Remembering Seven’s Epping era

The Sunrise team earlier this week posted a picture via their Twitter feed showing the demolition (“using Gladiator props as wrecking balls?”) of the Seven Network’s former studios in Sydney.

The studios, in the suburb of Epping, were barely completed when the ribbon across the Studio B doors was cut on ATN7’s opening night – 2 December 1956.  And the opening night almost didn’t happen at all as a massive thunderstorm hit Sydney earlier that day, blacking out many suburbs – including Epping.  Power was restored just in time to allow the studio cameras the required 45 minutes to warm up before airtime.  VIPs arrived at the complex in torrential rain and had to make their way across mud tracks to get to the building.

In its early years the Epping complex hosted many Australian television firsts – the first ‘tonight’ show, Sydney Tonight with Keith Walshe, the first breakfast news show, Today with Ray Taylor, the first current affairs show, Seven On 7, and the first soap operas, Autumn Affair and The Story Of Peter Grey.  ATN7 was the first TV station in Australia to install videotape equipment in the late 1950s.  The station also partnered with Melbourne’s GTV9 to complete the first ever transmission between Sydney and Melbourne via a series of microwave links.

Other shows to have emanated from Epping include Revue ‘61, Startime, Sing Sing Sing (The Johnny O’Keefe Show), Beauty And The Beast, Captain Fortune, Pick-A-Box, The Mavis Bramston Show (pictured), My Name’s McGooley What’s Yours?, Great Temptation, Sydney Today, Eleven AM, The Naked Vicar Show, Kingswood Country, Romper Room, Sounds, Cartoon Connection, Saturday Morning Live, Sportsworld, Terry Willesee Tonight, Wheel Of Fortune, Hey Dad!, Real Life, Sunrise and The Main Event.

Some of TVs most famous names have also spent time at Epping.  Roger Climpson was ATN7’s principal newsreader for many years and also hosted This Is Your Life and Australia’s Most Wanted.  Mike Willesee, Graham Kennedy, Clive Robertson, Rex Mossop, Paul Hogan (pictured), Norman Gunston (Garry McDonald), Peter Luck, Bill Collins, Maggie Tabberer, Jana Wendt and Andrew Denton have also worked at the Epping studios.  And of course the many actors and actresses that passed through the various dramas to have come from Epping – series including Jonah, Motel, Catwalk, Class Of ‘74, Glenview High, A Country Practice, Sons And Daughters, Rafferty’s Rules, Home And Away, All Saints and Packed To The Rafters.

ATN7 has now moved to new facilities at the Australian Technology Park (pictured) in the Sydney suburb of Redfern – while news production facilities, including Sunrise, Seven News, Today Tonight and The Morning Show, are based at Martin Place in the Sydney CBD.

Source: Sunrise, Sydney Architecture, Forty Years Of Television: The Story Of ATN7.

Monica Maughan

Actress Monica Maughan, star of stage, film and television, has died in Melbourne.

One of Australia’s most recognisable actresses, Maughan made her professional debut back to 1957 with the Melbourne Theatre Company.  It is believed that in her career spanning half a century she had starred in more MTC productions than any other performer.

Television viewers will recognise Maughan from her roles in popular dramas The Box and Prisoner and in the ABC series The Damnation Of Harvey McHugh, which led to her winning an AFI award, for best lead actress, and a TV Week Logie award for most outstanding actress.

Other television roles included appearances in Homicide, Matlock Police, Glenview High, Cop Shop, Loss Of Innocence, Skyways, The Flying Doctors, The Gillies Republic, Come In Spinner, Col’n Carpenter, A Country Practice, The Genie From Down Under, Blue Heelers, MDA and, as Graham Kennedy’s grandmother in the biographical telemovie, The King.

In recent years she appeared in films Crackerjack, Strange Bedfellows and Blessed.

Her last credited TV appearance was in the ABC comedy The Librarians.

Source: ABC, IMDB, Australian Television Information Archive, Sydney Morning Herald

1979: December 8-14

Sergeant O’Reilly’s ball and chain!
A happy occasion on Seven’s Cop Shop with the wedding of Senior Sergeant Eric O’Reilly (Terry Norris) and Lorna Close (Moya O’Sullivan).  The wedding, held in an outdoor setting, will go to air this week in Melbourne and Brisbane and later in Sydney.

