathan Sweet, Illona Rogers, Noel Trevarthen, David Bradshaw

Archer

Year: 1985
Produced by Roadshow Coote & Carroll Pty Ltd
Executive Producers: Matt Carroll, Greg Coote
Producer: Matt Carroll, Moya Iceton
Writer: Anne Brooksbank
Director: Denny Lawrence

Archer was the first Melbourne Cup winner and perhaps the greatest Australian-born race horse ever. A story of courage and faith, as Archer and his owner battle all odds to walk over 900 kilometres to Melbourne for the big race.

Cast: Brett Climo, Robert Coleby, Nicole Kidman, Anna-Maria Monticelli

Becca

Year: 1989
Produced by S4C International
Executive Producer: Ross Dimsey, Dilwyn Jones
Producers: Richard Meyrick, Terry Ohlsson
Writers: Howard Griffiths, Daffyd Rowlands
Director: Paul Turner

A tale based on the real life story of a Welsh minister who travelled to Australia in the 1840s, preached the first sermon in Welsh in Australia, made a fortune out of property in the goldfields, and started a newspaper which eventually merged with the Age group.

Cast: Lynette Curran, Beth Roberts, Dafydd Hywell, Gary Sweet

Bedfellows

Year: 1980
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Producer: Jill Robb
Writer: Barry Oakley
Director: Julian Pringle

When Paul Cummins discovers his wife has taken Bill, his best friend, as a lover, he confronts Bill in an attempt to restore his battered dignity. A three-handed tussle ensues, when motives and egos are bounced off each other and revelations abound. The age-old triangle, as comic as ever, leaves some more profound afterthoughts.

Cast: Robin Ramsay, Carol Burns, John Waters

Body Business

Year: 1985
Produced by PBL Productions for the Nine Network Australia
Writers: Michael Fisher, Ted Roberts
Director: Colin Eggleston

The chairman of Glamour Industries is about to retire... and three ambitious executives compete for the job. Victoria Desmond returns from New York to Sydney, to maintain control of the international fashion house her family once ran. With three opponents keen to get their hands on the million-dollar business, and stop Victoria's progress, there is bound to be drama. One of Victoria's models is murdered, and when her son is kidnapped, Victoria must use all her strength to find him and keep her life. (2 x 2hr)

Cast: Carmen Duncan, Jane Menelaus, Elizabeth Desmond, Gary Day

The Body Corporate

Year: 1981
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Producer: Eric Taylor
Writer: Robert Caswell
Director: Eric Taylor

The Body Corporate meetings at the Excelsior home units have run reasonably smoothly for some time, until the arrival of ex-cabinet minister Sir Arthur Tustain and his wife, Lady Rosemary. Sir Arthur decides that God has sent him there to serve the people once again, but he only manages to upset the existing harmony.The one person to see through Sir Arthur and his motives is school teacher, Aaron Fox.

Cast: Leonard Teale, Mervyn Drake, Jeanie Drynan, Betty Lucas

Bodyline

Year: 1984
Executive Producers: George Miller and Bryan Kennedy
Producer: Terry Hayes
Directors: Denny Lawrence, Lex Marinos, George Ogilvie, Carl Schultz
Writers: Robert Caswell, Terry Hayes, Denny Lawrence

Bodyline is the dramatic story of one of the momentous sporting events of this century.
Into a Depression-racked Australia in late 1932, a young English gentleman, Douglas Jardine, led a team of cricketers on a mission to win back the Ashes.
Newly appointed captain of the English team, Jardine had come to believe that the success of that mission depended on beating one man—a brilliant young Australian batsman called Donald Bradman. His strategy would be to employ tactics never before used in a game between gentlemen. His major weapon would be a speed bowler by the name of Harold Larwood.
As the architect of infamous "bodyline" bowling, Jardine became the most hated man ever to set foot in Australia. His tactics sparked off a public outcry in the country: outrage which reached a climax during the third test in Adelaide. (5 x ?? min)

Cast: Gary Sweet (Donald Bradman), Hugo Weaving (Douglas Jardine), Vincent Ball, Paul Chubb, John Clayton, Max Cullen, John Gregg, Jim Holt, Rhys McConnochie, Heather Mitchell, Julie Nihill, Frank Thring, Peter Whitford, Michael Winchester

Bodysurfer

Year: 1989
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Executive Producer: John Sexton
Producer: Ross Matthews, Sandra Levy, John Sexton
Writesr: Suzanne Hawley, Christopher Lee, Denis Whitburn
Director: Ian Barry

Bodysurfer charts the odyssey of David Lang. Searching beyond mid-life crisis, David finds unanswered questions of his childhood can lead him toward a state of maturity. He realises it is his last hope for reconstructing his fractured family. Adapted from Robert Drewe's best-selling collection of short stories. (2 x 100min)

Cast: Peter Kowitz, Linda Cropper, Patrick Ward, Joy Smithers, Penne Hackforth-Jones, Abigail, Felix Nobis, Tim Robertson, Mary Lou Stewart

Boy In The Bush

Year: 1983
Produced by Portman Productions in association with the ABC
Writer: Hugh Whitemore
Director: Rob Stewart

