Obituary: Harold Hopkins

Australian acting veteran Harold Hopkins has died in a Sydney hospital from the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

The 67-year-old actor was diagnosed several months ago and is believed to have contracted the cancer from his first job after finishing high school, where he worked with asbestos sheeting as an apprentice carpenter in Queensland in the early 1960s.

Hopkins’ acting career began in the late 1960s on the Seven Network’s daytime drama Motel (a series that also starred a young Jack Thompson). 

Early TV roles also included Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, Riptide, Delta and Barrier Reef.  He had an ongoing role in the comedy-drama The Godfathers and its spin-off series The People Next Door.

Other TV credits included Certain Women, Silent Number, Matlock Police, Homicide, Division 4, Rush, The Lost Islands and the lead male role in the 1979 series Twenty Good Years (pictured with co-star Anne Pendlebury).

He went on to appear in mini-series including Sara Dane, The Dirtwater Dynasty, True Believers, The Last Bastion, Winners, Shadows Of The Heart and Brides Of Christ.

More recent appearances have included Grass Roots, State Coroner, Blue Heelers, White Collar Blue, The Secret Life Of Us, Wildside, The Strip, All Saints and Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities.

Film credits have included Don’s Party, The Club, The Picture Show Man, Buddies, Monkey Grip and The Year My Voice Broke.

Harold Hopkins is survived by his twin brother, John, and five other siblings, Naomi, Michael, Gregory, Margaret and Suzanne.

Source: News.com.au, IMDB, The Age, ABC, TV Eye

1979: November 17-23

Mum’s the word for Skyways’ Kelly
Joanne Samuel caused a stir when, unmarried, she was written out of the ABC series Certain Women to have a baby.  These days, even with movie roles in Mad Max and Alison’s Birthday and an ongoing role in the Seven Network’s Skyways, Samuel never regrets being a single parent to 4-year-old daughter Emma, though she does have the help of a nanny:  “People may have some strange ideas about me not being married, but that is their business.  My friends and the people I work with don’t think it out of the ordinary.  I believe you should have children when you are young and can fully enjoy being with them.”  Samuel (pictured, with co-star Ken James) looks forward to expanding her movie career as well as television, but at the moment is happy as airport kiosk girl Kelly in Skyways:  “She is a nice and nice girls are hard to play unless you have a deeply written character.  Kelly hasn’t, and I just have to play her straight.  She is not my type of girl.  I reckon she is a bit of a dag, but I’m happy playing her.  As for Simon (Ken James), I wouldn’t take all the foolishness from him.  If he was a friend I might try to help him out, but I certainly wouldn’t take all that from a boyfriend.  I’d give him a boot out the door very quickly!”

Blockbuster TV series planned
The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is about to embark on two of the most ambitious and expensive TV series ever to be produced in Australia.  The new series will be based on two Australian novels – Sara Dane, by Catherine Gaskin, and The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony, by Henry Handel Richardson.  Sara Dane, to go into production next year, has a budget of $1.2 million and has received financial assistance from the 0-10 Network and the US-based Metromedia Producers.  The film rights to The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony were bought by MGM as far back as 1946, but with the film never made the SAFC managed to score the rights.  Further production details for The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony have yet to be announced.

Lane man goes
Peter Faiman, director and producer for GTV9 on shows including The Don Lane Show, will move to Sydney next year but remains associated with the Nine Network.  This is despite reports that Faiman had received a generous offer to join Rupert Murdoch’s TEN10 in Sydney.  Faiman’s move to Sydney will allow him to concentrate on production and to give him a new start after 16 years producing variety shows from Melbourne.

George in the jug!
Actor George Mallaby (pictured), formerly of Homicide, The Box and Cop Shop, is joining the cast of Prisoner.  Mallaby will play a social worker, Paul Reid, in the 0-10 Network series and is currently signed on for thirteen weeks.  “After Cop Shop I didn’t intend signing any long-term contracts in series.  I’ve signed to Prisoner for 13 weeks and if the pressures build up like they have in the past, that will be the end of it.  But if the same pressures aren’t there, I could well make the role an ongoing thing.  I shall also be writing for Prisoner, which is good, because I have always enjoyed scriptwriting and it was something I had to curtail while doing Cop Shop,” he told TV Times.

The fall and rise of Johnny Lo Piccolo
In the late 1960s, an 11-year-old piano accordion player called Johnny Lo Piccolo was a hit act on the TV variety shows at the time.  And now, as John St Peeters (pictured), he is still a much sought-after TV performer, though the piano accordion was put away long ago.  Since returning to Australia, after some years in Canada where he launched a pop career with 23 singles released, St Peeters has formed a cabaret act, John St Peeters and the Sharelles, and is a regular performer on shows including Countdown.  His songs are currently on the charts in Spain and South Africa, and his latest song, You, You’re The One, will be Australia’s entry in the upcoming Music Expo in Miami.  Also, as a frequent guest host on Countdown, St Peeters is showing potential that could earn him a TV hosting job.  As well as naming Elvis Presley as an inspiration when he was younger, St Peeters was also inspired by Graham Kennedy, particularly as he appeared many times on Kennedy’s In Melbourne Tonight.  “I still see Graham now and then.  I went to the premiere of his movie The Odd Angry Shot and spoke to him afterwards.  He has given me a lot of encouragement,” he told TV Times.

Briefly…
Frank Wilson (pictured), now back in Melbourne for the stage show Travelling North, has spoken out about his sacking four years ago from hosting GTV9’s New Faces talent show:  “In the last few years I wasn’t doing enough.  I was only doing that show and I was going stale.”

The cast of The Sullivans are expected to tour the United States in the new year in a push to sell the show to the big networks there.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”As a fan of the good, old movies, I would like to say how disappointed I was to have missed The Naked Jungle recently because it was put on so late at night.  On this particular night we had: 7.30 Cop Shop, 8.30 Quincy, 9.30 Police Woman, 10.30 The Naked Jungle.  Three cop shows in a row were completely unnecessary, not to mention boring.  Being a working person, I could not wait up any longer and consequently had to miss a great movie.” A. Ribaudo, WA.