Arcade builds into a blockbuster
Production on Cash-Harmon’s new soap opera, Arcade, has started at the studios of TEN10, Sydney.  The new big-budget series is hoped be a hit with viewers the same way as their previous hit show, Number 96.  However, unlike 96, Arcade is expected to rely on humour rather than sex and violence.  Among the scriptwriting team for Arcade are former Number 96 writers Johnny Whyte and David Sale.  Whyte was flown in from London especially to work on the Arcade script.  TEN10’s Studio A has been re-modelled into a mock shopping complex, with shop sets designed down to the last detail, while a shopping complex in the suburb of Cremorne is being used for outdoor shots.  More than 1300 people were auditioned for roles in Arcade, and some of the actors and actresses chosen will be making their TV debut in the series, joining more familiar cast names including Lorrae Desmond, Peggy Toppano (Blankety Blanks), Olga Tamara, Greg Bepper (Class Of ‘74, Glenview High) and former Number 96 stars Aileen Britton and Mike Dorsey.  Although a timeslot for Arcade has yet to be decided, producers are hoping to launch the series with a movie-length debut in mid-January.

Future shocks
Robert Moore, the former host of the long-running Monday Conference, is now presenting Faces Of The Eighties, a series of seven half-hour interviews with influential Australians heading into the new decade.  But Moore predicts that there may be tough times ahead in the 1980s: “We’re a lot more frightened today.  For instance, people have now come to believe – and not just the experts – that we may never see full employment again.  The idea of full employment may just have been a passing phase in human history.  We were lucky enough to enjoy it, but it’s running out now.”  Moore also predicts that Australians will continue to become fonder of a warmer climate, which will see a population boom in Queensland and Western Australia: “If this is true, you’d be pretty dumb buying land for houses in Tasmania and Victoria today.”

Young Doctors take the cake
It was a multiple birthday celebration when TCN9, Sydney, threw a party for the cast of The Young Doctors to celebrate its third birthday last month.  The party, a four-hour cruise of Sydney Harbour, also coincided with cast member Alfred Sandor’s birthday, with a cake and a kiss for the birthday boy from colleagues Rebecca Gilling and Karen Pini.

 

Briefly…
Actor Gary Gray and his new wife Honor Walters were in the money when the horse they co-own, Miss Pere, won the first race at Sandown recently.

Country music star and host of Country Homestead, Reg Lindsay is finally noticing, after ten years of regular visits to the United States, that he is starting to be recognised.  “They know me in Nashville.  They say ‘Why, that’s the Australian fellow’.  I’ve had half a dozen singles released in the US and the album I made in Nashville will be released later this year.  We’re still thinking of a title.”

Mike Dorsey, starring in the new series Arcade, has had to grow a beard to try and distance himself from his former on-screen persona of Reg ‘Daddy’ McDonald in Number 96.  Despite appearing in The Young Doctors since Number 96 ended two years ago, he is still recognised as the former character.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”Complaints to TEN10, Sydney, for not televising the 1979 Custom Credit Indoor Championships at a respectable time.  We were very disappointed at not being able to view their outstanding matches, along with their respective interviews, and feel other viewers share our opinion that 10.30pm to 1.30am is not a suitable timeslot for people who work and have to rise early.”  K. Kand, NSW.

“When the commercial channels screen a film in the 7.30pm timeslot, why do they almost double the viewing time by screening innumerable commercials?  People who view at this time usually like, or need, to go to bed early, and if you are enjoying the film, it is annoying to have to switch off halfway through.” M. Walker, NSW.

“Why do we have to put up with Diana Fisher and her silly remarks on The Inventors? Vic Nicolson and Professor Stephenson both know what they’re talking about, but what does Diana Fisher know?  Her remarks about colours etc must nearly drive most people mad.” B. Heald, NSW.

What’s On (December 8-14):
Weekend sport includes the World Series Cricket, live from Melbourne, on GTV9, and tennis with the NSW Women’s Classic, from White City, Sydney, on HSV7.