Based on the novel by D. H. Lawrence and Mollie Skinner, this story is set in Western Australia in 1882. When 18-year-old Jack Grant is expelled from his English agricultural college for a childish prank he is sent to Australia to live with his mother's distant relatives. The Boy In The Bush follows Jack's adventures as he grows to manhood. Taming stallions, fighting kangaroos, competing blow-for-blow for the affections of women and seek his fortune in the gold fields. (2 x 120min)

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Sigrid Thornton, Steve Bisley, Jon Blake

Captain James Cook

Year: 1987
Executive Producer: Geoffrey Daniels
Producer: Ray Alchin
Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark
Writer: Peter Yeldham

In 1768 King George III of England orders an ambitious expedition to the Pacific Ocean to observe an eclipse of the sun and to see the mythical Southern Continent. James Cook, an unknown petty officer, is controversially appointed as commander, choosing an unlikely collier to carry him and his men into dangerous and unknown waters. After sailing to Tahiti, where the eclipse proves disappointing, Cook proceeds to chart the coasts of New Zealand and Australia beginning a glorious adventure spanning the oceans of the world. (8 x 50 mins)

Cast: Keith Michell, John Gregg, Peter Carroll, Matthew Crosby, John Doyle, Carol Drinkwater, Xabier Elorriaga, Les Foxcroft, Steven Grives, Erich Hallhuber

Captain Johnno

Year: 1988
Produced by the Australian Children's Television Foundation
Executive Producer: Patricia Edgar
Producer: Jane Ballantyne
Writer: Rob George
Director: Mario Andreacchio

The story of a 13-year-old deaf boy living in a small fishing town in South Australia in the 1950s. When Johnno's parents decide to send their son to a 'special school', he learns of their plans and makes a desperate escape to a desolate island. He is rescued just in time by his friend Tony, an Italian fisherman who helps him find a new and more independent course for his future.

Cast: John Waters, Damien Walters, Michelle Fawdon, Joe Petruzzi, Rebecca Sykes

Cassidy

Year: 1989
Produced by Five Arrows Pty Ltd and the Australian Film Finance Corporation for the ABC
Writer: Morris L. West
Director: Carl Schultz

Charles Parnell Cassidy is the Premier of NSW. An Irish-Australian Catholic. His pride and joy is his daughter Charlie. The unmarried Charlie falls pregnant and, suffering Cassidy's wrath, exiles herself to London where she establishes herself as a capable young lawyer. Then years later Cassidy comes to London and Charlie reunites with her father but then she receives a phone call to tell her Cassidy is dead. Caught in an elaborate web, which of her father's footsteps is she to follow?

Cast: Bill Hunter, Caroline Goodall, Martin Shaw, Denis Quilley, Philip Quast

The Challenge

Year: 1986
Produced by Golden Dolphin Productions Pty Ltd, Roadshow Coote & Carroll Pty Ltd
Producers: Robert Loader, Tristram Miall
Directed by Chris Thomson
Written by David Phillips

A gripping drama depicting the battle fought on dry land as well as at sea by Alan Bond and the crew of Australia II in their successful attempt at winning the America's cup in 1983 from the New York Yacht Club for the first time in 132 years. (6 x 60min)

Cast: John Wood, Tim Piggott-Smith, , Nicholas Hammond, Richard Moir, Lorraine Bayly, John Deidrich

Cyclone Tracy

Year: 1986

On Christmas Day, 1974, the people of Darwin, endured the most destructive natural disaster ever to occur in Australia's history—Cyclone Tracy. This six-hour mini series depicts the events of the terrifying Christmas and celebrates the spirit and courage of the people of Darwin. Cyclone Tracy reveals the strength of these people through touching fictional characterisations set against the actual events of the disastrous Darwin summer. Cyclone Tracy is the story of courage and strength and how these people begin rebuilding their lives. (3 x 120 min)

Cast: Tracy Mann, Nicholas Hammond, Chris Haywood

The Dismissal

Year: 1983
Executive Producers: Byron Kennedy, George Miller
Directors: George Miller, Phillip Noyce, George Ogilvie, John Power Carl Schultz
Writers: Terry Hayes, George Miller Phillip Noyce

The Constitutional crisis that emanated from the sacking of the Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam on November 11, 1975 still reverberates to this day. The 1983 mini-series from Kennedy Miller brings to life every extra-ordinary details and still rates as one of the most watched television in Australia. (100 mins)

Cast:Max Phipps, Ruth Cracknell, John Meillon, Robyn Nevin, Sean Scully, Peter Sumner, John Allen, Vincent Ball

The Edge of Power

Year: 1987
Produced by Somerset Films
Executive Producers: Robert Sanders, Grahame Jennings and Peter Ramster
Producers: Jan Tyrell, James Michael Vernon
Director: Henri Safran
Writer: Richard Cassidy

Political thriller set in the near future. "One act of revenge unleashed a deadly enemy"

Cast: Ivar Kants, Sheree Da Costa, Henri Szeps, Anna Maria Monticelli, Warwick Moss, Ric Hutton, Vic Rooney, John Orcsik

Eureka Stockade

Year: 1984 (Seven)
Producer: Henry Crawford
Director: Rod Hardy
Writer: Tom Hegarty

The story, largely based on historical documents, of the only armed rebellion in Australian history — often regarded as the birth of Australian democracy as its result was full adult suffrage in the colony of Victoria.