“We have just watched the final episode of Starsky And Hutch and would like to thank QTQ9, Brisbane, for screening it over the past four-and-a-half years.  We would also like to thank them for starting repeats again in November.  We are sure a lot of people will appreciate that.  It’s sad to see the end of a great series, but we hope it means we’ll be seeing a lot more of its stars, David Saul and Paul Michael Glaser, as they are very talented actors.” J & L Clifford, QLD.

What’s On (November 17-23):
ABC’s weekend is dominated by the Dunhill Australian Open Golf Championship with live coverage on Saturday from 11.00am to 5.35pm, and Sunday from 11.00am to 6.00pm.  GTV9 presents cricket with the McDonald’s Cup on Sunday and Wednesday.

HSV7 presents a one-hour special, The Best Of Norman Gunston, on Saturday night.

GTV9 crosses to Lake Karinyup Country Club for live coverage of the WA Open Golf Championship, screening Thursday and Friday from 4.30pm to 6.00pm and then from 7.30pm to 8.30pm.

The Don Lane Show presents its final episode for 1979.

Sunday night movies: Battle For The Planet Of The Apes (HSV7), The Late Show (ATV0).  No movie on GTV9 due to cricket telecasts up to 10.30pm.  ABC presents Banana Bender, the final in its series of Australian plays, starring Maurie Fields, John Hargreaves and Lyndel Rowe. 

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 17 November 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: September 22-28

Cover: Kermit The Frog, Miss Piggy

The Sullivans prepare for peace
As the Nine Network’s The Sullivans moves into its fourth year of production, fans needn’t worry that the end of World War II will mean the end of the show.  “Yes, The Sullivans definitely will go on after the war,” says Crawford Productions chairman Hector Crawford.  “It is a reflection of Australia of that period.  The war has been a vital part of it to date, but the stormy period after will be just as interesting a background when the time comes.  The years just after the war were stormy ones for the economy, politics and everyday life of the country.”  But when asked whether Grace Sullivan (Lorraine Bayly) will return to the series, Crawford could say only that “options remain open.”  Bayly has been travelling overseas for several months but her future plans remain a mystery, even for the cast of the show.  As the show passes its third birthday, two of the key characters from the recent spin-off telemovie Jovan: The John Sullivan Story will be joining the series, secret service agent Captain Meg Fulton (Olivia Hamnett) and John Sullivan’s lover Nadia (Vera Plevnik).

Top film role to Sullivans regular
Sydney actor David Cameron has won a key role in the upcoming 0-10 Network mini-series Water Under The Bridge.  The 27-year-old, who graduated from NIDA in 1968, has appeared in Bellbird, Certain Women, Dynasty, Against The Wind, The Truckies and Power Without Glory.  Cameron’s most recent role has been as Russell Hardwicke in The Sullivans.  In Water Under The Bridge, Cameron plays Neil Atkins, an aspiring actor in love with a newspaper columnist.  Cameron’s appointment to Water Under The Bridge follows the recent announcement that Robyn Nevin will play the lead female role of Shasta.

Graham Kennedy: The man and the myth – Part Two
More has been written (true and false) about Graham Kennedy (pictured) than any other Australian celebrity, including sports stars and prime ministers.  So what is the truth about some of the Kennedy myths and idiosyncrasies?  MYTH:  He was jealous of other IMT hosts.  Fact:  There are stories to the contrary.  When Father Michael King guest hosted IMT in 1969, he received a telegram from Kennedy:  “Be good but we don’t want any miracles.”  Then when he retired from IMT he personally recommended Ugly Dave Gray as his successor.  MYTH: Kennedy is disinterested in his huge collection of awards and uses them as door stops.  Fact:  He’s said this as a gag.  He keeps every award he has ever won on a silver tray.  MYTH: Kennedy doesn’t like and doesn’t relate to children.  Fact: He’s been a godfather six times, including to the daughter of his friend and manager, Harry M Miller and also to the daughter of former colleague Joy Westmore.  He also sponsored a Vietnamese war orphan through World Vision.  MYTH: Kennedy is colour blind and cannot tell red from green.  Fact: Kennedy said, “it’s true I do have trouble telling the difference between some greys, greens, blues.  I have to watched about the clothes I wear, or I might turn up in a red shirt with a green jacket which I think is blue.”  MYTH: His nickname is Gra-Gra.  Fact:  It’s Gay-Gay, which dates from when Kennedy was about 11 when a neighbour’s small daughter couldn’t say the word Graham.  “My aunt Nancy still calls me Gay-Gay when she calls,” Kennedy said.  Among Kennedy’s idiosyncrasies:  He is a night person that rarely goes to bed before midnight and has been known to leave messages on Harry M Miller’s phone at 2.30am;  During the IMT era everyone on the show noticed he never worked quite as well on the nights he wore a white suit – he became less extroverted; He’s nervous about every performance, whether it’s his own show or guest appearances;  He has a phenomenal memory.  He can recall a tag of a sketch he did 15 years ago and even whether or not someone fluffed up a line.  Producer Peter Faiman recalls that Kennedy will accept that problems will come up and be rectified.  But if that same mistake is made 12 years later, he’ll remind you that you made that same error 12 years before; Kennedy has a fear of crowds and had declined many offers to be the King of Melbourne’s Moomba festival, but finally relented in the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee year.  As to commentary on his private life and relationships with women, Kennedy said in a 1976 interview, “I lead a fairly private life.  It’s my business what I do or don’t do when I close my bedroom door.”  Although he did once admit that he’d seriously considered marriage twice in his life, and there was his engagement to singer Lana Cantrell.