HSV7’s movie host Ivan Hutchinson presents a 90-minute special previewing all the big-screen movies to be released over the Christmas break – titles including The Muppet Movie, Star Trek, Apocalypse Now, Rocky 2, Meteor, 10 and More American Graffiti.

Former Monday Conference host Robert Moore (pictured) presents the first in a seven-part series, Faces Of The Eighties, interviewing Sir Roderick Carnegie, chairman and managing director of Australia’s second largest company and largest mining company, CRA.

GTV9 has some long-gone Australian series in its late-night summer line-up – Luke’s Kingdom, King’s Men and the comedy Last Of The Australians.

In Skyways (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), Simon (Ken James) and Kelly (Joanne Samuel) set a date for their wedding.  Meanwhile, in Cop Shop (HSV7, Monday), the marriage of Senior Sergeant Eric O’Reilly (Terry Norris) and Lorna Close (Moya O’Sullivan).

Sunday night movies: A Howling In The Woods (HSV7), Night Flight From Moscow (GTV9), The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter (ATV0).

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 8 December 1979.  ABC/ACP

1979: July 14-20

Prisoner’s key women
TV Times talks to three of the stars of the popular new series Prisoner about their roles and what the show means to them.

Elspeth Ballantyne, who plays prison warder Meg Jackson, said that Prisoner has proven that women can handle a show on their own.  “Prisoner is a very good series.  It has a lot of dramatic qualities.  It moves quickly and has good storylines provided by some top writers. I have made some good friends while working on the series, such as Fiona Spence.  The cast members are a terrific group of women who are very professional.  I’m also amazed that there hasn’t been any bitchiness.”  But mother-of-two Ballantyne will not allow her children – Matthew, 9, and Tobias, 7 – to watch the program: “It’s an adult show and they are in bed when it’s on at 8.30pm.”

Patsy King, who plays prison governor Erica Davidson, has had a varied background in radio and television – including appearing in the children’s programs Play School and Adventure Island and in the long-running drama Bellbird.  King was also on tour around northern Australia in the play Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll:  “There were seven of us in the cast and we were chauffeur-driven up the Birdsville Track, playing at every little town we came to.  Then we had a couple of rest days, which we spent by a river infested with snakes and crocodiles, and spiders as big as your hand.  What a rest that turned out to be.”  Her new role in Prisoner is hard work, but hopes that the series goes on for a long time:  “I’m enjoying playing Erica because she is different and the character is really developing now.  I can see a lot more aspects to her.”

Fiona Spence, who plays prison warden Vera Bennett, had spent the last few years travelling and studying drama at the University Of New South Wales.  After a guest role in Glenview High and some TV commercials, the role of Ms Bennett is Spence’s first major role:  “I’m happy with Vera.  She’s very dramatic and in some ways like myself.  She is very unpopular with the public and the more they hate her, the better it is for me.  Then I know the character is working.”  Eventually, Spence hopes to go into theatre:  “I’ve never done professional stage work, only university plays.  Then I’d like to try films.  I’m not really fussy about what I do.  However, I can’t sing or dance, so I don’t want to be in a musical.  Drama is what I’m best at.”

700 million will see Miss Universe crowned
A worldwide audience of an estimated 700 million will see Miss Universe 1979 when it is held in Perth this week.  The two-hour ceremony, from Perth’s Entertainment Centre, has been years in the planning and will be beamed to 50 countries.  Viewers around the world will see the event live but Australians will see it on a delayed telecast as the ceremony is timed to start at 9.00am, Perth time, this Friday.

Current affairs for kids
Children are to get their own daily current affairs program along the lines of Willesee At Seven and This Day Tonight.  The new program, yet to be titled, is being produced for the 0-10 Network by former Willesee At Seven reporter and producer Simon Townsend (pictured) and has been approved by the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal for screening with a ‘C’ classification.  The pilot for the program was produced by Townsend in 1977 on a grant from the Nine Network.  Nine decided not to proceed with the program and even though Nine funded the pilot, it remained Townsend’s property.  Only days after the pilot was given the ‘C’ classification, Townsend received a call from the 0-10 Network.  No screening date for the program has been set as yet.

Briefly…
Actor Peter Cousens has been announced as host of ABC’s new children’s environmental series Earthwatch.  Cousens will be joined by a forum of four to six children, and the program will include singing and dancing, news clips and a current affairs segment. 

