1992: April 26-May 2

Sale stars in sitcom
Sale Of The Century’s Glenn Ridge and Jo Bailey are soon to be seen as guest stars in the Nine Network sitcom All Together Now. In the episode to screen this week, Anna (Jane Hall, pictured with Bailey) wins a spot on the popular quiz show. But Bailey is playing down her acting debut. “I wouldn’t exactly classify this as an acting debut,” she told TV Week. “When you see me on screen you’ll understand why. It wasn’t that much different to doing a show of Sale. And somehow I doubt the talent scouts will come chasing after me.”

Back out in the outback!
Some new faces and controversial storylines are set to feature in the revamped The Flying Doctors.  Heading the new cast list is Peter Phelps, taking on his first regular TV role in Australia for seven years.  Phelps, who recently had a stint in the US series Baywatch, plays the role of senior nurse Dennis Taylor, a former drug addict obsessed with helping others affected by narcotics.  “I have a few ex-junkie friends, so this is an important issue for me,” he told TV Week.  “I know people who have been through rehabilitation and I want to make this character real.”  Also joining the series when it returns to screens later this year are former Neighbours star Elaine Smith, Simone Buchanan (Hey Dad!), Belinda Davey (Prisoner), Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Lydia Miller, Marieke Hardy, Simon Grey and Steve Jacobs.

‘We’ll miss Lorrae dreadfully’
Shane Porteous, the ‘elder statesman’ of A Country Practice, is fairly philosophical about the recent cast changes which saw long-serving colleagues Gordon Piper and Syd Heylen leave the series.  “The departure of (characters) Bob and Cookie is, I guess, a matter of artistic decision,” he told TV Week.  “It is up to the people who look at demographic surveys and say these characters are working, those characters aren’t, but I know we will miss them a lot.”  Meanwhile another original ACP cast member, Lorrae Desmond (pictured), is also about to leave the long-running series.  “We’ll miss Lorrae dreadfully, but it’s her decision.  Good luck to her – she has so many other things to do as an entertainer,” Porteous said. 

Briefly…
Her character may have recently passed away in Home And Away, but that hasn’t stopped producers approaching Cathy Godbold about the possibility of a return to the series.  The former Chances star’s role as leukaemia-stricken Meg Bowman gave the series a ratings boost and producers are considering bringing her back to play another character.

The producers of Hey Dad! have been given the green light by the Nine Network for a new sitcom.  My Two Wives, starring Peter Fisher (Kingswood Country), Linda Newton, Morna Seres, Brett Blewitt, Patrick Ward and Kym Valentine, will begin production in Sydney in May and is expected to debut on Nine late in the year.

The battle between Network Ten soaps E Street and Neighbours for the services of Melissa Bell (pictured) has been won by E Street.  Bell, who had a brief role in E Street before moving to Melbourne-based Neighbours, is now returning to Sydney to play a new romantic interest for Bruce Samazan’s character Max.

Former Good Morning Australia host Kerri-Anne Kennerley is still on the Network Ten payroll although she has no on-air role at the present time – although she may soon be back on TV screens in a new show modelled on the popular US talk show hosted by Oprah Winfrey.  TV Week also hears that Kennerley is also potentially looking at a new project for the Seven Network.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”First-run locally-produced drama on SBS is notable, if only for the fact that it is so rare.  By nature, the genre of program and the network don’t necessarily go together, although past associations have resulted in some pleasing success.  Still, it’s four years since SBS screened its previous effort, David Stevens’ mini-series Always Afternoon.  It is a decade since Bob Weis’ Women Of The Sun swept all before it, including the United Nations Media Peace Prize.  After all that time, Weis and SBS have joined forces again.  Six Pack is the label name they have given half a dozen self-contained dramas.  Each runs an hour, a format which, in itself, is fairly rare in an industry which leans towards open-ended soaps or four-hour “television events”, which used to be called mini-series.  Weis has done a commendable job drawing together fine casts to work with a mix of experienced and up-and-coming scriptwriters and directors.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, April 26-May 2):
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Repossessed (Seven), The Hunt For Red October (Nine) and Parenthood (Ten).

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Bob (Gordon Piper) and Cookie (Syd Heylen) return to Wandin Valley.  Seven presents the debut of two-part mini-series Heroes II – The Return, starring Craig McLachlan (pictured), John Bach, Christopher Morsley and Miranda Otto.  SBS debuts new drama series Six Pack, a series of six self-contained dramas.  The first Six Pack feature is Mimi Goes To The Analyst, the story of a sexually inhibited young woman who shares a flat with her sister and regularly visits an analyst to try and help her over her problems with the opposite sex.

