Geoffrey Rush – our Australian of the Year

Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush (pictured) was last night announced as our Australian of the Year in recognition of his contribution to the arts.

The 60-year-old, who this year celebrates 40 years in the industry, gained international fame in 1996 for his portrayal of pianist David Helfgott in the movie Shine which led to him winning the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Despite much of Rush’s acting work being in the theatre and on film, the Queensland-born actor has also worked in television.  He made his TV acting debut in the ABC mini-series Menotti in 1981.

He later appeared in Twisted Tales and played the lead role of newspaper editor Bill Wyatt in the 1996 series Mercury.

Rush also made a guest appearance in Kath And Kim in 2004.

Also on this Australia Day, a number of television identities were among the hundreds recognised in this year’s Australia Day honours list:

Maggie Beer – “For service to the tourism and hospitality industries as a cook, restaurateur and author, and to the promotion of Australian produce and cuisine.”  Beer was a co-presenter on the popular ABC series The Cook And The Chef for five years and has also been a regular guest on MasterChef Australia.

Jamie Durie – “For service to the community as an ambassador and supporter of a range of charitable and environmental organisations, and as a landscape designer.”  Durie came to national fame as the presenter of Backyard Blitz and The Block.  He has more recently appeared on the Seven Network’s The Outdoor Room and gained international fame when he caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey.

Gus Mercurio (posthumously) – “For service to boxing as an administrator and sports commentator, as a film, television and stage actor, and to the community.”  Mercurio appeared in numerous television series over his career, including period dramas Cash And Company, The Sullivans, Power Without Glory, Tandarra, Five Mile Creek and All The Rivers Run, and was a boxing commentator for 12 years.

Oscar Whitbread – “For service to the Australian film and television industry.”  Whitbread has been a television producer since the 1960s, working on ABC dramas including Bellbird, Marion, And The Big Men Fly, Power Without Glory, Rush, Catspaw, The Truckies, Outbreak Of Love and I Can Jump Puddles.  He later worked on The Flying Doctors, Ratbag Hero, Cluedo and Acropolis Now.

Source: ABC, Governor-General of Australia, IMDB, IMDB.

1991: January 26-February 1

Cover: Nicole Kidman

Here comes the bride…
Many soaps have given their ratings a boost by holding a wedding.  The Nine Network’s new series Chances is starting with one!  The adults-only drama kicks off with a wedding between David Young (Rodney Bell) and Rebecca Taylor (Natalie McCurry).  “Chances has great possibilities,” Bell told TV Week.  “It’s aimed at a more mature audience and packs a good punch!”  Bell is no newcomer to television, having started in showbiz at the age of four and later appearing in TV soaps The Restless Years and The Young Doctors.  McCurry, 24, began modelling at 14 and later appeared in TV and film roles before coming fifth in the Miss World contest, winning the Miss Oceania title.  Chances, which debuts this week on Nine, also stars John Sheerin, Brenda Addie, Jeremy Sims, Cathy Godbold, Rhys Muldoon, Simon Grey, Tim Robertson, Deborah Kennedy, Marcia Deane-Johns, Anne Grigg and Leverne McDonnell.

Andrew graduates to Wandin Valley
NIDA graduate Andrew Blackman has joined the cast of A Country Practice as Wandin Valley’s new doctor, Dr Harry Morrison.  “I am very excited and looking forward to working with one of the most experienced casts in TV today.  As yet I know little about the character, except that he comes from the Queensland bush.  However, being a country boy myself from Queensland, I don’t feel that Harry is too far away from myself,” Blackman told TV Week.  He will make his on screen debut in April.

Mighty minis
Voting continues for the 1991 TV Week Logie Awards.  Which mini-series or telemovies of 1990 will viewers vote for Most Popular Mini-Series?  ABC presented the popular Come In Spinner, starring Kerry Armstrong, Lisa Harrow and Rebecca Gibney, and The Paper Man, starring John Bach, Peta Toppano and Rebecca Gilling.  Network Ten’s Shadows Of The Heart, starring Marcus Graham, Jason Donovan, Colleen Hewett and Robyn Nevin, was a ratings winner.  Nine presented the action-filled Ring Of Scorpio and bawdy The Private War Of Lucinda Smith (starring Linda Cropper and Nigel Havers, pictured).  Seven produced the controversial Jackaroo, starring former Neighbours star Annie Jones, telling the story of a relationship between a part-Aboriginal man and a spoilt white girl from the city.  Seven also produced All The Rivers Run II, starring John Waters and Nikki Coghill.