The winner of last year’s series of The Inventors, David Little, will be a guest when the show returns this week for its tenth year.  Little’s invention, a solar tracker/heater, is now ready for world distribution and Little is now hoping for a financial return of several millions of dollars.

Viewers of The Young Doctors may see a slimmer Ada Simmonds (Gwen Plumb, pictured) next year.  The actress has accepted a challenge to lose 6 kg or give $1000 to the next Appealathon, due for early next year, on Perth’s STW9.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”Whatever happened to the good old Saturday night B-grade horror movies?  They were bad but I still miss them.” G. Barnard, NSW.

“I couldn’t believe it when I read, in the Sunday papers, about all those people who rang up channels ATN7 and TCN9 about TEN10’s screening of Last Tango In Paris.  If these people bought some meat from their butcher and, upon coming home, found it was off, would they then go to their nearest chemist and complain about it?”  M. Powell, NSW.

“I am only 15 years old and even I know it is very rude to say people 100 years old.  Also, Mrs Doolan (Viewpoint, 16 June 1979), can’t you find something a little better to pick on than a commercial?  Which, by the way, I, and I am sure many others, find amusing.” D. Hassell, QLD.

What’s On (July 14-20):
ATV0 crosses to Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse on Saturday afternoon for live coverage of Grand National Day, with races called by Clem Dimsey.

This Week Has Seven Days (HSV7, Saturday) features an interview with Peter Mayle, author of Where Did I Come From. 

ABC programs The Inventors and A Big Country both return with new episodes this week. 

In Prisoner (ATV0, Tuesday and Wednesday), Lyn (Kerry Armstrong, pictured) is released from Wentworth Detention Centre and is met by an unexpected welcoming party.  Joyce (Judy Nunn) makes Monica (Lesley Baker) an offer she finds hard to refuse.

On Friday night, GTV9 presents a delayed coverage of the 1979 Miss Universe pageant, held at Perth’s Entertainment Centre earlier that day.  The event is hosted by American personalities Helen O’Connell and Bob Barker.  Donny Osmond will be a guest performer, and judges include Carol Lynley, Lana Cantrell, LeVar Burton and Ita Buttrose.

ABC presents live coverage of the 1979 British Golf Championship from Royal Lytham, St Anne’s Lancashire, England.  Telecast starts on Friday night at 9.25pm and continues for six hours.

Sunday night movies: The Great Waldo Pepper (HSV7), The Dove (GTV9), Freebie And The Bean (ATV0).  ABC presents the first episode of Ride On Stranger, a four-part series set in Australia in the 1930s starring Liddy Clark, Noni Hazlehurst, Henri Szeps, Barbara Wyndon, Bunney Brooke and Michael Aitkens.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 14 July 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

Celebrating Mr Grundy

The wife of long-time TV producer Reg Grundy (pictured) is arranging an exclusive celebration in his honour, to be held next week at a Sydney hotel.

Grundy turned 85 earlier this year and was also named in the Queen's Birthday honours list for his services to television.

Joy Chambers, an author and former model, TV game show panelist and actress, married Grundy back in the 1970s and has invited a list of TV stars and back-stagers that helped Grundy become a household name and create an international production empire, with hit shows including Wheel Of Fortune, Sale Of The Century, Pot Of Gold, Neighbours, The Young Doctors, Chopper Squad, Prisoner (pictured), Perfect Match, The Price Is Right, Blankety Blanks, Sons And Daughters, It's A Knockout and The Restless Years.

Grundy also produced US versions of Sale Of The Century and Prisoner and co-produced the 1977 feature ABBA The Movie which followed the pop group's Australian tour.

Some of those believed to be attending next week's celebration include Brian Henderson, Ernie Sigley, Larry Emdur, Alan Jones, TV boss David Leckie and production staff that worked on Grundy's first TV venture Wheel Of Fortune which he hosted back in 1959.

Having dominated Australian television production and expanded the business overseas - with branches in the United States and Europe -  Grundy sold the company to British-based Pearson Television in 1995.  The company is now part of the international Fremantlemedia group, continuing production in Australia with shows including Neighbours, Australian Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.