Cast: Bryan Brown, Carol Burns, Bill Hunter, Brett Cullen

For the Term of His Natural Life

Year: 1982
Director: Rob Stewart

When the secret of his true parentage is revealed, young aristocrat Richard Devine (Colin Friels) is disinherited and driven from his home in England. Assuming the name "Rufus Dawes," he is falsely accused of murder and banished to an unforgiving Australian prison for a life sentence. Gradually, he evolves into a tough, self-sufficient convict, unafraid to attempt the most daring escapes or brutal clashes with fellow prisoners and his jailers-including the cruel Lt. Maurice Frere (Rod Mullinar) or the troubled Reverend North (Anthony Perkins). "Dawes'" last hope for vindication is his passion for Sylvia (Penelope Steward), daughter of prison Commandment, Major Vickers (Patrick Macnee). That hope is put to the ultimate challenge by her own dark secrets. Harsh and unflinching in its indictment of prisons, For the Term of His Natural Life is also an unforgettable testament to this power of the human mind and heart. Based on the novel by Marcus Clarke.

Cast: Colin Friels, Rod Mullinar, Anthony Perkins, Penelope Stewart, Patrick Macnee, Susan Lyons, Diane Cilento, Robert Coleby, Samantha Eggar

Fortress

Aired: June 26, 1986
Produced by: Crawford Productions
Executive Producers: Hector Crawford, Ian Crawford, Terry Stapleton
Producer: Raymond Menmuir
Writers: Everett De Roche, Gabrielle Lord (novel) Director: Arch Nicholson

It is the morning in the one-room schoolhouse in the Australian outback. The young teacher calls her class to order. It is a day like any other—until the unexpected occurs. Four masked gunmen break into the schoolhouse, kidnap the teacher and her class and transport them to the barren countryside, Terrorised and abandoned, the victims come to a shocking realisation—only they can save themselves from an almost certain death. (88 mins)

Cast: Sean Garlick, Rachel Ward, Elaine Cusick, Laurie Moran, Marc Gray, Ray Chubb, Bradley Meehan, Rebecca Rigg, Beth Buchanan, Asher Keddie, Anna Crawford, Richard Terrill, Vernon Wells, Peter Hehir, David Bradshaw, Roger Stephen, Wendy Playfair, Ed Turley, Nick Waters, Terence Donovan

The Four Minute Mile

Year: 1988
Produced by Errol Sullivan for BBC UK and the ABC
Writer: David Williamson
Director: Jim Goddard

The name of Roger Bannister is one of the most famous in the history of sports. For in 1954 he became the first to accomplish what had been considered impossible: running the mile in under four minutes. The Four Minute Mile is the compelling story of Roger Bannister and his rivals, the runners who shared his dream and pursued it with unrelenting tenacity.

Cast: Michael York, Richard Huw, Nique Needles, Adrian Rawlins, John Philbin, Lewis Fitzgerald, Tracy Mann

Glass Babies

Year: 1984
Produced by PBL Productions for Nine Network Australia
Writer: Graeme Farmer, Greg Millin
Director: Brendan Maher

Invitro-Fertilization. For the childless, it can make a dream come true. Or create a nightmare. Glass Babies is a dramatic story — a story of love — and anguish. Of deceit — and blackmail. Of cruelty — and professional misconduct. It is the story of a ruthless opportunist and his victims. It is a story of one man's desperate desire for an heir to his dynasty. Of a childless couple's natural yearning for a baby of their own. Of a young women's love for a heartless man — and eventually for another woman's child, whom she carries. (4 x 1hr)

Cast: Deborra-Lee Furness, Belinda Davey, Gary Day, Rowena Wallace

The Great Bookie Robbery

Year: 1986
Produced by PBL Productions for Nine Network Australia

The story of one of the most daring and dazzling robberies in modern history! It began in Parkhurst Prison, England. Here Mike Power, conceived a plan for a robbery that would take place on the other side of the world in Australia - a robbery that would bring in millions of dollars in untraceable cash - a robbery that would excite the world, and bring unsolicited acclaim from the notorious Ronald Biggs - a robbery so daring, so clean, that it would capture the imagination of law-abiding Australian's. It was the perfect crime. Or was it? (3 x 2hr)

Cast:

The Great Gold Swindle

Year: 1984
Produced by Indian-Pacific Films
Executive Producer: Michael Thornhill
Producer: Barbara Gibbs
Writer: David White
Director: John Power

Two Perth brothers penetrated one of Australia's most brilliant and ingenious con tricks by having the Perth mint deliver them gold bullion worth $650,000. The perfect crime... but for one fatal flaw.