Why Tina’s head is in the clouds
Despite working as an actress on TV, stage and film for over ten years, Tina Bursill still finds that people can’t recall her name when they meet her:  “Then I have to patiently explain that I am not Tina Grenville nor a relative of film-maker Tim Burstall.”  The confusion was not helped when Bursill was cast alongside Grenville in the short-lived series The People Next Door, the sequel to The Godfathers.  The 28-year-old actress hopes that the public will have an easier time of recognising her now that she is starring in the new Seven Network series Skyways as ambitious assistant airport manager Louise Carter. “She is developing nicely now, and I hope the public like her as much as I do.”

Briefly…
Garry Meadows (pictured) was disappointed when his children’s TV show, Meet The Giants, was refused a C classification.  But now the Family Feud producer is re-submitting the show for approval following some modifications to the format.  The pilot, produced earlier this year for the Reg Grundy Organisation, features four schoolchildren aged between 10 and 14 in a panel interview with Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.

Foreign Affairs Minister Andrew Peacock will be one of the presenters at this year’s Sammy awards presentation to be held on 17 October.  The awards, a joint venture between the Seven Network, TV Times and the Variety Club of Australia, will be hosted by Roger Climpson.

The success of Australian programs Prisoner and Against The Wind in Los Angeles is helping efforts to get The Don Lane Show sold to US television.  Meanwhile, Against The Wind has scored a front cover story on the Los Angeles Times’ TV magazine.

Former ABC newsreader Margaret Throsby, who resigned from the broadcaster to have a baby, is returning on a part-time basis.  Throsby’s first appearance following her comeback is co-hosting the presentation of the Prince Philip Prize for Australian Design to be held in Perth.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”Congratulations to the Nine Network for showing The John Sullivan Story.  I’m sure a lot of families who don’t watch The Sullivans enjoyed this movie, which was a pleasant change to the usually violent Sunday night movies.”  M. Lewis, NSW.

“Tony Barber (Family Feud, pictured) never fails to irritate me with his idiotic antics and endless drivel, but he really disgusted me when he remarked to a contestant that she was in quite an advanced stage of pregnancy.  It was true, but only a very arrogant man would have deliberately drawn attention to the fact.”  N. Wilson, NSW.

“Why, in an area like the goldfields of Kalgoorlie with its early workers, does VEW8 have Poldark on so late at night – 9.45pm, sometimes later?  Surely it could be put on earlier.”  J. Ware, WA.

What’s On (September 22-28):
On Sunday afternoon, ABC presents the Grand Final of the NSW Rugby League, live from the Sydney Cricket Ground.

This Fabulous Century (HSV7, Sunday) looks at the history of running in Australia, from the Stawell Gift to Sydney’s City to Surf run. 

On Monday night Peter Landy hosts HSV7’s telecast of The Brownlow Medal for 1979, live from the Southern Cross Ballroom in Melbourne.  Then on Wednesday night, HSV7 presents Sensational Seventies, a tribute to the decade in VFL including players Ted Whitten, Kevin Murray, Darryl Baldock and the emergence of Michael Roach, Kevin Templeton and Paul Van Der Haar.

In Skyways (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), MacFarlane (Tony Bonner) and Elaine (Carmen Duncan) examine their rapidly disintegrating family.  Mandy (Gaynor Martin), unable to cope with the sophisticated crowd at Anne’s (Kathryn Dagher) party, creates an unwanted scene.  Meanwhile, in Cop Shop (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), the West Riverside Bank is robbed and Amanda (Lynda Stoner) goes undercover to solve the case.

In the series final of Patrol Boat (ABC, Thursday), an attractive and tough woman journalist is assigned to HMAS Ambush for a day.  Starring Andrew McFarlane, Robert Coleby, Danny Adcock, Rob Baxter and Jacki Weaver.

The final lead-up to HSV7’s coverage of the VFL Grand Final starts on Friday afternoon with the lunchtime Football Procession through Bourke Street in Melbourne’s CBD, featuring the teams that will be playing in the Grand Final.  Then on Friday night, HSV7’s coverage of the The Commodore Cup Grand Final, live from the St Kilda Football Ground.  Leading the coverage are Peter Landy, Lou Richards, Bob Skilton, Doug Wade and Jack Elliott.  Then after a late news bulletin, HSV7 enters another all-night Football Marathon, with Stephen Phillips presenting highlights of past Grand Finals and interviews with team coaches and football personalities.

Also on Friday night, GTV9 presents the Australian Film Industry Awards, live from the Hoyts Entertainment Centre, Sydney.  Nominations for Best Film are Cathy’s Child, In Search Of Anna, Mad Max and My Brilliant Career.  And on the same night, ABC has the Prince Philip Prize For Australian Design, hosted by Stuart Wagstaff and Margaret Throsby in a direct telecast from the Sheraton Hotel, Perth.

Sunday night movies: High Rolling (HSV7), Bite The Bullet (GTV9), White Lightning (ATV0).  ABC presents Man Of Mateship, the fourth instalment of A Place In The World, starring Kerry Francis and Ian Gilmour.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 22 September 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: August 4-10

The Sullivans’ war secrets
Jovan, the Yugoslav name for John, is the name of the telemovie telling the story of the missing years of John Sullivan (Andrew McFarlane, pictured), the eldest son of The Sullivans.  McFarlane returned to reprise the role, describing it as “the most satisfying and stimulating role of my career.”  Jovan also features Frank Gallacher (Against The Wind), Olivia Hamnett (Rush), Carol Burns (Prisoner) and, in her first acting role, Vera Plevnik. The telemovie was written by Brian Wright, who wrote the Biggles and Hop Harrigan serials for radio and was a founding member of the management team of ATV0 in the mid-‘60s before becoming a scriptwriter for ABC and Crawford Productions.