After selling his TV production company, Grundy invested in radio as major shareholder in regional network RG Capital before the company was bought out by Macquarie Bank.

Reg Grundy and Joy Chambers now live in Bermuda.

Source: news.com.au

1978: November 11-17

A little bit of what John fancies
Although he's been an actor since the age of 11, John Meillon (pictured, with Stuart Wagstaff) has never been a walk-on, say-a-few-words, walk-off-again actor... a bit player. But that will change with a role in Bit Part, one of the series of plays featured in ABC's Stuart Wagstaff's World Playhouse. "This play is quite funny really. It's a sort of joke in the industry, 'Hello, you're finally playing a bit part'," he told TV Times. The veteran actor had declined offers for bit parts in the past, instead choosing the maintain a certain level in the roles he's accepted: "If you want to - with all due respect - be in things like The Restless Years, The Young Doctors and those Crawford things, if you want to do that, well, there is work. But to me the quality work has always been with ABC. My maxim has always been quality over quantity."

More of Parkinson's lore!
British TV interviewer Michael Parkinson is due to come to Australia in early 1979 to record a series of shows for ABC. Parkinson's Saturday night series has been a British favourite for seven years and has been screening on ABC since earlier this year. It's also been revealed that Parkinson was offered the chance to host the Nine Network's upcoming current affairs program 60 Minutes but declined as it meant permanently relocating to Australia.

Happy Dave is here to stay
British comedian Dave Allenby (pictured) first came to Australia in 1970 to compere the Beach Boys concert tour. The sunshine and opportunities for future work was enough to lure him back permanently. Now settled with his family in Australia, Allenby is also settled in as host of the 0-10 Network's new game show Perfect Match, where husband and wife contestants are asked questions about each other: "The format is just right. It's relaxed and I can crack gags and ad-lib as much as I like."

Briefly:
The cast of Cop Shop celebrated the show's 100th episode with a special lunch courtesy of the Seven Network, while Nine's The Young Doctors has just taped its 500th episode.

An album of Irish songs released by The Saturday Show's John MacNally (pictured with co-star Suzanne Steele) has sold more than 120,000 copies, with a single due to be released in time for Christmas and a second album next year.

A five-part documentary series China - The Human Face has been made by Film Australia, breaking the long-standing ban on Western film crews entering the nation. The documentary is expected to screen early in 1979.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"I hope that ABC can sell The Truckies overseas. People should understand that Australian truckies' long hauls are not like those in smaller countries. I have been married to a truckie for over 27 years and we all wait to see who the next program will remind us of." B. Longhurst, NSW.

"Why doesn't ABC screen some Elvis Presley movies? When Elvis died only capital city stations showed his movies. But country people who simply receive ABC would like to see his movies too." E. Eames, QLD.

What's On (November 11-17):
11 November is Remembrance Day, and HSV7 takes time out for two minutes silence at 11.00am, while GTV9 presents a special to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Remembrance Day.

On Saturday, ATV0 presents the last day's events of the VRC Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Australian series Glenview High returns to HSV7 on Saturday night for screening over the summer months.

GTV9 launches a summer mid-evening edition of National Nine News, screening weeknights at 9.30pm and read by Peter Hitchener.

On Thursday, GTV9 begins four days' coverage of the Australian Open Golf Championships, live from Sydney - with four hours of coverage on each of Thursday and Friday, but interrupted by The Mike Walsh Show and US soaps Days Of Our Lives and The Young And The Restless.

The Brisbane-based Orton's Old Time Music Hall, hosted by Paul Sharratt, begins on GTV9 on Friday night.

Sunday night movies are Love's Dark Ride (HSV7), My Father's House (GTV9) and Up The Sandbox (ATV0).

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 11 November 1978. ABC/ACP

1978: September 23-29

Cover: Michael Landon (Little House On The Prairie)

The Sammys are coming!
The third annual Sammy Awards promise to be the most exciting yet, with a stunning line-up of stars, programs and movies all vying for honours among 39 categories. This year will also mark the inauguration of the Chips Rafferty Memorial Award. The Sammy Awards, presented by TV Times in association with the Variety Club of Australia and the Seven Network, will take place on 11 October at Sydney's Seymour Centre. The two hour telecast will be hosted by Roger Climpson.