Cast: John Hargreaves, Chris Haywood, Bryan Marshall, Tony Rickards, Robert Hughes

Grim Pickings

Year: 1989
Produced by South Australian Film Corporation for Nine Network Australia
Writer: Peter Gawler, Graeme Koetsveld
Director: Riccardo Pellizzeri

In the great tradition of Agatha Christie... family and friends gather each spring at Aunt Alice's farm for a weekend of good company, sunshine and apple picking. When Damien arrives uninvited, followed closely by murder, the weekend turns sour... the pickings grim indeed. The stage is set for a riveting finale as the killer tries to remove anyone who poses a threat, and the innocent as well, in one devastating blow. Based on the novel by Jennifer Rowe. (2 x 2hr)

Cast: Brian Vriends, Liddy Clark, Max Cullen, Lynda Gibson, Lorraine Bayly, Tony Harvey

The Harp In The South

Year: May 1987
Produced by: Anthony Buckley Productions
Producer: Anthony Buckley
Director: George Whaley

In the days following World War II, hard times have befallen the Australian town of Surry Hills. Inhabited mainly by Irish immigrants searching for something better, the city has become wrought with poverty and crime. The Darcys, a tenacious and good-willed clan, refuse to give in to their crumbling surroundings. Is the strength of one family enough to save the entire town? (243 minutes)

Cast: Anne Phelan, Martyn Sanderson, Kaarin Fairfax, Anna Hruby, Gwen Plumb, Shane Connor, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, Melissa Jaffer

The Heroes

Year: 1989
Executive Producers: Graham Benson, Valerie Hardy
Producer: Anthony Buckley
Writer: Peter Yeldham
Director: Donald Crombie

In the last months of WWII, a group of 14 intrepid British and Aussie soldiers combined forces for a daring and dangerous mission. "Operation Jaywick" was designed to cripple the Japanese naval fleet in Singapore harbor. With only a few rickety wooden boats, a handful of weapons, and a surplus of guts at their disposal, the title characters set about to complete their mission and return home in one piece. Based on the novel by Ronald McKie. (4 x 60 min)

Cast: Paul Rhys, John Bach, John Hargreaves, Bill Kerr, Christopher Morsley, Tim Robertson, John Ewart, Timothy Lyn, Jason Donovan, Cameron Daddo, Jeff Truman, Briony Behets, Gus Mercurio, Wayne Scott Kermond, Mark McAskill, Wayne Scott-Kermond, David Wenham

Home Brew

Year: 1989
Executive Producer: William Fitzwater
Producer: Kip Porteous
Writer: Barry Donnelly
Director: Sienna Brown

A drama set around the lives of the Daleys, a typical middle-class Australian family, who set off for their cottage to spend the annual Father's Day weekend with family and friends.

Cast: Simon Chilvers, Maggie Dence, Lorraine Bayly, Tony Barry, Toni Scanlan, Alan Lock

The Hour Before My Brother Dies

Year: 1986
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Executive Producer: Noel Price
Producer: Noel Price
Writer: Daniel Keene
Director: James Clayden

Adapted from the stage play by Daniel Keene. Sally visits her brother Martin, the hour before he is due to be hanged for murder. What is the hold these two have on each other physically and emotionally?

Cast: Rhonda Wilson, Peter Hehir, Reg Evans, Margot Duell

Hunger

Year: 1986
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Executive Producer: Jan Chapman
Writer: Louis Nowra
Director: Stephen Wallace

A young Rumanian escapes from his homeland to find his way to Australia. Trying to get his wife out of a communist country, with little help from his new found home, leads him, after numerous frustrations, to a final resort - a public fasting campaign.

Cast: Brendan Higgins, Paul Chubb, John Bell, Cathy Downes, Melita Jurisic

I Live With Me Dad

Year: 1985
Executive Producers: Hector Crawford, Ian Crawford, Terry Stapleton
Producer: Ross Jennings
Writer: Peter Pinney, Derry Moran (original short story)
Director: Paul Maloney

Sid and Chris McCall are a homeless father and son whose struggle to survive life on the streets is a bitter one. The authorities take 7-year old Chris away from his drunken father and it takes all of Sid's courage and devotion to clean up his act and reclaim the son he loves.

Cast: Peter Hehir, Haydon Samuel, Rebecca Gibney, Tony Hawkins, Gus Mercurio, Dennis Miller, Val Lehman, Anne Phelan, Nell Johnson

I Live With Me Dad

Year: 1985
Executive Producers: Hector Crawford, Ian Crawford, Terry Stapleton
Producer: Ross Jennings
Writer: Peter Pinney, Derry Moran (original short story)
Director: Paul Maloney

Sid and Chris McCall are a homeless father and son whose struggle to survive life on the streets is a bitter one. The authorities take 7-year old Chris away from his drunken father and it takes all of Sid's courage and devotion to clean up his act and reclaim the son he loves.

Cast: Peter Hehir, Haydon Samuel, Rebecca Gibney, Tony Hawkins, Gus Mercurio, Dennis Miller, Val Lehman, Anne Phelan, Nell Johnson

Innocent Prey

Year: 1983
Executive Producer: David G. Williams
Producer: Colin Eggleston
Writer: Colin Eggleston
Director: Colin Eggleston

A young woman is attacked after witnessing a murder. She flees to Australia and, unknown to her, is followed by the murderer.