Briefly…
Newlywed Aussie actor Peter O’Brien has had to leave his bride, actress Jo Riding, in the UK as he has returned home to discuss future work projects.  The pair met when they were starring in the stage production of The Wizard Of Oz.  O’Brien is set to appear in a new Australian-US film production, The Diamond Triad, while Riding is currently on stage in Around The World In Eighty Days.

Lawrie Masterson’s Sound Off
”For someone who used to have such a high profile, Don Lane’s comeback to television last year was low key to the point of being almost unheralded.  The man who once was undisputed king of prime-time variety (remember prime-time variety?) turned up without fanfare on the ABC, hosting replays of American football in a late-night slot which could hardly be called prime.”

Program Highlights (January 26-February 1):
Saturday:  Australia Day is commemorated with golf (The Vines Classic) on ABC, tennis (Ford Australian Open) on Seven, and cricket (Fourth Test) on Nine.  Although Nine had earlier crossed to Admiralty House for the presentation of Australia Day Honours and an address by Prime Minister Bob Hawke.  After ABC News, the national broadcaster presented the Governor-General’s Australia Day Message followed by The Very Best Of Aunty Jack, the mockumentary Barbakiueria and the 1940 Australian movie classic Dad Rudd MP.  Seven presents live coverage of the Australasian Country Music Awards.

Sunday:  The Women’s Doubles Final and Men’s Singles Final mark the final day of the Ford Australian Open on Seven.  Sunday night movies are Barracuda (Seven), Murphy’s Romance (Nine) and Attack Force Z (Ten).  ABC presents the Bolshoi Ballet as its Sunday Stereo Special, followed by highlights of the annual Montsalvat Jazz Festival held in Melbourne.

Monday:  Don Lane presents ABC’s live coverage of the 25th NFL Superbowl, played in Tampa, Florida. 

Tuesday:  The premiere of Nine’s new adults-only drama Chances (starring Natalie McCurry, pictured), telling the story of an ordinary suburban family whose lives are changed when they win a lottery.  ABC’s Lateline with Kerry O’Brien returns for 1991, followed by a repeat screening of the NFL Superbowl from the previous day.

Friday:  Seven crosses to Perth for live coverage of the Davis Cup, Australia versus Belgium.  Also in Perth is the cricket Fifth Test which begins today on Nine.  Nine’s late-night MTV, hosted by Richard Wilkins, returns for 1991.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 26 January 1991. Southdown Press.

Obituary: Gus Mercurio

Gus Mercurio, actor and boxing identity, has died in Melbourne.

The 82-year-old died from complications arising from an operation for a chest aneurism at a Melbourne hospital.

Born in Wisconsin, USA, Mercurio came to Australia in the 1950s.  A professional boxer, he became deeply involved with the game in Australia as an administrator, referee and commentator.

In the 1970s he made a break into acting, appearing in TV series including The Long Arm, Division 4, Homicide and Matlock Police but became probably best known for his roles in historical dramas, including Cash And Company (pictured), Tandarra, Power Without Glory, All The Rivers Run and Five Mile Creek.

Mercurio also featured on the big screen in titles including Crocodile Dundee II, The Man From Snowy River and The Blue Lagoon.

Gus Mercurio is survived by his current partner Rita and six children, including TV presenter and performer Paul Mercurio.

Source: Herald Sun, ABC, IMDB.

1990: April 7-13

‘No candlelit dinners, please!’
While Georgie Parker’s character in A Country Practice, Lucy Gardiner, is at crossroads at her relationship with Matt Tyler (John Tarrant) with dreams of romantic dinners and phone calls, the actress has admitted that in real life she couldn’t be more opposite.  “I’m not romantic at all.  I’m not at all.  I am seeing someone at the moment and he would beg to differ, but I’m not romantic,” she told TV Week.  “I’m so practical that I tend to take the romance out of a situation straight away.” 