Tuesday:  Showbiz veteran Hazel Phillips is a guest star in this week’s GP (ABC).  In A Country Practice (Seven), Terence (Shane Porteous) fears that Cookie (Syd Heylen) will die after an argument with Bob (Gordon Piper), but Bob has a surprise for Cookie.  In Chances (Nine), Alex’s (Jeremy Sims) life is in chaos when billionaire Crowley Lander (Barry Hill) offers him his empire and his daughter – while Jack (Tim Robertson) takes drastic steps to ensure Alex refuses. In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Amanda Keller tries out the musical instruments of the future, Dr John D’Arcy tests the robot that will guard a house, and Simon Reeve looks at the latest methods of earthquake prediction.

Wednesday:  In Hey Dad! (Seven), Sam (Rachael Beck) becomes the talk of the town when she wins a local shopping centre contest.  In E Street (Ten), Penny (Josephine Mitchell), CJ (Adrian Lee) and Jamie (Scott McRae) are caught in a love triangle.

Thursday:  Seven’s popular comedy show Fast Forward is back with new episodes, followed by a concert special featuring Kylie Minogue in Dublin.  In the series final of Phoenix (ABC), Jock (Paul Sonkkila) and his officers have only six hours to question their suspects and charge them.

Friday:  The final episode of afternoon game show Supermarket Sweep (Nine), hosted by Ian Turpie. 

Saturday:  Ten crosses to Sydney for live prime-time coverage of NBL Mitsubishi Challenge – Sydney Kings versus Gold Coast Rollers.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  25 April 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: April 19-25

Cover: Nicolle Dickson (Home And Away) and husband James Bell.

Packing a punch!
SBS has assembled some of Australia’s top writing, directing and acting talent for its upcoming drama series Six Pack.  The series of six self-contained stories is the first local drama production to come from the network since the 1987 mini-series Always Afternoon.  Included in the cast of Six Pack are Peta Toppano, Sandy Gore, Simon Burke, Ivar Kants, John Bluthal, Nancye Hayes, Martin Jacobs, Geraldine Turner and Angie Milliken.  E Street star Josephine Mitchell plays Clara in Mimi Goes To The Analyst.  “I desperately wanted to play a nymphomaniac,” Mitchell told TV Week.  “Clara is a great tart, a fun tart.”  Police Rescue star Steve Bastoni stars in Loveless, playing the role of Johnny, an aggressive homophobic actor who’s insecure about his sexuality when he is cast in a gay-themed film.  “For me this was a great project breaking new ground,” Bastoni said.  “Not only was it dealing with a sensitive issue, the issue also involved gays in film-making, which is something audiences are very curious about.”  Hey Dad! star Ben Oxenbould stars in That Man’s Father, playing the role of Andy, a lodger who makes a married couple’s life miserable.  “He’s a bit of a drifter,” Oxenbould said.  “Discovering new bits of life and piecing them together so that when he’s much older, he’ll have plenty to talk about.  He’s also a bit selfish, a bit arrogant and not too concerned about what’s going on in the household.”  Six Pack begins on SBS later this month.

UK engagement stops AJ’s Newlywed plans
Former E Street star Alyssa-Jane Cook (pictured) was on her way back to Australia from a promotional trip in the UK and about to star in a second pilot for the new Seven Network sitcom Newlyweds, but has made a last-minute decision to focus on spending more time in the UK.  Newlyweds, a joint venture between The Comedy Company producer Ian McFadyen and production company Crawfords Australia, explores the post-honeymoon hassles of a young couple.  Cathy Godbold (Chances, Home And Away) and Richard Healy are to appear in the new show, with Crawfords now re-casting for the role previously assigned to Cook.

Neighbours tackles that delicate subject
Neighbours is set to tackle the subject of teenage sex. In episodes to screen this week, characters Todd Landers (Kristian Schmid) and Phoebe Bright (Simone Robertson) plan to lose their virginity. “My feeling is that most 17-year-olds are getting to that stage,” Schmid, who is also 17, told TV Week. “Neighbours is a family show, but it’s also a realistic show.”

Briefly…
The Nine Network is soon to assess the game show pilot taped at the studios of NWS9 Adelaide and hosted by Colette Mann with Ugly Dave Gray.  With the working title Best Friends, the show is similar to the old Newlywed Game.

The man behind the mask (pictured) is Olav Evensen, the new actor to play E Street’s serial killer Stephen “Mr Bad” Richardson.  Evensen has taken over the role from Vince Martin.

Meanwhile, E Street producer Forrest Redlich is talking to the Ten Network about plans to produce a new one-hour weekly rock show in the same vein as the old Countdown.