Cast: Kit Taylor, John Warnock, Martin Balsam, Pamela Soles, Grigor Taylor

Island Trader

Year: 1982
Produced by Grundy Television Pty Ltd
Executive Producers: Michelle Nell, Ian Holmes
Producer: Roger Mirams
Writer: Ron McLean
Director: Howard Rubie

A children's action adventure set in the South Pacific islands. The Island Trader is an old steam-driven tug that becomes the centre of a hunt for lost treasure after a plane, carrying gold bullion, comes down on Shark Island.

Cast: John Ewart, Eric Oldfield, Ruth Cracknell, Sancho Gracia, Heleen Rebel

An Indecent Obsession

Year: 1985
Produced by PBL Productions for Nine Network Australia
Writer: Denise Morgan

Based on the best-selling novel by Colleen McCullough - this is the story of a woman's obsession with duty. And about the obsession she unwittingly nurtures in the men she cares for. World War II is drawing to a close. In Ward 'X' of an Australian Military Hospital, five emotionally wounded soldiers remain in the care of Sister Honour Langtry (Wendy Hughes), a tough intelligent and sensitive young woman who cares deeply for her unit. To four of them she's a mixture of saint and sister. But when a charming new patient arrives (Gary Sweet), the delicate relationship between the inmates quickly unravels.

Cast: Julia Blake, Wendy Hughes, Bill Hunter, Bruno Lawrence, Gary Sweet, Richard Moir

The Lancaster Miller Affair

Year: July 1985
Producer: Paul Davies
Writer: Peter Yeldham
Director: Henri Safran

A mini-series based on the true story of Jessica 'Chubbie' Miller who left Australia in the twenties seeking a challenging new life in London. She finds this is Bill Lancaster and the ex-RAF pilot's dream to be the first to fly from Britain to Australia. Chubbie and Lancaster's hopes are dashed when their plane crashes. They return for repairs. Poorer but very much in love they arrive in Australia but both are still married and Bill's wife refuses to divorce him. Famous but desperate they move to Miami, where Chubbie grows disillusioned. And then in walks Haden Clarke, an American author; he moves in with them to write Chubbie's life story.
Lancaster takes the chance to fly a light plane to Mexico, only to learn that he's expected to smuggle drugs and illegal immigrants into America. In the midst of this he receives a letter from Clarke informing him that he and Chubbie have fallen in love, and intend to marry. He returns and one night, Lancaster wakes Chubbie—Clarke has shot himself in the head. Two suicide notes are found but Lancaster admits he wrote them. He is arrested for murder but Chubbie stands by him, hiring a clever lawyer who succeeds in getting Lancaster acquitted but their reputations have suffered and they flee to Britain. Determined to win back the public's favour, Lancaster determines to beat Amy Johnson's new record flight from London to Capetown. His plane disappears in the Sahara Desert. Lancaster's wife and mother prevent Chubbie from mounting a search.
29 years later the French Foreign Legion finds the young pilot's remains. His diary tells of his last eight days, and his love for Chubbie. (6 x 60 min)

Cast: Kerry Mack, Nicholas Eadie, Malcolm Robertson, Wayne Gull, June Salter, Barry Hill, Lisa Armytage, John Lee, Earl Francis, Stephen Costain, Charles Dance, Bill Richardson, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell

The Last Frontier

Year: 1986
Executive Producers:
Producers:
Director: Simon Wincer
Writer: Michael Laurence

An American woman's courageous struggle to carve out a new life for herself and her family amid the harsh Australian outback. Made by the producer of Picnic at Hanging Rock, this classic mini-series stars Linda Evans as an American divorcee who marries an Australian cattleman before he dies in a plane crash, leaving a widow and her two teenage children stranded on a drought and debt-ridden ranch. Caught in a feud between a covetous land baron and his idealistic son, Evans refuses to take sides... until she falls in love with the son. (180 minutes)

Cast: Linda Evans as Kate Hannon, Tony Bonner as Tom Hannon, Beth Buchanan as Zoe Hannon, Asher Keddie as Emma Hannon, Jason Robards as Ed Stenning, Judy Morris as Meg Stenning, Jack Thompson as Nick Stenning, Peter Billingsley as Marty Adamson

The Last Outlaw

Aired: 1980
Directors: Kevin James Dobson, George Miller
Writers: Bronwyn Binns, Ian Jones

Logie Award winning four part mini-series that screened on the Seven Network in 1980. This is the true story of Ned Kelly — The Last Outlaw.

Cast: John Jarrott, Gerard Kennedy, Steve Bisley, Sigrid Thornton.