‘My countrymen would expect me to boycott this film…’
With a showbusiness background including modelling, hosting a children’s program (Off The Dish) and a game show (Perfect Match), Cameron Daddo is no stranger to criticism when he is appointed to dramatic roles.  “People scoffed and said it was crazy that I’d won roles as Huck Finn in Big River and Joe Jones in Heroes.  Now I’m up against again,” Daddo told TV Week, following him being cast as part-Aboriginal detective Bony in a telemovie being produced for the Seven Network.  The telemovie is a modern-day remake of the early-‘70s drama Boney, starring New Zealand actor James Laurenson in the lead role.  But despite criticisms that the role should be filled by an Aborigine, Daddo has found unlikely support from respected Aboriginal actor Burnum Burnum:  “My countrymen would expect me to  boycott this film because of Cameron in the lead role.  But I didn’t remotely consider this boycott because, first, I had nothing to do with the casting and, second, Cameron fits the role admirably.  The character is supposed to only have a small amount of Aboriginal blood.”

Out of Africa!
Globe-trotting Beyond 2000 reporter Amanda Keller (pictured) has been in Africa to report on the plight of elephants being poached for the ivory trade.  In an interview with Dr Richard Leakey, director of wildlife protection in Kenya, he says they are now winning the battle with the poachers.  “He believes we should protect the elephant, but he also says, by doing so, we could create problems of over-population,” Keller told TV Week.  “His solution is birth control, but I don’t know if I’d be game to give an elephant a vasectomy!” 

Briefly…
Neighbours’ twin co-stars Gayle and Gillian Blakeney (pictured) are making plans to produce a documentary on twins.  The pair have visited Melbourne’s Latrobe University, the second largest twin study centre in the world, and had gathered research material and case studies when working on children’s program Wombat.

Now back in Los Angeles after her guest appearance at the TV Week Logie Awards, actress Sigrid Thornton has made a surprising revelation about her desire for future roles.  After starring in period pieces such as The Man From Snowy River, All The Rivers Run and Far Country, Thornton would like her next role to be that of an axe murderer.  “I’m quite serious – an axe murderer sounds great.  I’d like to play an unexpected sort of character, something that is not a traditional heroine.”

Wheel Of Fortune’s long-serving hostess Adriana Xenides (pictured) has unveiled a new look after losing her long blonde tresses.  “I had been thinking for some time about having my hair cut.  My hair just wouldn’t go right for a modelling job I was doing, so I rang up my hairdresser, Robert Briscoe, and said, ‘Right, tomorrow, I want it all cut off.’”  But with Wheel Of Fortune taped so far in advance, viewers will still have to wait another month to see the new-look Xenides on screen.

John Laws says…
”Wendy Harmer (pictured) launched her new show, In Harmer’s Way (ABC), the other week, but it’s a pity the humour didn’t live up to the slickness of the title.  Her first guest was playwright David Williamson.  Nothing very exclusive about that; he’d been on the Steve Vizard show (Tonight Live) a few days earlier.  One fact that did emerge from Harmer’s “interview” with Williamson was that she finds it difficult to conduct a bright, snappy interview.  Only Williamson’s good grace and humour made it the tiniest bit watchable.”

Program Highlights (April 7-13):
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are The Last Tycoon (GTV9) and Educating Rita (ATV10).  HSV7 presents Part One of the re-run of mini-series The Long Hot Summer.  ABC presents The Riddle Of The Dead Sea Scrolls, a documentary on the controversial work of Australian Biblical scholar, Dr Barbara Thiering.
Wednesday:  ABC’s science program, Quantum, returns for a new series, followed by a concert performance from Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and James Galway, simulcast with ABCFM.  GTV9 screens an Australian-made film, Mortgage, starring Doris Younane and Brian Vriends, tracing the story of a couple who find themselves in a nightmare of deceit, incompetence and rising interest rates.
Friday:  Good Friday is dominated by the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal on HSV7 – starting at 9.00am and continuing through to midnight, breaking only for news, Home And Away and Hinch.  The telethon includes guest appearances by cast members of Seven Network programs A Country Practice, Home And Away, Hey Dad!, Acropolis Now, Fast Forward and Skirts.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.    
7 April 1990. Southdown Press.

1990: March 17-23

Gold, silver… and a touch of brass!
The 32nd annual TV Week Logie Awards, held at Melbourne’s Hyatt On Collins, honoured the most popular and outstanding achievements of Australian TV in 1989.  Hosted by Mark Mitchell, the presentation was attended by overseas guests John Travolta, Ernest Borgnine, Pauline Collins and John Alderton, with Australian actress Sigrid Thornton, currently based on the US, also a special guest.  Also present on the night was the ever-glamorous Dame Edna Everage and a special appearance by jazz musician James Morrison.  The official proceedings of the night culminated with Travolta handing out the TV Week Gold Logie to former Neighbours star Craig McLachlan as Most Popular Personality on Australian TV.  McLachlan, now starring in rival soap Home And Away, also took away a Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor, and his partner Rachel Friend won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actress.