Dating Jenny is no picnic!
Since playing the mysterious Miranda in the movie Picnic At Hanging Rock, Anne Lambert has had roles in The Box, Glenview High and Chopper Squad, and now takes on a new role in Cop Shop. Lambert plays Jenny McGregor, girlfriend of Constable Roy Baker (Gil Tucker, pictured), but has some strange fascinations: "Jenny has a strange fascination towards violence. She is attracted by the uniform, the guns and the handcuffs."

TV ads draw viewers' fire
In 1977, 715 people were so annoyed by advertisements that they complained to the Advertising Standards Council (ASC). Half of those complaints were specifically about television advertising. The largest proportion of complaints were in the "taste and decency" category. Among the advertisements to be accused of general bad taste included those featuring bus-loads and TV screens full of lemons, the depiction of bad manners in bubble gum and potato chip advertisements, the depiction of rats eating Australia in an anti-inflation ad, the use of rough words such as 'gutsy' and 'damn', and advertisements for R-rated movies. Complaints were also received about the use of sex to sell products such as toothpaste and vitamins, the depiction of women in advertising and advertising displaying food wastage. The ASC's third annual report states that about one in eight complaints received are found to be justified.

Service to help the unemployed
The Nine Network is about to launch a new weekday morning program aimed at helping the unemployed find work. The half-hour program, Looking For A Job, will be hosted by Brian Bury and Gail Jarvis and will update job opportunities as listed by the Commonwealth Employment Services. The program will also feature interviews with representatives from major employers including BHP and The Shell Company of Australia, government agencies and the armed forces.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"I am glad to see ABC produce a program for our truckies, but as a truckie's daughter I was let down by the program. Here in Western Australia our truckies aren't beer-drinking, pill-popping drivers. Sure, they do both, but only to a certain extent. The program is making the WA truckie look exactly the opposite to what he really is. In the East the truckie may be like that, but over here it's a different matter." V. Mazza, WA.

"I am concerned about the order in which episodes of Doctor Who are screened. I would rather see all the Jon Pertwee stories in order (and the Tom Baker ones for that matter) than just a handful of randomly selected stories." S. Collins, QLD.

"Again we have an example of how writers are regarded in this country. In the preamble to Woman In The House on Stuart Wagstaff's World Playhouse, Stuart Wagstaff made a point of mentioning everyone at the beginning of the play, with the exception of the writer. Mr Wagstaff also said "... but it was really Neil Fitzpatrick's play." Correction. It was Luis Bayonas' play. Surely as an actor, Mr Wagstaff knows that neither the actors nor the director could have done such a good job if they hadn't started with a good script." M. Kelly, NSW.

What's On (September 23-29):
With The Daryl And Ossie Show now airing weeknights on ATV0, their former Saturday morning timeslot on GTV9 is now taken by The Super Saturday Show, a line-up of cartoons presented by Queensland personality Jacki MacDonald.

Guest performers on this week's Penthouse '78 include Bartholomew John, Maria Venuti and Col Elliott.

It's the lead up to the 1978 VFL Grand Final and on Monday night, HSV7 has the Brownlow Medal Count live from the Southern Cross Ballroom hosted by Peter Landy. On Thursday night, Landy presents a one-hour special That Was The Season That Was. On Friday afternoon there's live coverage of the Bourke Street parade of the Grand Final teams, and on Friday night through to Saturday morning, John Waters presents the Football Marathon, featuring highlights from HSV7's archive of VFL matches.

Relative Air Pollution, the second episode of ABC's comedy Tickled Pink, features Noel Ferrier (pictured) as owner of a radio station, 2KK, and traces his tormented life at the hands of his wife and sister-in-law, which becomes further complicated when the radio station undergoes a metamorphosis at the hands of his nephew, Jethro (Robert Hughes). The comedy also stars Judi Farr, Robina Beard, Stephen O'Rourke and Shaunna O'Grady.

Sunday night movies are The Don Is Dead (HSV7), Nowhere To Run (GTV9) and White Line Fever (ATV0), while on ABC, performer Jill Perryman is the special guest on the final episode of variety series Capriccio!

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 23 September 1978. ABC/ACP