A Long Way from Home (US title: Dadah Is Death)

Aired: October 23 & 24, 1988 (Nine)
Writer: Bill Kerby
Director: Jerry London
Producer: Steve Krantz

An woman (Julie Christie) crusades to save her son (John Polson), doomed to hang for smuggling heroin in Malaysia. Based on a true story. (2 x 90min)

Cast: Julie Christie, John Polson, Hugo Weaving, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kerry Armstrong, Robin Ramsay, Victor Banerjee, Shapoor Batliwalla

This Man… This Woman

Year: May 1989
Executive Producers: Ian Bradley, Ross Dimsey
Producer: Graham Moore
Writer: Terry Stapleton
Director: Paul Moloney

Scratch beneath the surface of many a "successful" marriage and you'll discover rumblings, deep fissures and violent eruptions just being held in check. Neil and Marion Clarke seem to have it all, and basically they are a well suited pair. But problems that can be capped off for many years have a way of blowing up when other pressures get too great. And when they blow, everybody gets burned, everybody is forever changed. This Man… This Woman is the story of one such time. (4 x 60 min)

Cast: Robert Coleby, Catherine Wilkin, Tina Bursill, Ben Mendelsohn, Rachael Beck, Andrew Ferguson, Lucy Bayler, Max Phipps, Ruth Yaffe, Gabriella Clark, Helen Francis, Suzanne Warner, John Gregg, Warwick Moss, Patsy Martin, Janet Andrewartha, Ernie Grey, Alethea Mcgrath, Irini Pappas, Richard Moss, Andrew Spence

Mystery at Castle House

Year: 1984
Produced by
Executive Producer: Gene Scott
Producer: Brendon Lunney
Writer: Stuart Glover, Michael Hohensee
Director: Peter Maxwell

Spider takes his friends Ben and Kate across the harbour to a deserted old mansion, 'Castle House'. Adventure turns into mystery when two other boys disappear in front of their eyes in the overgrown grounds of the old house.

Cast: Simone Buchanan, Jeremy Shadlow, Scott Nicholas, Aileen Britton, Carole Skinner, Ronald Moe Lee, Robin Bowering, Henri Szeps

Olive

Year: 1987
Produced by Smiley Films Pty Ltd, ABC
Executive Producer: Sandra Levy
Producer: Julie Monton, Richard Brennan
Writer: Anthony Wheeler
Director: Stephen Wallace

Based on the true story of fiery, tempestuous actress, Olive Bodill. Soon after Olive and her actor/writer husband, Tony, celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary Olive discovers that she has a malignant breast cancer. Once so strong and independent, Olive now becomes dependent on Tony who himself relies so much on her energy and decisiveness. But with his help Olive confronts her death, and in what has been a marriage of opposites, with all the attendant difficulties, the partners are fused finally in a bond of love.

Cast: Kerry McGuire, Nick Tate, Peter McGloughlin, Cathy Richardson, Michael Turkish, Murray Wilson

Outback Vampires

Year: 1986
Produced by Somerset Film Productions
Executive Producer: Grahame Jennings, Peter Ramster, Bob Sanders
Producers: Jan Tyrrell, James M. Vernon
Writers: Colin Eggleston, David Young
Director: Colin Eggleston

The Terminus family love a bit of new blood. When three strangers arrive in the outback town of Yarralumla, the Mayor has no hesitation in delivering the strangers to the Terminus estate for dinner. Little do the strangers realise that they are the main course.

Cast: Brett Climo, Richard Morgan, Angela Kennedy, Maggie Blinco, John Doyle

Palace of Dreams

Year: 1985
Producer: Sandra Levy
Writers: David Goldie, Denny Lawrence, John Misto, Debra Oswald, Marc Rosenberg
Directors: David Goldie, Denny Lawrence, Geoffrey Nottage, Riccardo Pellizzeri, Graham Thorburn

The story of an orthodox Russian-Jewish emigrant family running an inner-city hotel, The Dundee Palace, during the Depression of the 1930s. O'Neill is the young aspiring writer from Gundagai who lives at the hotel and shares their lives. (10 x 50 min)

Cast: Henri Szeps, Michael O'Neill, Deidre Rubenstein, Linda Cropper, Susie Lindeman, Kris McQuade, Peter Ford, John Walton, John Jarratt, Durand Sinclair

The Petrov Affair

Year: 1985
Produced by PBL Productions for Nine Network Australia
Writer: Cliff Green, Mac Gudgeon
Director: Michael Carson

On April 12, 1954 Vladimir Petrov, Third Consul at the Soviet Embassy in Canberra, and head of Soviet espionage in Australia, defected, unbeknown to his wife. This began a series of dramatic events that tore the political fabric of Australia and had repercussions around the world. This is an international spy story, a political story, but most of all a human story; the Petrovs themselves, disappearing into the anonymity of Australian suburbia, forced to adopt false names and personal histories, condemned to lead "secret lives". (4 x 1hr)

Cast: Alex Menglet, Eva Sitta, Simon Chilvers

Police State

Year: 1989
An ABC co-production with Southern Star Sullivan
Writer: Ian David, Chris Noonan
Director: Chris Noonan

Police State is the story of the development of corruption in the Queensland police force and body politic as revealed during the Royal Commission conducted by Tony Fitzgerald, QC in 1987/88. Police State opens with the dramatic early days of the Commission hearings and the evidence of Assistant Commissioner Graeme Parker. Parker was the first senior officer to admit his corruption and seek an indemnity from prosecution. His evidence exposed the testimony of earlier witnesses and implicated those at "the top and higher". (120min)

Cast: Bill Hunter, Nick Tate, Gerry Connolly, Max Phipps

Remember Me

Year: 1985
Produced by Southern Star Entertainment for the Seven Network Australia
Writer: Anne Brooksbank
Director: Lex Marinos

Jenny and Geoff are a happily married couple in their 30's, leading a comfortable, ordered, suburban life in Sydney with their two young children, they live in a spacious modern beachfront home. Like many successful marriages, theirs is based on mutual affection and respect. It may not be a passionate relationship, but it's a satisfying one. But their matrimonial harmony is individually eroded when Jenny's ex-husband, Howard, suddenly turns up. "Remember Me?" he asks, which is the beginning of a disturbing series of events.