TV Week Logie Winners 1990: Publicly-voted categories
Gold Logie – Most Popular Personality On Australian TV: Craig McLachlan
Silver Logie – Most Popular Actor On Australian TV: Craig McLachlan
Silver Logie – Most Popular Actress On Australian TV: Rachel Friend
Most Popular Series: Neighbours
Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Program: The Comedy Company
Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality: Daryl Somers
Most Popular Sports Coverage: Cricket (Nine Network)
Most Popular Telemovie/Mini-Series: Bangkok Hilton
Most Popular Actor In A Telemovie/Mini-Series: Jason Donovan
Most Popular Actress In A Telemovie/Mini-Series: Nicole Kidman
Most Popular Lifestyle Information Program: Burke’s Backyard
Most Popular Music Video: Never Too Late (Kylie Minogue)
Most Popular Children’s Program: Wombat
Most Popular New Talent: Georgie Parker
Most Popular Public Affairs Program: A Current Affair

TV Week Logie Winners 1990: Industry-voted categories
Gold Logie – Hall of Fame: Johnny Young
Most Outstanding Actor: Shane Porteous
Most Outstanding Actress: Nicole Kidman
Most Outstanding Achievement In Public Affairs: True Believers (4 Corners)
Most Outstanding Achievement In News: Romanian Revolution (Nine Network)
Most Outstanding Single Documentary Or Series: Ladies In Lines (ABC)
Most Outstanding Achievement By Regional Television: My Place, My Land, My People (QTV, Townsville, QLD)

TV Week Logie Winners 1990: State-based categories (Most Popular Personality, Most Popular Program)
New South Wales: Ray Martin, Home And Away
Victoria: Daryl Somers, Neighbours
Queensland: Jill Ray, Wombat
South Australia: Anne Wills, Wheel Of Fortune
Western Australia: Rick Ardon, Seven Nightly News
Tasmania: Bert Taylor, Taylor’s Australia

Briefly…
There’s wedding bells for several of the team from Seven’s Acropolis Now – with producer Pino Amenta now engaged to make-up artist Amanda Rowbottom, Simon Palomares engaged to co-star Tracey Callander, and George Kapiniaris engaged to make-up artist Peta Hastings.  Pictured on stage at the recent TV Week Logie Awards are Nick Giannopoulos, Simon Palomares and George Kapiniaris.

Swimming champion Lisa Curry has become the first Australian woman to host a sports show, joining Mark Warren on the Nine Network’s Sports Sunday.

Dozens of celebrities from around Australia, including showbusiness names and sports stars, have gathered at the South Melbourne Cricket Ground for the annual Variety Club Celebrity Thrill, including Aussie rules handball contests, basketball, golf putting, croquet and a tug of war.  The event, now in its sixth year, was attended by thousands of fans with proceeds going to the Variety Club program for underprivileged children.

John Laws says…
”Comedienne Gretel Killeen showed a measure of courage unusual in the TV industry when she decided to leave Nine’s Coast To Coast after only two weeks as a co-presenter.  Or was it that she saw, with alarming clarity, the writing on the wall and decided to quit before she copped at least some of the blame for a TV Titanic?  The ratings and the press criticisms should force Nine to the realisation that Coast To Coast was no more than a clever comedy vehicle for Graham Kennedy, and that without him the program is extremely vulnerable, particularly in the face of Steve Vizard’s rapidly-improving Tonight Live on Seven.  What Coast To Coast needs, perhaps, is someone like Kerri-Anne Kennerley, a TV trouper who knows how to smile, how to laugh, and how to crack a funny ad-lib gag.”

