1992: January 18-24

Cover: Kevin Costner

Is Jennifer set to quit?
Tonight Live host and producer Steve Vizard has denied rumours that the show’s resident newsreader Jennifer Keyte will not be with the show when it returns for 1992, although he has conceded that she has not renewed her contract with the show.  “I can tell you she’ll be back,” he told TV Week.  And Seven Nightly News reporter Naomi Robson, who has filled in for Keyte on Tonight Live, denies suggestions that she will be Keyte’s replacement on the show.  “I don’t know where these stories come from.  There is no talk about it at the moment,” Robson said.  “Jennifer is well entrenched in both her jobs at Seven.”  Rumours over Keyte’s position have been sparked by her apparent concern that her appearances on the late night show are affecting her credibility as the main news anchor for Seven in Melbourne.  It is believed that she wants to concentrate on what is shaping up to be a fierce battle for early evening ratings this year with the launch of Seven’s new current affairs show, Real Life. 

The naked truth about Jeremy Sims
Chances star Jeremy Sims wants people to know that despite his character Alex’s readiness to strip off (as pictured, with co-star Annie Jones), in real life there is an intelligent head on those often bare shoulders and that he takes his job very seriously.  Sims has no desire to be a “personality” and as a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) wants to be taken seriously as an actor – adding that Chances presents some significant challenges.  “I’ve had to go into scenes after minimal rehearsal and put myself on the line,” he told TV Week.  “This means day in, day out, every week, in what is probably the most dramatic – if over-the-top – role on television.  I’m really grateful for the role of Alex.  It’s the only role I think I’d be happy doing on television in an ongoing soap.  I’m sure there are other guys who are happy doing their bits on Home And Away and E Street, but I would be bored out of my mind doing that stuff.”  Sims also responds to some of the jokes and send-ups made about the show and his frequent bouts of nudity.  “I’m fascinated that people still make such a big issue out of it.  People are puerile on the subject, you know.  Tits and bums are the most amazing subjects.  You can get endless publicity over the fact you show a part of your body on television,” he said.  “Apart from the political satire, Fast Forward is nearly all tits and bums jokes.  It’s all cheap innuendo, yet they can get away with it because they have the facade of being intelligent satire.  It is mostly just puerile, schoolboy humour.  I’m not saying I don’t laugh at it.”

Man of Meni talents!
Hard Copy reporter Meni Caroutas (pictured) will do anything for a story – even if it means crawling through Melbourne’s drains.  On a recent assignment, the policeman-turned-reporter joined the Cave Clan for a trip around a part of the metropolis few ever see.  “When I heard of the Cave Clan I thought it was just a bunch of kids, but they are all about 20 and well organised,” he said.  “They just do it for kicks, a bit of fun.  They get maps of the drains.  It’s all carefully planned.”  As a member of the NSW Police Force, Caroutas was an undercover detective but a set up saw him charged with theft of cash and amphetamines.  Even though he was exonerated and received a settlement, his career with the force was ruined.  Officially he is still a member of the NSW Police Force but is hoping to soon be discharged.  “I’m just a number at the moment,” he said.  “Hopefully all the paperwork will be processed soon.  I don’t consider myself a copper.”

Briefly…
Dinosaurs, a new US co-production between Jim Henson Productions and Walt Disney Television, is set to be Seven’s new weapon against long-running current affairs show 60 Minutes.  Not since The Comedy Company has a rival show managed to consistently knock 60 Minutes in the ratings – although Seven’s ALF and Ten’s The Simpsons had tried – but coupled with popular US sitcom Full House, Seven hopes Dinosaurs is a strong contender against the current affairs ratings giant.

GP star Brian Rooney might not be returning to the popular ABC drama when production resumes this year.  The 18-year-old, currently appearing in the stage production of Wizard Of Oz in Adelaide, will be taking on a leading role in the upcoming production of Neil Simon’s Lost In Yonkers but it is uncertain if he will be able to combine that commitment to production of GP.  “Hopefully, I can do both,” he told TV Week.  “I did that when I was doing Les Miserables and GP.  We might be able to work GP in.”