96 team back in harness
The team behind the top-rating series Number 96 have re-united to make a new drama series for the 0-10 Network.  Producer Bill Harmon, script editor Johnny Whyte and writer-director David Sale are devising a new series, tentatively titled Arcade, to begin production later this year and to debut early in 1980.  Details of the new series are sketchy, though it is believed that it will be shown once or twice weekly.  Arcade will be produced at TEN10’s Sydney studios where The Steve Raymond Show was produced before it was axed last week.  Harmon said the new show will not be like Number 96:  “It’s not 96 set in a shopping centre.  At this stage, with only four scripts in hand, it’s too early to tell you what it will be like.  All we can say is what it will not be like.”  Casting for the new series is to commence in the next month.

Cop Shop shock: Paula’s ‘recaught’
Actress Paula Duncan (pictured) has decided not to drop out of the popular series Cop Shop.  Several weeks ago, Duncan informed producers that ill-health would force her to leave the show.  However, a successful operation, followed by a Queensland holiday, has given Duncan a clean bill of health. 

Nine plans new series for kids
The Nine Network has commissioned an action/drama pilot for a children’s TV series from the Reg Grundy Organisation.  The new series, proposed for the ‘C’-rated 4.00 to 5.00pm timeslot, will be produced by Roger Mirams, a veteran of many children’s productions including The Terrible Ten, The Magic Boomerang, Animal Doctor and The Lost Islands.

Busy time for Paradise people
Some of TV’s most familiar actors and actresses are taking part in what could be the first drama series to be based on the Gold Coast.  A pilot for a new series, Paradise Village, is being produced by McCabe-Paradine Productions and BTQ7 Brisbane, with financial assistance from the Queensland Film Corporation.  The pilot stars Gerard Kennedy (Division 4), Syd Heylen (Sunnyside Up), Lynette Curran (Bellbird), Joan Bruce (Certain Women), Dennis Grosvenor (Chopper Squad), Anne Haddy (Play School, Prisoner) and Bill Kerr.  Other names cast in the pilot include Suzy Gashler, Stephen O’Rourke, Paul Chubb, Olga Tamara and Christine Broadway.

How Bunney stays together going to bits
Barely three years ago, Bunney Brooke (pictured) was on TV screens several nights a week as the much-loved Flo Patterson in Number 96.  Since the show wound up late in 1977, Brooke has been keeping a much lower profile on screen, playing smaller bit parts in dramas including The Young Doctors, Kirby’s Company, children’s series Wayzgoose and telemovie Good Thing Going.  Her latest role is as Granny Jones in ABC’s Ride On Stranger.  “I love doing these character parts.  They’re a challenge and they pay the rent,” she says.  Brooke has also just finished the outline for a TV comedy series which, after a brief rundown, suggests that there could be parts for herself and former Number 96 colleague Pat McDonald.

Briefly…
Peter Couchman is suddenly going to be seen a lot more on Melbourne’s TV screens.  From this week, ATV0’s late-night program Peter Couchman Tonight extends to early evenings with Peter Couchman’s Melbourne.  The new program comes after some other ill-fated attempts to fill the 7.00pm timeslot since the demise of Blankety Blanks.

Denise Drysdale is about to wed actor Chris Milne, and for the former ‘60s go-go dancer and Ernie Sigley Show co-host, her new married life will be a lot quieter with the pair settling in a country property outside of Melbourne.  “From now on I will be working a lot less.  I don’t want to earn a fortune – just enough to pay the bills.”

TV Times’ Eric Scott recently spent a day on location at the mock version of Singapore’s Changi prison, constructed in Melbourne by Crawford Productions for an upcoming storyline in The Sullivans.  Freezing in the middle of a Melbourne winter, wearing nothing but a wet sarong and having brown make-up dabbed on with a cold, wet sponge, Scott wonders why anyone would want to be an actor.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”Surely the skipper of the warship in the series Patrol Boat should be wearing a naval cap, and not that awful American baseball cap?”  M. Tringham, NSW.

“As I once wrote a letter to you complaining about Cop Shop not being what it should be, I thought it only fair to express my new reaction to this series.  I am happy to say that it has improved beyond all I ever expected of it, and has now become one of our favourite programs.” D. Dickey, NSW.

“Congratulations to the complete staff and printers on a fine example of an Australia publication – TV Times on its 21st birthday (TV Times, 7 July 1979).  May the same standards apply to all future issues.  I find the features included most absorbing and palatable and the simplicity of program layout most rewarding.” N. Gray, NSW.

What’s On (August 4-10):
Just The Way We Are, featuring The Four Kinsmen, is this week’s Saturday Special on ABC.

On Sunday afternoon ABC presents live coverage of Round 6 of the Australian Sports Sedans Championship, from Calder Raceway.  Geelong and Collingwood are this week’s teams in the Sunday afternoon Commodore Cup on HSV7, live from St Kilda Football Ground, and ATV0 presents live coverage of VFA Football.

On Monday, ATV0 debuts Peter Couchman’s Melbourne, an extension of the late-night Peter Couchman Tonight.  The new 7.00pm program includes special reports and contributions from Derryn Hinch, Marie van Maaren, Tony Porter and Bob Maumill.

In Skyways (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), MacFarlane (Tony Bonner) leaves his assistant, Louise (Tina Bursill) in charge of the airport while he attends to a domestic problem.  Her dismissal of a drunken baggage handler sparks off a strike.

Sunday night movies: Westworld (HSV7), Jovan – The John Sullivan Story (GTV9), Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (ATV0).  ABC presents a two-hour BBC special, Einstein’s Universe, presented by Peter Ustinov.  The documentary coincides with the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s birth.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 4 August 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: May 12-18

TV’s reluctant sex symbol
Former Queenslander Shane Porteous has performed in Shakespearean plays, has appeared on stage in London’s West End and has been “arrested” in Cop Shop.  His first leading TV role, in the children’s series Catch Kandy, was a “disappointment” and his nude scenes with Belinda Giblin in The Box attracted controversy.  And he had a long-running role in the ABC series Certain Women.  But it was his appearance in a series of commercials for a laundry detergent that has made him a familiar face with the public:  “No matter what role I play on TV, no matter what critics might say of a stage play I’ve been happy about, I get the feeling sometimes I’m best known as the ‘Drive’ man.  People in the street and on the train often say ‘got the wine stain out yet?’ or ‘how’s your clever little secretary?’.”   But despite the fame of laundry detergent commercials, Porteous (pictured, with Nick Hedstrom and Zoe Bertram) has made a return to TV series drama as businessman Andrew Nelson in The Restless Years in what is tipped to be “the love story of the year”.