Program Highlights (March 17-23):
Saturday:  ABC presents live coverage of Day 3 of the Trans-Tasman Test, Australia versus New Zealand, from Wellington, New Zealand.  In the evening, HSV7 presents live coverage of the Fosters Cup Grand Final.
Sunday:  ABC has live coverage of Day 4 of the Trans-Tasman Test, live from New Zealand, while GTV9 crosses live to Adelaide for the FAI Cup, South Australia versus New South Wales.  Sunday night movies are Lethal Weapon (GTV9) and Mask (ATV10).  HSV7 presents Part One of the mini-series All The Rivers Run II, starring John Waters (pictured), Nikki Coghill, Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell, Peta Toppano and American actor Parker Stevenson.
Monday:  HSV7 presents the second and final part of All The Rivers Run II, while ABC presents the debut of Wendy Harmer’s new talk show, In Harmer’s Way.
Wednesday:  ABC presents the controversial telemovie, Police Crop, recreating the events that led to the assassination of Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester.
Friday:  Dorothy’s (Maggie Dence) arrival in Neighbours causes problems for Joe (Mark Little), while Jim (Alan Dale) tries to come to terms with the return of Beverley’s (Shauna O’Grady) old flame.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  
17 March 1990. Southdown Press.

1990: March 10-16

Logies 1990: Who’ll grab the glittering prize?
Last year’s TV Week Gold Logie winner Daryl Somers has been nominated for the 1990 TV Week Gold Logie, but has some tough competition – Nine Network colleagues Jana Wendt (A Current Affair) and Ray Martin (Midday), and soapie heart-throb Craig McLachlan (Neighbours).  Somers has already won three TV Week Gold Logies (1983, 1986, 1989) and another Gold will almost rank him with as many Gold Logie wins as predecessors Graham Kennedy (five Gold Logies) and Bert Newton (four Gold Logies and a Hall of Fame Award).

TV Week Logie Awards nominations (Publicly voted categories):
Gold Logie: Ray Martin, Daryl Somers, Jana Wendt, Craig McLachlan.
Most Popular Actor: Andrew McFarlane, Shane Porteous, John Tarrant, Craig McLachlan
Most Popular Actress: Nicolle Dickson, Rachel Friend, Dannii Minogue, Georgie Parker
Most Popular Series: A Country Practice, The Flying Doctors, Home And Away, Neighbours
Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Program: The Comedy Company, Fast Forward, Hey Hey It’s Saturday, Hey Dad!
Most Popular Sports Coverage: Cricket, Grand Prix, Tennis
Most Popular Telemovie or Mini-Series: Bangkok Hilton, Fields Of Fire III, The Heroes, The Magistrate
Most Popular Public Affairs Program: A Current Affair, Hinch, 60 Minutes
Most Popular Children’s Program: C’mon Kids, Play School, Wombat
Most Popular New Talent: Matt Day, Marcus Graham, Georgie Parker

Other public-voted awards: Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality, Most Popular Music Video, Most Popular Lifestyle Program, Most Popular Actor and Actress in a Telemovie or Mini-series, Most Popular Program (for each state) and Most Popular Personality (for each state).

The joke’s on us!
With Mark Mitchell at the helm, comedy will be the emphasis of this year’s TV Week Logie Awards, to be held at the Hyatt On Collins, Melbourne.  Among those joining Mitchell on the Network Ten telecast will be Kim Gyngell (Col’n Carpenter), Steve Vizard (Tonight Live) and the cast of the Seven Network series Acropolis Now.

‘No commercial network could touch this…’
Gerard Kennedy, Terry Gill and Frankie J Holden are among the cast of a controversial ABC telemovie, Police Crop.  The 100-minute dramatisation exposes the extent of police collusion with the Mafia in Australia over several years, leading up to the death of Superintendent Colin Winchester.  The program is the culmination of painstaking research and goes to air the day after the Winchester inquest resumes.  Director Ken Cameron says that such a program could never air on a commercial network:  “No commercial network could touch this.  They’ve been advised not to.”

What a shocker!
Jason Donovan’s role in the $3.7 million mini-series Shadows Of The Heart will no doubt shock his many fans.  “They’ll certainly see something that’s a bit different and unexpected,” he tells TV Week.  The former Neighbours star plays Alex Fargo, a dark-haired, drunken and unkempt farmer who has a relationship with his bed-ridden cousin, Indy (Sherrie Krenn).  “My role as a singer and what I’ve done with Neighbours before has always been fresh and wholesome.  But it’s nice to play someone different.”

Briefly…
John Waters (pictured) and Peta Toppano starred together as hippies in the stage production Godspell and have now been re-united as lovers in upcoming mini-series All The Rivers Run II. 

