Viewers of The Flying Doctors may be shocked by a lusty bedroom scene coming up in a future episode between Dr Guy Reid (David Reyne) and Penny Wellings (Sophie Lee). The “fling” is the result of Penny’s boyfriend Steve (Paul Kelman) getting a local schoolteacher pregnant. Penny turns to Guy for comfort and he exploits a “golden opportunity”. “He’s the sort of man who lusts after all women, really,” Reyne told TV Week. “Although he is in a relationship with Nurse Jackie Crane (Nikki Coghill), Guy has a wandering eye for Penny.” Lee was initially surprised when she was presented with the script but feels the situation is a realistic one. “It’s a daring episode but it’s the reality of what could happen in this situation in an outback town,” she said. But with the future of The Flying Doctors in doubt the long-term repercussions of the affair may not be seen. The episode is scheduled to go to air in February.
‘I’m fighting fit!’
Sale Of The Century co-host Jo Bailey has a bold announcement to make. “I want people to know that I’m not about to drop dead,” she says. The statement came after a recent magazine interview where she revealed that her family has a history of bowel cancer. “People read the headline that went with the story and think I’ve got cancer. I’d just like to clarify that I’m fighting fit… apart from being a bit stiff from water-skiing.”
Overseas viewers lap up Kelly
Skippy may have been a popular television export but she looks like being trumped by an ex-police dog called Kelly. Kelly is a six-year-old german shepherd and the title character from Network Ten children’s series, Kelly. The first series of thirteen episodes has been sold to 31 countries and a second series is nearing completion. Execute producer Jonathon Shiff says it’s a major triumph for children’s television in Australia. “I’m thrilled about the reception the show has received overseas,” he said. “One of our targets is to deliver high-quality shows for children. There is still plenty of room for shows of Disney quality which has positive storylines and characters for children to model themselves on.” The series also features child actors Charmaine Gorman and Alexander Kemp.
Fans of sitcom Acropolis Now will notice some changes with the fourth series of the show that is set to screen early in the new year – with the focus changing from “wog comedy” to broad family sitcom. “We don’t want to do a show that’s just directed at a wog audience – we want to include everybody,” says George Kapiniaris (pictured), who plays Memo in the show. “I’m sure it’s the best series we’ve made – and it’s the most mainstream one of all. The jokes are broader and the characters are funnier. Everyone is really keen to show Seven we’re serious about keeping the show going.”
”While there is not a lot that’s worth watching on the small screen at the moment, other activities within the commercial networks have been almost frenzied. It seems every other day brings an announcement of a new program or the demise of one, someone switching networks or being axed, or someone making a comeback. In the past month we’ve had Nine planning its 5.30pm current affairs program in each city, and there’s a new frontman on Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show. The network has been less forthcoming about its future participation in the Crawfords Australia series The Flying Doctors. Derryn Hinch was dropped abruptly by Seven and picked up just as quickly by Ten. Bert Newton and Jacki MacDonald (pictured) also will be at Ten in 1992 and the network is about to move the bulk of its Melbourne operations from Nunawading to South Yarra – much more accessible, upmarket and convenient for Ten’s owner, Westpac. And Seven has been preparing for Real Life and the move of Home And Away to 7.00pm. One rumour doing the rounds is that Nine has given the go-ahead to a new Saturday morning show called Saturday At Rick’s, two hours of music and madness to be made at Rick’s Cafe American at Warner Bros Movie World on the Gold Coast.”
”It was a triumphant year for comedy. Fast Forward slipped into another gear and proved itself, again, the most inventive and funniest Australian comedy product, leaving more experimental black comedy such as The Big Gig and DAAS Kapital in its wake. All Together Now (pictured) and Hey Dad! were other comedy successes for the year. Hey Dad! displays an amazing resilience, the standard of its scripts rarely flagging despite having been around for a long time by TV standards. All Together Now struggled to establish itself, but it always had the look of a program that would manage to survive. It has a strong, professional cast and its scripts and plots got better as the year wore on.”
Program Highlights (Melbourne, December 28-January 3):
Saturday: Seven crosses to Burswood Superdome, Perth, to start its live coverage of the Hopman Cup tennis. ABC presents golf with live coverage of the Australian Ladies’ Masters from Palm Meadows, Gold Coast, and Nine has live coverage of the afternoon session of play in the cricket Second Test from the MCG. Music video show Video Hits (Ten) presents the first part of its Top 100 songs of 1991 special. In the evening, Seven presents a one-hour special, 1991: The Big Picture, covering the major news and sporting events that have taken place over the past year.
Sunday: There’s more women’s golf on ABC, tennis on Seven and cricket on Nine, plus the second half of Video Hits’ Top 100 special. After the news, Nine screens a World Vision special, The Silent Tragedy, featuring Bryan Brown, Rachel Ward, Liz Burch and Ian Leslie as they visit World Vision projects and disaster areas in the Third World. Sunday night movies are The Sting (Seven) and Sweet Liberty (Ten), while Nine presents the first part of a repeat screening of mini-series The Lancaster Miller Affair, starring Nicholas Eadie and Kerry Mack.
Monday: Seven debuts a new pre-schoolers program, The Book Place, produced from SAS7 in Adelaide.
Tuesday (New Year’s Eve): ABC screens the 1951 musical Show Boat before presenting Backchat – The Year In Review, followed by late news and then American football with Don Lane which sees ABC through into 1992. Ten presents a special New Year’s Eve edition of Video Hits, starting at 10.35pm and continuing through to 1.50am, including a midnight countdown. SBS continues its New Year’s Eve tradition of screening the German-made comedy skit, Dinner For One.