Former Brides Of Christ star Melissa Thomas is looking forward to making the move from Sydney to Melbourne for her new role as schoolgirl Lily Price in the upcoming Network Ten sitcom Late For School.  The 17-year-old has been the victim of an ongoing campaign of obscene phone calls and intruders at her home.  “It’s been pretty scary stuff,” she said, adding that the new job offer came at just the right time.  “I desperately needed some excuse to get away from Sydney.”  Late For School, which also stars Frankie J. Holden, Sarah Chadwick, Ross Higgins and Matthew Newton, is set to debut soon on Ten.

John Laws says…
”We are in for a heady year, it seems, on the current affairs front.  Even Ten is getting into the act, but I suspect it’s going to be trailing the field in the ratings with Mr Shame (though its much-criticised but entertaining beat-up series, Hard Copy, could well prove a ratings winner throughout 1992).  My prediction is that A Current Affair will maintain its momentum in the long haul, but its control of the important 6.30pm timeslot is no longer guaranteed.  Seven executives and Gerald Stone are, I’m told, supremely confident that their new product, Real Life, can knock off Jana (Wendt) and company.  If nothing else, the battle is going to be brutal and unrelenting.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne/Regional Victoria, January 18-24):
Saturday: There’s golf (Palm Meadows Cup) and lawn bowls (Qantas Jetabout International) on ABC, tennis (Australian Open) on Seven/Prime and cricket (Benson And Hedges World Series) on Nine/VIC TV.  With the cricket being held in Melbourne, regional network VIC TV has live evening coverage of the cricket, while Nine in Melbourne has a repeat of the 1983 movie BMX Bandits, the movie which launched the career of Nicole Kidman. 

Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Thunderball (Seven/Prime) and The Star Chamber (Nine/VIC TV) up against mini-series Bride Of Violence (Ten/SCN), while ABC presents Bruce Beresford’s production of the Richard Strauss opera Elektra for the State Opera of South Australia.

Monday:  Ten launches some major changes to its daytime and early evening line-up.  At 8.30am, Bert Newton (pictured) returns to TV as host of The Morning Show, presenting 90 minutes of entertainment and infomercials.  The new program replaces ‘Til Ten.  Ten also debuts US talk show Sally Jessy Raphael and moves Oprah Winfrey to an afternoon timeslot after a trial run in a late-night timeslot over the last few months.  However the biggest change is late in the afternoon, with the move of Ten Eyewitness News to the 5.00pm timeslot, followed by the debut of current affairs program Hinch at 6.00pm (following Derryn Hinch’s recent axing from the Seven Network).  At 6.30pm is American dating game Studs, followed by Neighbours at 7.00pm.  Regional network SCN breaks away from the Ten schedule in the early evening to run alternative programming: The New Candid Camera at 5.00pm, Neighbours at 5.30pm, Southern Cross News (Bendigo/Gippsland) and Studs (Albury/Shepparton/Ballarat) at 6.00pm, and then at 6.30pm Rob Gaylard (ex-GTV9) presents Southern Cross Eyewitness News, a half-hour bulletin of national news broadcast statewide, followed by a delayed broadcast of Hinch at 7.00pm before re-joining the Ten schedule.  Seven debuts its long-awaited current affairs program Real Life at 6.30pm, and after Home And Away presents the series return of A Country Practice.  Then in the wee small hours of the morning, at 4.00am, Ten resumes repeats of classic Australian drama Prisoner.

Tuesday:  After the late news, Ten/SCN debuts the new US drama series Dangerous Women, a production of the Australian Grundy organisation largely based on its former series Prisoner, with scripts and storylines in early episodes almost directly copied from the Australian original.

Thursday:  Seven/Prime starts a repeat of the popular 1981 mini-series A Town Like Alice, starring Bryan Brown, Helen Morse (both pictured) and Gordon Jackson.

Friday:  In the lead up to Australia Day, ABC presents the first of two nights of The Aussie Picture Show – a collection of films representing Australian life over the past 80 years.  Tonight’s line-up of films include Leisure, the 1977 Academy Award-winning animation depicting the world of work and leisure through history; Bingo, Bridesmaids And Braces, tracing the lives of three working-class women as they grow up over a 12-year period; This Is The ABC, a 20-minute review of the operations of the ABC in the 1950s; and the 1979 telemovie A Good Thing Going, starring Chris Haywood and Veronica Lang.