William McInnes will be making a guest appearance in A Country Practice as the new love interest for Cathy Hayden (Kate Raison) in a storyline that will lead to Raison’s exit from the series.

US actress Cybill Sheppard is coming to Australia to star with John Waters in the $7 million mini-series, Which Way Home, a production of the McElroy brothers who also brought Dynasty star Linda Evans to the outback for The Last Frontier.  Which Way Home will start production in New Zealand before heading to Thailand and then finishing up with seven weeks in Sydney.  It is expected to air on Network Ten and the American TNT network in 1991.

John Laws says…
”What a pity Steve Vizard (pictured) got off to such a shaky start with his Tonight Live program on Seven.  You’ll recall that I was underwhelmed by his first week’s antics.  Vizard, to put it mildly, was unprepared for the challenge of hosting a live-to-air show.  That first week was a shambles.  But it’s a surprising what a few weeks in the “hot seat” can do.  Vizard, through sheer grit, determination and hard work, has turned the show around.  Vizard’s show rated a 9 in Sydney the other week, three points ahead of its chief rival, Coast To Coast (without Graham Kennedy) on Nine.  Coast To Coast – let’s be frank – is struggling.  Without Kennedy, the heart seems to have been ripped out of it.”

Program Highlights (March 10-16):
Saturday:  ABC crosses to Auckland, New Zealand, for the One Day International Cricket – Australia versus New Zealand.  Coverage starts at 7.55am and continues through to 3.45pm.
Sunday:  HSV7 presents coverage of NBL, Sydney Kings versus Illawarra Hawks, from the State Sports Centre, Homebush – followed by the Australian Touring Car Championships, live from Tasmania.  Sunday night movies are Perry Mason: Case Of The Avenging Ace (HSV7) and The Couch Trip (ATV10).  GTV9 presents the first instalment of mini-series Something Is Out There.
Monday:  ABC and HSV7 both cover the annual Moomba procession, from the streets of the Melbourne CBD.  HSV7 then devotes the afternoon to Moomba Masters water-skiing from Melbourne’s Yarra River.  After The 7.30 Report, ABC launches a new series, The Party Machine, featuring Andrew Denton as he takes an in-depth look at the upcoming Federal Election.  GTV9 presents the second and final instalment to the mini-series Something Is Out There.
Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), Simon Reeve examines a robot designed to shear 300 sheep in a single day, Amanda Keller investigates an alternative to hysterectomies, and Bryan Smith takes an amazing journey through the human body.
Thursday and Friday:  ABC presents a late-night cricket highlights package of Day One of the Trans-Tasman Test – Australia versus New Zealand.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  
10 March 1990. Southdown Press. 

1990: January 6-12

TV Week, incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 6 January 1990 (Sydney edition). Southdown Press.

Cover: Kylie Minogue

The impossible dream
With careers on opposite sides of the world, actors Marcus Graham and Nicole Kidman have to put their relationship on hold.  Graham, formerly of E Street, is starring in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Sydney Opera House, while Kidman is in the US starring alongside Tom Cruise in the new movie Days Of Thunder.

John weds in secret
A Country Practice star John Tarrant has married his long-time girlfriend, ABC reporter Shereen Bates, while on a two-week production break from the series.  The couple had first met at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, where Tarrant was studying acting and Bates was doing a media course.  They were married at Caves House, near Yallingup in South Western Australia, in a ceremony attended by around 60 close friends and family. 

Sophie’s their choice
Former Melbourne model Sophie Heathcote (pictured) has landed a major role in A Country Practice.  The 18-year-old will begin filming on the show later this month with her first scenes to appear on screen in April.  Heathcote will play Stephanie “Steve” Brennan, a country girl who helps her father, Snow (Ben Gabriel), run a farm in Wandin Valley.  Although Heathcote is not giving anything away, an involvement between her character and Luke Ross (Matt Day) may lead to something later on.

‘I never know what the year ahead will bring’
Jon Blake, the former The Restless Years star still battling to recover from a horrific car accident three years ago, after he had completed filming The Lighthorseman, was special guest at an important party last month.  Mascot Blake threw her son a 31st birthday party, attended by friends and some of the many volunteers who help Blake with his rehabilitation.  The party was also highlighted by phone calls from former The Restless Years colleagues Peter Phelps and Mark Hembrow, both who are overseas.  Another special guest at the party was Blake’s 11-year-old son, Dustin, who often visits his father when in Sydney.  Mrs Blake also thanked TV Week readers who donated generously to help with the rehabilitation effort and have offered their assistance to Mrs Blake.