Cast: Wendy Hughes, Richard Moir, Robert Grubb

Run Rebecca, Run!

Year: 1982
Executive Producer: Gene Scott
Producer: Brendon Lunney
Writer: Charles Stamp
Director: Peter Maxwell

Rebecca becomes stranded on an island, where she meets Manuel, a South American ship's deserter. Fearing capture, Manuel forces Rebecca to stay on the island but she has other ideas.

Cast: Simone Buchanan, Henri Szeps, Adam Garnett, Mary Ann Severne, John Stanton

Runaway Island

Aired: January 1981 (Seven)
Produced by Grundy Organisation
Executive Producer: Ian Holmes
Producer: Roger Mirams
Writer: Paul Wheelahan
Directors: David Stevens, Frank Arnold, Howard Rubie

Australia 1830. Jemma and Jamie McCloud are left behind on their father's farm with their aunt Agatha. Lachlan McCloud sails to England to ask the government to do something about the corruption in New South Wales. While he's away aunt Agatha sells the farm and the two children are left homeless. Jemma and Jamie are told that their father drowned at sea. They meet Red Tom and Nipper and are determined to find their father's will. (An 8 x 72min series followed)

Cast: Miles Buchanan as Jamie McLeod, Simone Buchanan as Jemma McLeod, Beth Buchanan as Nancy, Rodney Bell as Red Tom, Julian Gillespie as Nipper, Cornelia Frances as Agatha McLeod

Sara Dane

Year: 1981
Produced by South Australian Film Corporation for Network Ten Australia
Writer: Alan Seymour
Director: Gary Conway, Rod Hardy

A rags to riches story set in convict Australia. Sara is possessed of a fiercely independent spirit. To this is added physical beauty, driving ambition, business acumen and the courage to win through despite almost impossible odds. Sara beings the story in rags as part of the human cargo packed below the decks in a convict transport ship. She ends it as one of the richest and most powerful figures in the developing Australian colony of New South Wales. (8 x 1hr)

Cast: Juliet Jordan, Harold Hopkins, Barry Quin, Brenton Whittle, Sean Scully, Damon Herriman

Scales of Justice

Year: June 1983 (ABC)
Executive Producer:
Producer: Michael Carson
Writer: Robert Caswell
Director: Michael Jenkins

One of the most controversial Australian mini-series ever produced, Scales of Justice is a shattering examination of official corruption in all levels of law enforcement. Containing three self-contained, character-linked dramas focusing on the world of Australian law enforcement, vice, drugs, politics and wide spread corruption, from street level to the corridors of power, the programme achieved a near-documentary level of realism. A milestone in Australian TV drama when first screened in 1983, Scales of Justice tells it like it was, and still is.

Cast: John Hargreaves, Bill Hunter, Simon Burke, Isabelle Anderson, Dennis Miller, Tim Robertson, Tony Barry, Don Reid, Brian McDermott, Nick Tate, Max Cullen

Sharks Paradise

Year: 1986
Produced by McElroy & McElroy
Producer: Carla Kettner
Executive Producer: Jim McElroy
Writer: David Phillips
Director: Michael Jenkins

Surfers Paradise, Australia's resort jewel of the Gold Coast, suddenly teeters on the edge of disaster when a man is killed by a shark and an extortionist claims he sent the shark. This madman demands $2 million or he will send hundreds of sharks to the surf classic, opening day of the resort's tourist season. Surfers Paradise now needs a special team to crack the crime. It's high action, high adventure and in the end it's the birth of a team who differences and disagreements aside, find in each other a place to belong. (120min)

Cast: David Reyne, Ron Becks, Sally Tayler, Dennis Miller

The Shiralee

Year: June 1988 (Seven)
Executive Producer: Jock Blair
Producer: Bruce Moir
Writer: Tony Morphett
Director: George Ogilvie

The Shiralee portrays the trials and tribulations of a reluctant father and his young daughter as they wander from one country town to the next in search of work, a meal and a roof over their heads. (2 x 120 min)

Cast: Bryan Brown, Rebecca Smart, Noni Hazlehurst, Norman Kaye, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Lorna Lesley, Simon Chilvers, Julie Hamilton, Reg Evans, William Zappa, Frank Gallacher, Lynette Curran, Ray Meagher

Skin Deep

Year: 1984
Produced by PBL Productions for Nine Network Australia
Writer: Anne Lucas
Director: Mark Joffe, Chris Langman

In the glittering world of high fashion, beauty is only Skin deep! Barbara Kennedy is a successful business woman in the fashion and modelling industry. In the lead up to the Annual Fashion Designers Awards night, her boyfriend finally proposes to her. But everything else is not going well. On the evening of the awards, Barbara realises that one of her own models is her illegitimate daughter, given up for adoption year's earlier. Worse than this she is about to walk into the hands of a murderer.