Source: TV Week (Victoria Country edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  18 January 1992.  Southdown Press

TelevisionAU Update 10-Apr-10

http://www.televisionau.com

NEW FLASHBACK #53
Production of the mini-series A Town Like Alice, based on Nevil Shute's novel of the same name, was first planned in 1979 for the Seven Network on the back of the success of their earlier historical epic, Against The Wind.  A Town Like Alice was a hit when it aired in mid-1981 and the following year the mini-series took a total of five TV Week Logie awards, including best mini-series and best actor and actress awards for the leading stars, Bryan Brown and Helen Morse (pictured).
Picture: TV Week, 25 July 1981

NEW HEADLINES FROM THEN #8
TV Week, 1 March 1980: Graham Kennedy (pictured) to return to TV? International stars for the TV Week Logie Awards.  Prisoner star gets US TV offer.  Ten’s Bill Collins fights spinal disorder.

NEW OZ TV FLOP
The White Room (Seven, 2010)

CLASSIC TV GUIDES
Melbourne:
1977 (Hotel Story)
1980 (The Franky Doyle Story)
1982 (TV Week Logie Awards)
1985 (ABC National, News Overnight, The Cowra Breakout)
1988 (Opening Ceremony, The Games Of The XXIV Olympiad)

Brisbane:
1967 (Brisbane council elections, NSW Referendum, Victorian State Election)
1969

Adelaide:
1987 (Last day of broadcast for ADS7/SAS10, and first day of broadcast for ADS10/SAS7)

Tasmania:
1978

TELEVISIONAU - THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN TELEVISION
http://www.televisionau.com
http://blog.televisionau.com
http://www.twitter.com/TelevisionAU
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/televisionau
http://au.youtube.com/user/TelevisionAU

1979: December 29-January 4

Cover: Paula Duncan, John Orcsik, Joanna Lockwood, Peter Adams (Cop Shop)

TV in the ‘70s
As the 1970s come to a close, TV Times takes a look back at some of the names, programs and events that helped shape the decade that was.

1970: The Long Arm, axed after a short run on the 0-10 Network.  Don Lane’s Tonight show is given the boot, as is Showcase, a year after Rod McLennan takes over as host.  Bert Newton hosts The Acid Test for Nine, and a sitcom, Mrs Finnegan, draws an indifferent response on Seven.  ABC launches a drama series, Dynasty, and a panel show, Would You Believe?, with Carmen Duncan and Jacki Weaver.  New quiz show, Temptation, hosted by Tony Barber.  Noel Ferrier hosts Australia A To Z on ABC.

1971: Networks now obliged to increase Australian-made programming by 50 per cent and must each screen six hours each month of first-run Australian drama or comedy.  Matlock Police begins on the 0-10 Network, and The Godfathers starts on Nine.  In Melbourne Tonight is cancelled after 14 years.  Pick A Box comes to an end after 23 years on radio and television, and a new show, Money Makers, is launched with Philip Brady (pictured).  Hey Hey It’s Saturday begins on GTV9.  Johnny Young launches Young Talent Time and the acclaimed US children’s show Sesame Street begins on ABC.  Cash-Harmon Productions present the 0-10 Network with a pilot for a new adults-only drama, Number 96.  Mike Willesee launches A Current Affair on Nine.  Television begins in Darwin.

1972:  The Nine Network launches a private detective drama, The Spoiler, with Bruce Barry, while Rod Mullinar stars as Ryan for the Seven Network.  New Zealander James Laurenson appears as half-caste Aboriginal detective Napoleon Bonaparte in the Seven Network series, Boney.  Number 96 (pictured) makes its debut, and some of the opening episode is censored from viewing in Melbourne after being shown in Sydney the night before.  ABC launches a new comedy show, The Aunty Jack Show.  The Government announces that Australia will convert to colour television in 1975.

1973:  The Mike Walsh Show makes its debut and marks a new standard for daytime television.  Certain Women and Seven Little Australians begin on ABC, and Bert Newton hosts a variety series for the national broadcaster.  The Price Is Right with Garry Meadows begins on the 0-10 Network.