Arthur cuts the apron strings
The cast of the ABC series Mother And Son have been told to be prepared for a fifth series of the comedy to go into production in 1991.  The series has been on a break for two years while writer Geoffrey Atherden attends to other projects.  The fifth series could reveal some interesting twists for the show’s central characters, with Arthur (Garry McDonald) possibly to be moved out of the family home, and scheming brother Robert (Henri Szeps) looking after mum Maggie (Ruth Cracknell).  The new series will be a welcome change for McDonald, who was disappointed after plans for a return to TV as his classic Norman Gunston character fell through.  Both Nine and Seven networks had negotiated for a new Gunston series, after his one-off appearance at the 1989 TV Week Logie Awards, and it is reported that an agreement was reached with Nine.  However, financial uncertainty in the industry meant that the project was dropped.

Briefly…
Adelaide teenagers Richard Norton and Jeremy Angerson have joined the cast of Neighbours as the show recovers from losing key cast member Craig McLachlan to rival series Home And Away.

Actress and model Sue Smithers, a former cast member on The Restless Years, is planning a showbusiness comeback after the end of her marriage to lawyer husband Randy.  As well as writing a musical, Higher Love, the sister of actress Joy Smithers is also planning to release a single with comedian Austen Tayshus.  “It will be a comic record – I love comedy and we’ve talking doing one for a long time,” she told TV Week.

Crawford Productions have just released two of its popular programs, All The Rivers Run and Zoo Family, on video as part of their Crawford’s Classics range.  Future releases are set to include the original mini-series of The Flying Doctors, Whose Baby? and The Far Country.  A sequel to All The Rivers Run is expected to screen on the Seven Network during the year.

On The Grapevine:
If one prominent Aussie actor wants people to take him seriously when he says he’s 32, he’d better get to work on his appearance.  While his body is in reasonable shape, a truck-load of brown tint is required for those rapidly spreading grey hairs.

Intelligence, poise and good grooming are just a couple of prerequisites for television reporters, so how is one lass going to explain her recent behaviour at a big-budget movie location?

Who is the struggling deputy editor taking guitar lessons in a park during his lunch break?  Is it a bid to launch a career in the music industry, or is it simply a release from the asylum in which he works?

John Laws says:
”Much happened in 1989 to sink a torpedo or two into the industry, and no one needs to be reminded of the financial problems of the various networks.  (But) despite its problems, TV in Australia isn’t so bad.  It’s not perfect but it hasn’t yet hit rock bottom.  For all his woes, Christopher Skase did try to add a touch of quality.  His TVAM, now ditched, was a gallant try at giving us a quality news and business program.  Neighbours, no matter what you might think of it, has won international acclaim, and made mega-stars of its two leading lights, Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan.  Then, of course, the industry has, in the past 12 to 18 months, turned out some remarkably fine mini-series.  Bangkok Hilton is an example.  This was an international-class offering, and simply glowed when compared with much of the glossy trash imported from America.”

Program Highlights (Sydney):
Saturday:  ATN7 has the Danone Australian Women’s Hardcourt Championship, live from Milton Courts, Brisbane.  Former Australian Crawl musician Brad Robinson hosts a two-hour music program, Spin, on TEN10, and MTV (TCN9) presents Billy Joel Live In Leningrad.
Sunday: TCN9 presents Melbourne newsreader Brian Naylor’s one-hour documentary, Australia From The Outside Looking In, followed by On The Road With Midday with Midday reporters Lisa Forrest and Paul Lockyer.  Sunday night movies are Lies (TCN9) and Clan Of The Cave Bear (TEN10).
Monday: ATN7 presents live coverage of the NSW Open tennis from White City, Sydney.  A Current Affair (TCN9) returns for a new year, and TEN10 presents Part One of the re-run of mini-series Alice To Nowhere, starring John Waters, Rosey Jones and Ruth Cracknell.
Thursday: TEN10 crosses to Palm Meadows, Queensland for the Palm Meadows Golf Cup.
Friday: TCN9 crosses to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for Day One of the First Test, Australia versus Pakistan.  Commentators include Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry, Tony Greig, Ian Chappell and Max Walker.

Source: TV Week (Sydney edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 6 January 1990. Southdown Press. 

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