Wednesday: Aussie ex-pat Clive James presents his review of the year, Clive James On ‘91, on ABC.
Thursday: Nine’s telecast of the Third Test begins from Sydney. Seven has live coverage of the evening session of the Hopman Cup, and Ten has a news special, Russia In Crisis, presented by Sydney newsreader Katrina Lee.
Friday: A full day of tennis on Seven with live coverage of the Australian Men’s Hardcourt Championships from Adelaide during the day and the finals of the Hopman Cup from Perth in the evening.
Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 28 December 1991. Southdown Press
The Great End of Year Exit! 
Vizard’s hunch about Hinch 
Chances (Nine) will finally resolve the mystery surrounding Alex Taylor’s (Jeremy Sims, pictured) missing 12 months – though not before he goes on the run after finding himself waking up next to two dead women, a knife close by and no memory of what happened. This leads to a chain of events that see him end up in a straitjacket and locked up in a detoxification centre. Meanwhile, his parents Barbara and Dan (played by Brenda Addie and John Sheerin) are having marital issues which may lead to Barbara having an affair with a much younger man. 
In A Country Practice (Seven), Wandin Valley farewells Lucy (Georgie Parker) and Matt (John Tarrant) who leave the town after finally becoming parents. Luke (Matt Day) is also leaving to pursue a flying career, and Wandin Valley bids farewell to larrikins Cookie and Bob (Syd Heylen and Gordon Piper, pictured) – but will they be gone for good? Series stalwarts Lorrae Desmond, Shane Porteous, Brian Wenzel and Joyce Jacobs will be joined by newcomer Gavin Harrison. Meanwhile, on-again-off-again lovers Harry (Andrew Blackman) and Kate (Michelle Pettigrove) will continue their game of cat and mouse, and there will be a new love for Dr Terence Elliott (Shane Porteous). 
ABC’s widely-acclaimed medical drama GP enters the new year with guest appearances by veteran actors Willie Fennell and Queenie Ashton (pictured), and joining them will be Normie Rowe, Jeff Truman and Scott Burgess. Now entering its fourth year, GP will start the year with the murder of one of Ross Street surgery’s medical staff. Jackaroo star David McCubbin joins the series as the son of Robert Sharp (John McTernan), and Dr William Sharp (Michael Craig) will finish his career as a general practitioner. 
Neighbours (Ten) enters the new year with confidence, despite the recent departure of eight cast members and with rival Home And Away set to move into its long-held 7.00pm timeslot. Following the recent arrival of new cast members Melissa Bell, Scott Michaelson, Rachel Blakely and Andrew Williams, the series will soon be joined by newcomers Natalie Imbruglia and Simon Stokes. Recently-widowed Madge Bishop (Anne Charleston) returns to Ramsay Street and finds herself being chased by old flame Lou Carpenter (Tom Oliver). Veteran actress Lorraine Bayly (pictured) joins the series as Faye Hudson, a fun character far removed from her previous more serious roles in The Sullivans and Carson’s Law. Meanwhile, Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) faces financial ruin with the collapse of his business. 
The Flying Doctors (Nine) continues over the Christmas/New Year period – with one storyline featuring a controversial bedroom encounter between Guy (David Reyne) and Penny (Sophie Lee), spurred by her unfaithful boyfriend Steve (Paul Kelman), and a pregnancy that forces the evaluation of many relationships. Meanwhile, Jackie Crane (Nikki Coghill) faces a grim future when she’s accused of negligence following a patient’s allergic reaction to penicillin. Guest stars to appear in upcoming episodes include 
Former 60 Minutes reporter George Negus (pictured) has been a vocal critic of the state of current affairs on TV – and now he has a chance to address the situation as the front man of Foreign Correspondent, a new program to start soon on ABC. “It’s because this program is different that I’ve agreed to do it,” Negus told TV Week. “If the ABC had said, ‘We want you to be involved in a new current affairs program which is a variation on a theme,’ I probably wouldn’t have said yes.”
Thursday: ABC presents live coverage of the Colonial Mutual Classic tennis, live from Kooyong, Melbourne. In The Flying Doctors (Nine), Penny (Sophie Lee, pictured) is locked in a tough administration battle with the hospital laundry staff, headed by Trisha (Colette Mann). ABC debuts four-part series The Cricket Archives, documenting a history of Australian cricket based on film archive material, presented by Jack Egan.
Lucy turns nasty… very nasty! 
Skippy’s making a comeback… and the new Sonny is a daddy! 
Neighbours is welcoming two new cast members as the long-running series celebrates its 1500th episode. Former Cleo Covergirl of the Year Rachel Blakely and actor Scott Michaelson join the series as Gaby and Brad Willis, daughter and son of Doug and Pam Willis (Terence Donovan and Sue Jones). Despite his new role, Michaelson jokes that he is an “old hand” at Neighbours. “I was first on as an extra when it was on the Seven Network. Then about four years ago, I had a small part as one of the school kids,” he said.
When former Prisoner star Sheila Florance went into hospital for her fifth cancer operation in June, most people – including Florance herself – thought it would be the last time they saw her. But she has come out of the operation and celebrated her 75th birthday with friends and former Prisoner co-stars. Her birthday also became a double celebration, as she has also been nominated for an AFI Award for her recent performance in the film A Woman’s Tale.