1974: Crawford Productions launches The Box for the 0-10 Network.  The Seven Network launches a variety show, JC At 8.30, to combat Number 96, but is taken off-air after 10 shows.  Reg Grundy’s first soap opera, Class Of ‘74, debuts on Seven. Peter Wherrett presents the first series of motoring program Torque for ABC.  Gordon Chater and Gwen Plumb star in an ABC comedy, Mac And Merle (pictured).  The gold rush of the 1850s is recreated in the ABC series, Rush, starring John Waters.  A new pop music show, Countdown, is launched on ABC.  All networks are given the go-ahead to broadcast test colour transmissions.  The Nine Network launches a telethon to raise relief funds after Cyclone Tracy wipes out Darwin.

1975:  All networks convert to full-scale colour transmission on 1 March.  Cash-Harmon follows up Number 96 with an early-evening series for Nine, The Unisexers, which is taken off the air after three weeks.  Graham Kennedy (pictured) is banned from appearing on live TV after his suspect “crow call”.  Mike Willesee hosts This Is Your Life for the Seven Network and Garry Meadows hosts a game show, High Rollers.  Don Lane returns to Australia to launch The Don Lane Show on Nine.  An end of an era as Crawford cop shows Division 4 and Homicide are both cancelled.

1976: The 0-10 Network adapts the British program It’s A Knockout as Almost Anything Goes.  A new sitcom, The Bluestone Boys, makes light of life in prison.  The Nine Network launches two new early-evening series, The Young Doctors and The Sullivans.  The Young Doctors is axed after a few weeks on air but given a reprieve following public reaction.  TV Times, in association with the Seven Network, present the first Sammy Awards.  The Ernie Sigley Show is abruptly axed following an off-air outburst by the show’s host directed at Kerry Packer and producer Peter Faiman.

1977:  Number 96 and The Box are both cancelled by the 0-10 Network.  Bellbird comes to an end on ABC after ten years, and Homicide winds up on Seven after 12 years.  Graham Kennedy returns to TV as host of Blankety Blanks.  The Naked Vicar Show is launched on ABC, and Benny Hill makes a series of specials in Australia for the 0-10 Network.  The Seven Network launches Glenview High and Cop Shop, and 0-10 launches The Restless Years.  Tony Barber (pictured) returns to TV as host of Family Feud. The US mini-series Roots attracts high ratings.

1978: ABC debuts quiz show Mastermind and a light-hearted panel show, Micro Macro (pictured).  The Seven Network screens its landmark mini-series Against The Wind.  A Current Affair is axed by the Nine Network, and Monday Conference winds up on ABC.  The comedy series Tickled Pink begins on ABC.  The 0-10 Network launches The Steve Raymond Show in response to losing The Mike Walsh Show to Nine.

1979: ABC re-launches its afternoon children’s programming block as ARVO.  Peter Luck presents documentary series This Fabulous Century for Seven.  Airport drama comes to Seven with Skyways, and the 0-10 Network’s Prisoner becomes a hit.  Nationwide marks a new era of current affairs for ABC, replacing This Day Tonight.  The Nine Network takes a costly gamble with its new current affairs show, 60 Minutes.  New dramas The Oracle, Golden Soak and Twenty Good Years air on ABC.  New requirements for local children’s TV programming lead to new shows Simon Townsend’s Wonder World and Shirl’s Neighbourhood.  Hey Hey It’s Saturday returns to TV after the ill-fated The Daryl And Ossie Show on the 0-10 Network.  The Special Broadcasting Service presents a series of multicultural programs on ABC.

Young Doc’s sidetrack
The Young Doctors star Eric Oldfield has turned his talents to pop music.  The former star of The Godfathers and one-time Cleo centrefold (pictured) has recorded Girls On The Beach, to be released by the Grundy Organisation.  Grundy’s publicity manager Felicity Goscombe defends the song as being purely commercial: “Why not?  He’s good looking, has a good voice and is such a change from the ‘uglies’.  We’re trying to bring back some entertainment to the music business – and a lot of glamour.”

Voyage to Greece along Yarra
The producers of the 0-10 Network’s weekly Greek variety show, Grecian Scene, have produced a Melbourne-based Christmas special for national distribution in Greece.  Grecian Scene co-host Olga Davis described the show as “a typical party, with Greek food and wines, music, songs and dancers.  A traditional Greek Christmas celebration with an Australian background.”  The special, filmed on board a paddle-steamer cruising the Yarra River, aired in Melbourne last week.  “The Greek TV station bought the show for its national network.  They seemed to think it a good idea, to show people some part of the life their relatives live in Australia,” Davis told TV Times.