YTT takes the cake!
It was a reunion of past and present members of Young Talent Time when the popular 0-10 Network program recently celebrated its eighth birthday with a party at the ATV0 studios.  Joining Johnny Young and the current Young Talent Team were original cast members from 1971 including Rod Kirkham, Vikki Broughton, Jane Scali, Jamie Redfern and Debbie Byrne.

ABC opens showcase for top talent
Some of Australia’s best-known performers will be featured in a variety series now in production for ABC.  The first of the series of seven programs, to air next month, will feature Jill Perryman.  Other programs in the series will feature Barry Crocker, Peter Regan, Rolf Harris, Johnny Farnham and The Four Kinsmen.  Music for the series is being recorded by the Brian May ABC Melbourne Show Band.

Carleton’s Canberra
Former This Day Tonight reporter Richard Carleton (pictured) is back at ABC, after a three-year absence, as the Canberra correspondent for Nationwide.  His day starts at 6.30am with the arrival of the Sydney newspapers as well as The Canberra Times.  By 8.30 he is on the steps of Parliament House with prime minister Malcolm Fraser and during the day crosses paths with Minister for Foreign Affairs Andrew Peacock, shadow minister Paul Keating and Minister for Post and Telecommunications Bruce Goodluck among others.  But after three years out of the country he realises that there are many of the 188 members of Parliament that he does not know – though he hopes to know all about them by the time the next election occurs.

Briefly…
The Paul Hogan Show’s Delvene Delaney and husband John Cornell have welcomed the arrival of their first daughter, Allira.

Cop Shop star Paula Duncan has welcomed her sister, Carmen, to Melbourne for her role in Seven’s new drama series Skyways.

Walter Sullivan will host the new series of ABC’s Capriccio when it returns this week.  Guest stars for the show this year include Jacki Weaver, Ed Devereaux, Diane Cilento and June Bronhill.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor
”I am sick of people knocking ABC.  The ABC has a lot of problems – lack of money, lack of equipment – so their programming may be a bit chaotic.  But consider their public responsibility to show sports events, children’s and educational programs, current affairs and heavy culture.  How they cram in a little light entertainment is a source of continual amazement.” S. Lindsay, QLD.

“I wonder if ATN7, Sydney, knows how much CBN8/CWN6 mutilates the Seven Big League program?  We all put up with genuine product advertisements because they are an accepted and necessary part of commercial TV, but it seems CBN8 saves up the community service announcements for the football replay.” J. Lewis, NSW.

“Congratulations to ABC for showing The Best Of Parkinson and now Parkinson In Australia.  I enjoyed the first show and enjoying the second the second until Frank Hardy appeared on the scene.  From the moment he appeared he turned the interview into a monologue of himself, his manners and language were so atrocious as to be an embarrassment to most viewers.  What was he trying to prove?” D. Spencely, SA.

What’s On (May 12-18):
Weekend sport includes live coverage of the last two quarters of the VFL Match Of The Day on ABC, Saturday afternoon.  Football replays follow with Saturday Night Football on ABC and Seven’s Big League on HSV7.  Late on Saturday night, ABC presents the FA Cup Final, direct from Wembley Stadium, London.

This week’s guests on Parkinson In Australia (ABC, Saturday) are Kate Fitzpatrick, Bob Hawke and Jack Fingleton.

This Fabulous Century (HSV7, Sunday) looks at Australian music over the last century – including film of The Beatles’ visit to Australia and interviews with Col Joye, Little Pattie and footage of the last TV interview with Johnny O’Keefe who passed away in late-1978.

The final episode of Marque: 100 Years Of Motoring (ABC, Thursday) looks at the future of the car industry and host Peter Wherrett chooses his favourite car from the whole series.

James Smillie, Carmel Millhouse and Briony Behets are guest stars in this week’s episodes of Prisoner (ATV0, Tuesday and Wednesday).

Sunday night movies: The Legend Of Lylah Clare (HSV7), Born Free (GTV9), The Last Hurrah (ATV0).

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 12 May 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: April 7-13

The Prisoner Files
So who’s who on both sides of the bars at Wentworth Detention Centre?  TV Times presents a special guide to the prisoners and officers in the new 0-10 Network series.

Karen Travers (Peita Toppano): Deeply religious, Travers is convicted for the murder of her brutal husband.  Sentenced to life behind bars.  Peita Toppano, the daughter of showbusiness couple Enzo Toppano and Peggy Mortimer, was a singer in many stage productions before turning to acting.

Bea Smith (Val Lehman):  A former hairdresser, Smith was convicted for the murder of a co-worker.  Having served ten years behind bars, she is released on parole but returns to Wentworth after murdering her husband.  Val Lehman has had extensive acting experience in both Australia and the United Kingdom, including touring with Children’s Arena theatre and appearing in four movies.

Jeannie “Mum” Brooks (Mary Ward, pictured):  A well-spoken, gentle woman who befriends new inmates and is well regarded by both officers and inmates.  Brooks was convicted for murdering her husband but, while on parole, is caught shop-lifting.  Mary Ward has worked in Australia and the United Kingdom, and before Prisoner had appeared in Bellbird and performed for the Melbourne Theatre Company.

Doreen Anderson (Colette Mann): A victim of child abuse, Anderson becomes easily led into crime and is serving four years in prison for breaking and entering.  Colette Mann’s career began in the musical Godspell in 1971 and has since worked as a singer, dancer, actress and choreographer.