Cast: Briony Behets, Antoinette Byron, Angelo D'Angelo, Carmen Duncan, Kate Fitzpatrick, Nicole Kidman, David Reyne

[The True Story of] Spit McPhee

Year: 1987
Produced by Revcom Productions
Executive Producer: Geoff Daniels
Producer: Noel Price
Writers: Moya Wood
Director: Marcus Cole

In a small country town in the 30s, a young rascal, Spit MacPhee becomes an orphan, leading to various people wanting to claim him.

Cast: Elspeth Ballantyne, Ray Meagher, Philip Hancock, John Mills, John Bash

Sword of Honour

Year: 1986 (Seven)
Executive Producer: Roger Simpson
Producer: Roger Le Mesurier
Writers: Roger Simpson, Kathy Mueller, Peter Kinloch, Tom Hegarty
Directors: Pino Amenta, Catherine Millar

Capturing the spirit of the age and the turmoil of the times, Sword Of Honour tells the heartbreaking story of a nation at war, the soldiers who left their families to fight, the social upheaval and the emotionally perilous journey back home.

At 21, Tony Lawrence (Andrew Clarke) won the Military Academy's Sword of Honour. At 22 he was fighting in the Vietnam War with his best friend and brother-in-law Frank Vittorio (Alan Fletcher), just as the conflict began to escalate. The horrors and carnage of the war leave an indelible impression on the two young men - ripping them apart from their families, girlfriends and country.Back home after the devastation of the battlefields, both men try to cope with life in their own way. For Tony wandering into the wilderness is one way of coming to terms with the horror he has experienced. A journey that takes him back to the killing fields where it all started...

From the awarding winning producers of Snowy and Nancy Wake, Sword Of Honour is a gripping 6 hour miniseries that will take you back to a time and conflict that created heroes and divided a nation. (4 x 100 min)

Cast: Andrew Clarke, Tracey Mann, Alan Fletcher, Nikki Coghill, Andrew Sharp, Linda Newton, Wyn Roberts, Margaret Ford, Paul Hampton, Julia Blake

DVD:Sword Of Honour was released on DVD in early 2012

Top Enders

Year: 1988
Produced by the Australian Children's Television Foundation
Executive Producer: Patricia Edgar
Producer: Jill Robb
Writer: Michael Aitkens, Jackie McKimmie
Director: Jackie McKimmie

Alice has spent her childhood travelling the country from casino to casino where her mother, Sue, works as a blackjack dealer. Mick is an Indigenous Australian who has grown up in Darwin and is out of touch with his own culture and people. The two meet on the road when they both decide to run away from home.

Cast: Madeline Blackwell, John Jarratt, Tommy Lewis

A Town Like Alice

Year: 1980
Written by Tom Hegarty, Rosemary Anne Sisson and Nevil Shute (novel)
Directed by David Stevens

The winner of many international film awards, this miniseries stars Bryan Brown and Helen Morse as lovers separated in Malaya during World War II. Years later they are reunited in the Outback of Australia and build a life together, facing the challenges and traumas of day to day living. Based on the novel by Nevil Shute.

Cast: Bryan Brown, Helen Morse, Gordon Jackson, Dorothy Alison, Yuki Shimoda, Anna Volska, Donald MacDonald, Pat Evison

Under Capricorn

Year: 1982
Produced by South Australian Film Corporation for the Nine Network Australia
Writer: Tony Morphett
Director: Rod Hardy

A powerful story of enduring but frustrated love and terrible secrets. Set in colonial New South Wales, the story follows a devil-may-care Irishman who sets out to help a beautiful aristocrat lady back from the depths of alcoholism. Encouraged by the lady's husband, his efforts are hindered at every turn by her housekeeper, a domineering and pious woman, who would prefer her mistress dead. A story of unspoken passion and jealousy erupting into a life and death struggle. (4 x 1hr)

Cast: Lisa Harrow, John Hallam, Peter Cousens, Julia Blake, Cathrine Lynch, Jim Holt

Vietnam

Year: 1986
Writers: John Duigan, Terry Hayes, ...
Directors: John Duigan, Chris Noonan

An often brutal war story, which revolves around young conscript Phil Goddard and his four terrible years in the Vietnam War. He, like all the others, was thrown into an escalation in combat while back home the kids were indulging in free love, Beatlemania and LSD. (10 x 50 min)

Cast: Nicholas Eadie, Nicole Kidman, Alan Cassell, Pauline Chan, Brett Climo, Mick Conway, Alyssa-Jane Cook, Celia De Burgh, Noel Ferrier, Lucky Grills, Jim Holt, Veronica Lang, Mark Lee, Barry Otto, Grace Parr, Jay Patterson, John Polson, Don Reid, Tim Robertson, Henri Szeps