Timeless town
In re-creating Sydney Town, circa-1788, for the upcoming mini-series The Timeless Land, a great deal of research and design went into constructing cottages, barns and buildings of the period, including an impressive two-storey Government House – but had it not been for modern-day plastic the reconstructed town could never have happened.  The cottages have timber frames, with sheets of clear plastic moulded into the shape of timber logs and wooden roof shingles.  Supervising designer George Liddle told TV Times, “We wouldn’t have had a hope of being able to afford to build the town if it hadn’t been for vacuum-formed plastic sheeting.  Each of these sheets costs $2, which means we were able to build a cottage for around $500, instead of at least four times the price for timber, and four times quicker – a great economy.”  The reconstructed town is situated on a private properly in Kellyville, outside of Sydney, which the producers have rented.  Apart from offering the perfect scenery the property has a large dam, which is being used as a Sydney Harbour backdrop.  The Timeless Land, starring Michael Craig, Angela Punch McGregor (pictured) and Nicola Paget and a supporting cast including Noel Trevarthen, Rod Mullinar, Peter Cousens, David Gulpilil, Anna Volska, Patrick Dickson and Arnhem Land tribesman Charles Yunupingu, is expected to go to air on ABC around mid-1980.

Briefly…
Actress Kerry Armstrong (pictured) has left Prisoner and taken up the role of another country girl, the niece of Fay (Kris McQuade) in Skyways:  “I don’t know why I always get cast as a country girl – maybe it’s because of my big leg muscles.  I got them from dancing school.”  After she’s finished on Skyways, Armstrong will be appearing in the upcoming mini-series Water Under The Bridge, now in production for the 0-10 Network.

Young Talent Time cast member Bobby Dreissen is recovering from injuries after a hit-run incident in Melbourne.  The 13-year-old was riding a bicycle when he was hit by a car.  “I was frightened more than anything else.  I hadn’t a clue what was happening at the time – one minute I was pedalling along, the next I’m rolling about on the street in agony.”  Despite injuries to his back and hands, Dreissen continued to meet his commitments to Young Talent Time, performing the day after the incident.

Helen Morse is tipped to win the lead female role in the upcoming mini-series A Town Like Alice.

Peggy Toppano and Lorrae Desmond, who play two sisters who run a bookstore in the new series Arcade, are finding work positively absorbing.  “Sometimes I get so engrossed in all the fascinating books on the set that I have to drag myself away to rehearse my lines,” Toppano told TV Times.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”I just cannot resist commenting on Tracey Yesberg’s letter (Viewpoint, 24 November 1979) regarding So You Want To Be A Centrefold.  Anyone with such narrow views was under no obligation to watch, but naturally curiosity wins again.  I am also female, and also watched, as I am the lone female in our family and I was curious.  I agree it was trash but something different for all the wide-eyed men.  I personally admire the models for having the guts to be so uninhibited in front of the TV cameras, and, anyway, there are far more important morals in today’s corrupt society to worry about, and nude models are certainly not one of them.” J. Lewy, NSW.

“I would like to see some of Gracie Fields’ movies on TV.  They’ve done festivals of movies to honour stars like John Wayne and Elvis Presley, so why not Gracie?  I am 71, and used to live near Gracie in Rochdale, Lancashire.  As a matter of fact I sing some of her songs as a member of the Country Women’s Association concert party in Wollongong, NSW.”  B. Lindop, NSW.

What’s On (December 29-January 4):
HSV7’s coverage of the Australian Open tennis, live from Kooyong, Melbourne, continues from Saturday through to Wednesday.  From Thursday, attention shifts to Hobart for the Australian Hardcourt Championships.

New Year’s Eve includes ATV0’s coverage of the Festival of Sydney – New Year’s Eve Concert from the Sydney Opera House, hosted by Rolf Harris and including appearances by John St Peeters, Marcia Hines, Jon English, The Angels and the Combined Pipe Band of Sydney.  The 5-and-a-half hour telecast includes Sydney’s spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks to signal the arrival of the new year and the new decade.

HSV7 farewells 1979 with overseas specials Dick Clark And A Cast Of Thousands and Elton John At Wembley, before New Year’s greetings at midnight.  At 12.02am, Lee Simon presents a special New Year edition of Nightmoves.  Meanwhile, GTV9 presents the Concert Of The Decade, featuring highlights from the recent 2SM/Moove Festival from the steps of the Sydney Opera House.  Highlights from the day’s cricket between Australia and the West Indies airs at 10.00pm, with the 1970 movie Song Of Norway at midnight.