Marilyn Mason (Margaret Laurence):  Serving twelve months for soliciting, Mason has a history of soliciting and stealing, and is known to have worked in a pornographic movie.  Margaret Laurence did her early theatre training in the United Kingdom and later worked in the US in dramas including Days Of Our Lives and The Young And The Restless.  Since coming to Australia, Laurence has appeared in Number 96 and worked for the Melbourne Theatre Company.

Freida “Franky” Doyle (Carol Burns): A former shop assistant, convicted for armed robbery and murder, Doyle has a record of association with bikie gangs.  She is a lesbian with an unrequited passion for Karen Travers.  Carol Burns has worked extensively in the theatre since 1970 and has worked as a senior lecturer in drama at the Darling Downs College of Advanced Education (Queensland).  In recent times, Burns has appeared in a number of ABC plays.

Lynn Warner (Kerry Armstrong): A naive country girl, serving ten years for the kidnapping and attempted murder of a child of an employer, though maintains her innocence of any crime.  Kerry Armstrong began acting while still at school and later became a weather girl at GTV9 Melbourne.  She has recently appeared in Cop Shop, The Truckies and The Sullivans, but Prisoner is her first ongoing role.

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Birdsworth (Sheila Florance, pictured): A housewife and mother of four, Birdsworth is a kleptomaniac and an alcoholic with a long string of convictions for theft.  She is sentenced to life in prison for the “accidental” killing of four shearers when she laced their food with arsenic “to teach them a lesson.”  Sheila Florance has more than 45 years experience in showbusiness across both Australia and the United Kingdom, and has appeared in many Australian TV productions including Consider Your Verdict, Division Four, Matlock Police, Bellbird, Homicide and Bobby Dazzler.

Meg Jackson (Elspeth Ballantyne): Born inside prison, Jackson is a warder that is sympathetic to the inmates.  A happy marriage to prison psychologist Bill (Don Barker) ended abruptly when he is murdered during a prison riot.  Elspeth Ballantyne is an established television and film actress with roles in dramas including Bellbird, Power Without Glory and Cop Shop.

Vera Bennett (Fiona Spence):  A harsh prison warden who is ruthless with the prisoners.  Is hopeful that her strong rule with get her the prison governorship.  She is single and lives at home with her elderly mother.  Fiona Spence is a recent graduate from 680 Playhouse and has appeared in the drama series Glenview High and in several television commercials.

Erica Davidson (Patsy King): The prison governor whose academic approach sometimes keeps her remote from the inmates and fails to understand their passions and frustrations.  Is married but her private life is kept a mystery as it is known she does not see her husband, being either separated or divorced.  Patsy King has worked extensively in Australia and New Zealand, including roles in Matlock Police, Homicide and Division Four, as well as appearing as a presenter on ABC’s Play School.

Greg Miller (Barry Quin): The prison doctor who is re-united with a former romantic interest when Karen Travers enters the prison.  Barry Quin is an actor with over ten years experience in the United Kingdom.  He met co-star Peita Toppano when touring Australia with the Chichester Festival Theatre Company and the two are now engaged to be married later this month.

Eddie Cook (Richard Moir): The electrician who is often called to the prison and spends a lot more time there than he should after falling for prison inmate Marilyn Mason.  Richard Moir is a former film assistant from ABC’s Four Corners and later became a reporter for A Current Affair before moving into acting.  Moir has appeared in Chopper Squad and The Restless Years as well as the movie The Odd Angry Shot.

Certain Women stars return to TV soaps
Three former stars of ABC’s Certain Women are returning to TV with key roles in The Restless Years and The Young Doctors.  Shane Porteous joins The Restless Years as businessman Andrew Nelson who becomes involved in what is being described as “the love story of the year.”  Also joining The Restless Years is Ivar Kants as the rough-but-gentle Ken Garrett, a friend of Peter Beckett (Nick Hedstrom).  Actress Carmen Duncan, who has also starred in Number 96, joins The Young Doctors as a widow who checks into the hospital for a minor operation but ends up vying for the affection of Dr Rod Langley (Chris Orchard).

Bert hits the jackpot
Bert Newton (pictured) has hit the jackpot with the signing of a five-year contract with a Melbourne radio station for a reported $1 million.  But the Don Lane Show sidekick and New Faces host has also had reason to celebrate with wife Patti giving birth to their second child, Lauren Elise.  The Newtons already have a son, two-year-old Matthew.

New ABBA special
The 0-10 Network and British broadcaster BBC have just completed a one-hour TV special ABBA In Switzerland – despite two of the pop group’s performers, Agnetha and Bjorn, having recently divorced.  The special, which also features Kate Bush, Leo Sayer and Boney M, is expected to screen in Australia later in the year.

Briefly…
Easter is a time for telethons – as Melbourne’s HSV7, Brisbane’s BTQ7 and Adelaide’s ADS7 prepare for their annual children’s hospital appeals.  The Melbourne and Brisbane appeals will go to air on Good Friday, while Adelaide’s telethon is held on the Saturday before Easter.

The star of ABC’s Patrol Boat, HMAS Bombard, has been towed back to Sydney for repairs after a fire onboard caused extensive damage.  ABC is now rescheduling filming as the stand-in boat, HMAS Advance, is about to be recalled for official duty.

The Nine Network’s million-dollar documentary series, The Africans, has been sold to 18 countries ahead of its screening in Australia later this month.  The two-part series was filmed over four months in Algeria, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Rhodesia and South Africa. 

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor
”Once again I’ve missed the start of a program because channels won’t stick to their timetables.  I watched ABC’s The Onedin Line until 9.20pm and the news until 9.30, then crossed to WIN4 for The Sweeney only to find it well-started, although it was due to begin at 9.30 after Roving Eye.  Why do they do this?” E. James, NSW.