ABC’s New Year’s Eve starts with the People’s Command Performance, from Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, featuring Joan Rivers, Chubby Checker, Vincent Price, Rod Stewart, Jerry Lewis and Lainie Kazan.  At 9.40pm, Gregory Peck and Ann-Margret present A Holiday Tribute To The Radio City Music Hall, followed at 11.10pm with New Year’s Rocking Eve, a concert featuring Blondie, Village People and Barry Manilow.  Then, at 12.40am, a concert special from Elton John that was recorded on Christmas Eve, 1974.

On New Year’s Day, HSV7 crosses to Perth at 6.00pm for the annual Perth Cup and GTV9 has more cricket from 4.00pm.  Later in the evening, ABC presents the Edinburgh Military Tattoo 1979, and ATV0 presents a re-run of the British mini-series, Elizabeth R.

Wednesday night’s Faces Of The Eighties features politician Simon Crean, who, at the age of 30, is one of the rising stars of the Labor movement.

Sunday night movies: The Taming Of The Shrew (HSV7), My Father’s House (GTV9), A New Leaf (ATV0).  After the movie, ATV0 repeats the two-hour special Thanks For The Memory, a roundup of the news and events of the 1970s, originally aired last month.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 29 December 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: December 15-21

Cover: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek)

Countdown to the ‘80s
Countdown’s Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum and producer Ted Emery have travelled the world to compile a 90-minute special edition of the show to signal the end of the 1970s.  The pair interviewed more than 100 pop stars across Australia, the US, UK and Europe for the special which will air on ABC this weekend.  “The program is still being sorted out but we plan to present a variety of top world stars of the decade talking about the music of the ‘70s,” Emery told TV Times.  The program will also discuss the future and who is likely to be a dominant force in the 1980s.  Some of the interviewed pop stars include David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, ABBA, the Rolling Stones, the Doobie Brothers, the Boomtown Rats, Alice Cooper, Bryan Ferry, Fleetwood Mac and Australians Olivia Newton-John, Daryl Braithwaite and Glenn Shorrock.

Ilona Rodgers’ private battle
It has been a tough year for actress Ilona Rodgers, the newcomer to the cast of The Sullivans.  For the New Zealand actress there was enough pressure coming into the popular series, with producers’ hopes of her taking on the high-profile star status in the wake of losing Lorraine Bayly, but Rodgers was also seven months pregnant when she took on the role. She was also tending her mother who was dying of cancer, and supporting her husband, who has stayed in NZ, trying to start up a new farming venture.  But Rodgers is happy with the role in The Sullivans:  “The first three months were really tough, but now I think I’m on top of it.  My only complaint is that I haven’t had a good game of snooker since John Waters (pictured, with Rodgers) finished working on the show.”  Her husband, David Warren, has made frequent visits to Australia since the birth of son Mischa, who has also made several trips across the Tasman to spend time with his father.  “I had him with me for a long time, but it’s unfair that I should have the only benefit of watching him grow up,” Rodgers told TV Times.

TV star ‘back from the grave’
Film actor Bryan Brown has been signed up for the upcoming mini-series A Town Like Alice to play the role of Joe Harmon – a role made famous in film by Peter Finch.  The mini-series, based on Nevil Shute’s novel, will go into production for the Seven Network early next year.  In charge of production will be Henry Crawford, producer of Seven’s earlier success story Against The Wind.  For actor Brown, his only other TV appearance has been in Against The Wind, as the Irish boyfriend of Mary Mulvane (Mary Larkin), killed in the first episode.

Those restless colonial years
When Jeff Archer of The Restless Years goes off on an overseas trip, actor Noel Trevarthen will be going back in time to play Judge Advocate Captain Collins in ABC’s eight-part drama, The Timeless Land.  Trevarthen will appear in the series’ first two episodes, covering the four years from 1788 when the British landed and Captain Collins read out the proclamation claiming Australia for the Crown.  “Collins is an interesting character.  He was a court favourite of George III, and, as a reward for his services, the King made him judge advocate of NSW.  But he was one of the few people at the time who believed in the future of NSW.  A lot of his contemporaries were only interested in grabbing the land.” 

Briefly…
The town of Echuca, on the Murray River, will be the star of a new mini-series adapted from Nancy Cato’s best-selling book, All The Rivers Run. Producer Hector Crawford (pictured) is currently negotiating with American interests for financial backing for the series, which is expected to be made as 10 or 12 one-hour episodes.  Production is likely to start later next year.

Actress Liddy Clark (Ride On Stranger) has won the award for Best New Talent at the recent annual Penguin Awards, held in Melbourne.  Other winners on the night included NWS9’s Ian Fairweather, for his contribution to children’s television, Cop Shop’s Peter Adams as Best Actor and Prisoner’s Carol Burns for Best Actress.

Janet Kingsbury has left her job as a reporter for the travel show, Bill Peach’s Holiday, to return to acting.  The parting from the ABC series has been amicable, and stories featuring Kingsbury that have already been completed will go to air during 1980.  Kingsbury, whose last acting job was four years ago in the movie Let The Balloon Go, has started a new role as Anne Hunter in the series The Restless Years.

Anne Sneddon (pictured), the 1979 Miss Australia, has entered TV current affairs as a reporter and co-host on BTQ7’s Haydn Sargent’s Brisbane:  “I like journalism and I’d like to be the best on TV.  I can wait 15 years, as long as I keep getting better.  With the help I’m getting from the whole team here, I should.  If I don’t, I need a hard kick.” 

 

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”I really have to laugh at the ad asking private motorists to save petrol!  Why isn’t the ad directed more towards those who race cars?  Don’t they waste more petrol than the private motorist?” R. Goodwin, NSW.

“Isn’t it about time women had a go where nudity on TV is concerned?  How about the men getting more of their gear off?  Put men in see-through baths etc.  So come on and give us women something to watch on TV.  After all, women watch more TV than men.  There is enough of the female body being exposed, so come on men, have a go.” L. Davies, NSW.

“I have read where the Australian series Skyways has not been getting good ratings and may be axed.  Why, oh why, are we subjected to such insults to our intelligence as CHiPs and Lucan?  The storylines are weak, the direction terrible and the acting second-rate.  Yet the Australian show is good.  Myself, my family and friends have lived almost every story in real life.  The acting is really first-rate and the direction is excellent.  I can watch Prisoner, Cop Shop and Skyways frequently, but the above-mentioned American shows only get one or two viewings because they are appalling!” M. Arnett, NSW.

What’s On (December 15-21):
HSV7’s summer of tennis continues with the South Australian Open on Saturday and Sunday, live from Memorial Drive, Adelaide, and the New South Wales Open from Monday to Friday.

On Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, GTV9 crosses to Perth for the World Series Cup cricket between Australia and England.  Then on Friday, the World Series Cup moves to Sydney for Australia versus the West Indies.

Paul Griffiths (pictured), Patrick O’Neill, Mark Hamlyn and Dale Sinclair are the team presenting Line-Up, a new weekly magazine-style program on ABC, starting Saturday night in the timeslot normally occupied by Four Corners.

In Cop Shop (HSV7, Monday), Danni (Paula Duncan) has a surprise visitor who has managed to pull a few strings to obtain her address.  Meanwhile, Liz (Liz Burch) and Baker (Gil Tucker) seem to be sharing many precious moments together.

Friday night on HSV7, Shirley Strachan and the gang from Shirl’s Neighbourhood appear in a one-hour special, Christmas In The Neighbourhood, featuring guest appearances by Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons.  Later in the evening, ATV0 crosses to Sydney Festival Of Carols, held at the Domain and hosted by John McNally with performances by June Bronhill, Helen Zerefos, Steve Watson, Sandy Scott, Suzanne Steele, the Claire Poole Singers and the Crusade and St. Mary’s Cathedral Choirs.

Other Christmas specials to appear during the week include Bing Crosby’s Merry Olde Christmas, Bob Hope’s All-Star Christmas Show and Laugh-In’s Christmas.

Sunday night movies: Amelia Earhart (HSV7), The Entertainer (GTV9), Zandy’s Bride (ATV0).  ABC presents the Australian Opera production of Norma, featuring Joan Sutherland and the Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra conducted by Richard Bonynge.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 15 December 1979.  ABC/ACP