“Why is there not a TV channel which shows only sport? They could show Test matches, races and re-runs for seven days a week.  The rest of us could then be informed and entertained without constant interruptions by meaningless contests.” P. Casey, NSW.

“I would like to say how much I enjoy watching The Waltons during daytime viewing.  Grandma Walton passed a comment on putting strawberries and cinnamon on a rhubarb pie.  I cooked it this way and found it delicious, a nice change from apples.” D. Pratt, NSW.

What’s On (April 7-13):
On Saturday afternoon, GTV9 presents live coverage of the Golden Slipper Stakes from Sydney’s Rosehill Racecourse.  ABC has Sydney Rugby League’s Match Of The Day.

On This Week Has Seven Days (HSV7, Saturday afternoon), host Honor Walters, with studio guest furrier Stephen Dattner, studies how a fur coat is made.  Interior Designing is the subject of the careers segment, and this week’s medical topic is dermatology.

The Australian Beauty Quest ‘79, the selection of the Australian representative for the Miss Universe pageant, is telecast on GTV9 on Saturday night, live from Perth. 

On Tuesday night, GTV9 presents a delayed telecast of the 51st Academy Awards.  Best Picture nominations include Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, Heaven Can Wait, Midnight Express and An Unmarried Woman.  The awards presentation is hosted by Johnny Carson.

ABC’s motoring history series Marque, with Peter Wherrett (pictured), looks at the era of the 1930s featuring some of the industry’s great names such as Duesenberg, Packard Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Hispano-Suiza and Alfa-Romeo.

Friday is Good Friday, and HSV7 presents its annual Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.  The telecast starts at 8.30am and, apart from news updates at 8.45am and midday and Seven National News at 6.30pm, continues through to midnight.  The all-day appeal features celebrities from across the Seven Network (including Shirley Strachan, pictured with hospital patient Narelle McKenzie) and guest artists including Johnny Farnham, Colleen Hewett, the Australian Children’s Choir, Christie Allen, Russell Morris and TMG.  Players from all VFL teams also appear during the day.  The telephone numbers for donations are (03) 630 291 in Melbourne and (052) 21 3333 in Geelong.

Sunday night movies: The Salzburg Connection (HSV7), Catch 22 (GTV9), The Arrangement (ATV0). 

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 7 April 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: January 13-19

Not just bunging on an act!
Cop Shop's Detective Danni Francis spends her time putting criminals behind bars, but her alter ego Paula Duncan (pictured) has also spent plenty of time behind bars of a different sort:  "When I was little my parents ran hotels for a living, so I was brought up behind bars.  Right behind them - they never let me anywhere near the licenced premises.  But the atmosphere was great and life was a lot of fun."  With ambitions of a showbusiness career dating back to childhood, she was successful in gaining entrance into the National Institute Of Dramatic Art (NIDA), but for reasons she still does not know, was not accepted for a second year.  Despite the setback, Duncan went on to appear in ABC's production of Pirates Of Penzance and made guest appearances as a singer on The Barry Crocker Hour before being cast in a regular role on the ABC series Certain Women in 1973.  Duncan then appeared on soap dramas Number 96 and The Young Doctors before auditioning for a role on The Sullivans.  "I missed out on the role because I was too young but Crawford Productions later offered me the role on Cop Shop." 

ABC will buy stunning Shakespeare showcase
ABC has announced it will purchase the 37 plays that comprise the complete dramatic works of William Shakespeare, to be produced over the next six years between BBC and Time Life Films in a project worth over $A12 million.  The task of presenting all 37 plays is a feat that has only been achieved in the theatre twice in the last 400 years and marks one of the most ambitious dramatic productions in the history of BBC.  No dates have been scheduled for the screening of the plays in Australia but ABC's acting controller of programs, Grahame Reynolds, said they will probably screen at the rate of one a month.  The first play, Romeo And Juliet, premiered on BBC last month and is to screen in the US later this month.

Sesame Street Australian-style
Children's TV programming could receive a boost with plans for a big-budget locally produced series this year.  Great Treasures Marketing, a book distribution house with global interests and headquarters in Melbourne, is said to be keen to invest in a TV production based loosely on the successful Sesame Street series.  Melbourne-based writer Stan Marks, one of the panel of judges for the Penguin Awards who criticised the standards of children's television production, was approached by Great Treasures Marketing to be involved in the TV series project.  The project has yet to be offered to a TV network.

News lures Annette south
After 15 years in Brisbane television, Annette Allison (pictured) has accepted a lucrative offer to move south to Melbourne channel ATV0.  Allison was approached last year by ATV0 manager Mike Lattin, who had previously appointed her to host Brisbane BTQ7's daytime show when he was program manager there in 1977.  The 33-year-old will present the channel's Eyewitness News alongside Bruce Mansfield and will also appear on the new daytime talk show Everyday.  "Everyday will go to air live and basically it's a similar format to my previous BTQ7 show, Annette.  I think they are aiming the program at being a Women's Weekly of Australian TV."  Allison left BTQ7 on 7 January, fifteen years to the day since she joined the channel, and starts at ATV0 on 15 January.   "I haven't taken this decision lightly.  I have to uproot everything and I consider it to be the major move of my life."

Briefly...
Tim Evans, a former co-writer for The Don Lane Show, will stay behind the scenes in his new role as producer of HSV7's The Penthouse Club.  The show will return soon for 1979, again with Ernie Sigley as host, but auditions are under way for a new female co-host to replace Mary Hardy who left the program last year.  The program is also being expanded this year to broadcast through Victorian regional stations as well as to Tasmania.

Chris Bartlett, voice-over man for Perth-based game show Family Feud, has left for Japan to work as assistant production manager on an American TV mini-series based on the best-selling book Shogun.

Actor Michael Caton is to reprise his role as Uncle Harry in The Sullivans, but as Caton said, "it'll be a somewhat different Harry.  He has, er, been changed by circumstances, but he still has plenty of schemes."

A one-hour documentary on Melbourne's massage parlours is being produced by former This Day Tonight producer John McIntosh for screening on the Seven Network.  McIntosh is the husband of Sue McIntosh, formerly of the children's series Adventure Island and a presenter on GTV9's children's program You Me And Education.

GTV9 newsreader Peter Hitchener (pictured) has settled his differences with the channel and has renewed his contract:  "I am delighted to be staying at Nine.  (Incoming newsreader) Brian Naylor and I get on well together and I look forward to an interesting and exciting year."

 

Viewpoint: Letters To The Editor:
"I am so annoyed with the amount of sport on TV!  We often see the commercials about Life Be In It, and how it's better not to be Norm - "warming the set and cooling the tinnies."  These ads are put on for people to realise that being part of a sporting team is better than sitting on one's backside with a cold can and watching it on TV." E. Fogarty, NSW.

"I am writing to complain about cricket taking over the time slots of regular programs, especially Countdown!  Consider those people who live in country areas, who have no choice of channels." R. Hurditch, NSW.

"I can no longer contain myself.  When I saw that The Quest was to be appear at 11.00pm on Monday 4 December, quite frankly, I saw red.  With weeks between episodes, altered nights and times, TCN9 should be ashamed.  Don't the powers-that-be recognise an above average program when they see it?" V. Longhurst, NSW.

What's On (January 13-19):
More cricket on our screens with the 2nd One-Day International on ABC on Saturday, live from the Sydney Cricket Ground, World Series Cricket on GTV9 on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, the final of the Gillette Cup on ATV0 on Sunday, and the Sheffield Shield on ABC on Friday.

A re-run of the historic drama Cash And Company begins on HSV7 on Saturday night. 

Saturday's late night movie on ATV0 is the 1962 thriller The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies.  The following night, HSV7's late night classic is the 1958 sci-fi horror The Blob.

Sunday night movies are The Little Hut (HSV7), The Horsemen (GTV9) and The Family Way (ATV0).  ABC screens the telemovie She'll Be Sweet, the fifth telemovie produced by the broadcaster in association with the US-based Transatlantic Enterprises.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 13 January 1979.  ABC/ACP

1978: January 28-February 3

Cover: How Ken James keeps hopping:
Actor Ken James, formerly from the soap The Box and now in the new series Glenview High, reminisces about his days as the park ranger's son in the iconic children's drama Skippy The Bush Kangaroo - including the times when the show's marsupial star would cut from a scene and head into the wilderness, having to be chased by actors, directors and camera crew to be retrieved. Skippy became one of Australia's biggest exports, being sold to 130 countries including the USSR. (Pictured on the TV Times cover are Ken James with Glenview High co-stars Rebecca Gilling, left, and Camilla Rountree)

The word is... Gra-Gra and Ugly Dave to get specials:
TV Times reported, although nobody at TEN10 will confirm or deny it, that Blankety Blanks host Graham Kennedy and panellist Ugly Dave Gray could be hosting their own series of specials as a spin-off from the popular game show. It seems that the nightly Kennedy-Gray gag session at the close of each episode of Blankety Blanks is so popular with viewers that a spin-off featuring the pair is only logical.

Kalgoorlie killer mine:
Martin Vaughan, Kate Fitzpatrick and Tom Oliver to star in a one-hour drama, Deep Vein, to be produced by Perth's STW9. The single-episode drama is being set around a mining disaster in the early 1900s, in which a man is trapped underground for nearly a week. Much of the filming of the program is to be conducted in the remote mining town of Kalgoorlie.

Nothing glum about the TV Glumps:
Producer Lyle McCabe is off to overseas markets to sell The Glumps, a 26-episode series of 10-minute animations featuring small plasticine models with eyes and a mouth. "They have a similar effect to the Muppets. We tested the show on 100 kids and they enjoyed it," he told TV Times. In the show's pilot episode, the Glumps re-enact man's development of weapons from the Stone Age club to more modern ballistics. Locally, the 0-10 Network is said to be interested.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor
"Westerns forever! Sydney's TEN10 at least gives the public Daniel Boone, but it has been repeated so often it is hardly worth watching. Why don't TV stations repeat westerns such as Wagon Train, Bonanza and Broken Arrow?" V.Hawkin, NSW.

"The last Mike Walsh Show I saw so disgusted me I feel I can't watch or listen to it ever again. Did Mike Walsh think it was the funny the dreadful way Phillip Brady was treated?" D.Adam, QLD.

"I know I am not alone in my views on the termination of two of the most interesting and also cleanest serials ever on view - Certain Women and Bellbird. Over the years my husband and I have come to love and live with the Bellbird and Certain Women characters as if they were a part of our family, so it is sad to know we will not have them again." W.Lidden, NSW.

What's On (January 28-February 3):
The ratings year is still a couple of weeks away, so any decent highlights are still few and far between. On Saturday night, ABC screens Jubilee: A Right Royal Celebration - the story of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee Year celebrations. A few nights later, ABC screens the official film of the 1977 Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race.

On Sunday night, ATV0 presents the outdoor games show Almost Anything Goes, the predecessor to It's A Knockout which appeared a decade later. Host Tim Evans is joined by comedian Sean Kramer and football identity Ron Barassi.

Sunday night's movies are all premieres: The Buttercup Chain (HSV7), The Horsemen (GTV9) and Minnie And Moskowitz (ATV0).

Friday night is definitely family viewing night with US series The Waltons (ATV0), Donny And Marie (GTV9) and Eight Is Enough (HSV7) all vying for attention at 7.30pm. ABV2 presents the premiere of The Edge Of The Cold, a series of films on the history and wildlife of Macquarie Island, 1700 km south of Australia.

Later on Friday night, radio 3XY DJ Lee Simon presents two hours of music on Nightmoves on HSV7, featuring Joan Armatrading, George Benson and the Eagles.

Source: TV Times, 28 January 1978 (Melbourne edition). ABC/ACP