Network Ten’s Kids’ Stuff host Lochie Daddo has made the move to the Nine Network as co-host of its Saturday morning show cartoon show Saturday At Rick’s.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”Good Vibrations, from Southern Star Entertainment and Lynn Bayonas, remains a bit of a mystery to me.  Like the Nine Network’s Golden Fiddles last year, Good Vibrations appears perfectly suited to a 6.30pm Sunday timeslot, but it has been programmed at 8.30pm on consecutive nights (Wednesday and Thursday).  Good Vibrations will have to perform well against movies on both opposing networks on the Wednesday night if it is to have any chance on the Thursday.  And that’s a big ask, even during the Easter school holidays.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, April 18-24):
Sunday:  Ten’s daytime is dominated by coverage of the James Hardie 12-Hour motor race, live from Bathurst, NSW.  There is an hour of coverage from the race start at 6.00am, then hourly updates throughout the morning, and then Ten returns to coverage at midday for the remaining six hours.  Seven has Sunday afternoon AFL – Adelaide versus Richmond – live from Adelaide, followed by the World Vision special The Forgotten World, hosted by Steve Vizard and featuring Jennifer Keyte and Tom Burlinson.  Sunday night movies are Clash Of The Titans (Seven), The Natural (Nine) and the biblical epic The Ten Commandments (Ten), up against Egyptian movie The Puppeteer (SBS) and ABC documentary God’s Girls: From An Australian Convent, the story of the Sisters of Mercy in the small NSW country town of Singleton – describing life from the 1940s through to the present.

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Hugo (Gavin Harrison) is forced to come to terms with the homosexuality of his cycling partner Brett (Simon Stokes).

Tuesday:  Gosia Dobrowolska and Graeme Blundell are guest stars in this week’s episode of GP (ABC).  In A Country Practice (Seven), Lucy (Georgie Parker) and Matt (John Tarrant) now have their baby and they prepare to leave Wandin Valley.

Wednesday:  Seven presents the debut of two-part mini-series Good Vibrations, the story of a family who move to the country and find they are sharing their new house with a ghost.  The series stars Genevieve Picot, Felicity Soper, Jeffrey Walker and Stephen Whittaker (pictured).

Thursday:  In Neighbours (Ten), Todd (Kristian Schmid) declares his love for Phoebe (Simone Robertson).  In Phoenix (ABC), the bombers finally begin to make crucial mistakes as Inspector Jock Brennan (Paul Sonkkila) continues to put the pressure on – as it becomes evident why even the hardened criminal world is afraid of the bombers and why they hate police.

Friday:  Seven presents live coverage of the AFL match between Sydney Swans and North Melbourne from the Sydney Cricket Ground.  Nine has late night delayed coverage of Rugby League: City versus Country from the Sydney Football Stadium, while Ten has delayed coverage of the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge from Carrara, Queensland.

Saturday (ANZAC Day):  ABC has live coverage of the traditional ANZAC Day march from the streets of the Melbourne CBD.  Ten crosses to Auckland for live coverage of the Rugby Union Centenary Test match between New Zealand and the Rest of the World.  Ten has live prime-time coverage of the NBL Mitsubishi Challenge basketball from the National Tennis Centre, Melbourne.  To coincide with his Australian tour, there is a late-night clash of two Prince films – with the 1984 movie Purple Rain (Nine) versus the 1987 title Sign O’ The Times (Ten).

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  18 April 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: April 12-18

Hello, baby… and goodbye to Wandin Valley!
The birth of James Gardner Tyler in A Country Practice will mark the end of an era as his parents Matt (John Tarrant) and Lucy (Georgie Parker, pictured) depart Wandin Valley with their newborn to start a new life in Vietnam.  For Parker, there are no regrets about moving on from A Country Practice.  “I need to move on,” she said.  “If I stayed, it would wane.  I would rather finish on a high.  ACP has been a very positive experience.  It was wonderful to have a regular job and to work with people who had a healthy attitude to the business and weren’t seduced by it.  ACP helped me develop a good attitude towards TV.”  Parker’s next career venture is the title role in the stage musical Gypsy, starring beside Tony Barber and Geraldine Turner. 

Stefan and Gayle pack their bags
Stefan Dennis, one of Neighbours’ original cast members, is leaving the long-running series.  Dennis is expected not to renew his contract when it expires in July although producers insist that negotiations are still under way.  “If he does leave, we’ll have him on air until September,” a Network Ten spokesperson said.  If Dennis does leave, the only remaining original cast members in the series will be Anne Haddy and Alan Dale.  Meanwhile, Gayle Blakeney, who plays Dennis’ on-screen wife Christina, is also set to leave the show when her contract expires in July.

Cops out!
ABC drama Phoenix is set to lose two of its high-profile stars when a second series goes into production later this year.  Paul Sonkkila, who plays Inspector Jock Brennan, is leaving for personal reasons, and Nell Feeney, who plays Detective Senior Constable Megan Edwards, will not be returning.  “Nell’s character was brought into Phoenix for the bombing storyline, which ends with the first series,” an ABC spokesperson told TV Week.

Briefly…
Former Prisoner stars Betty Bobbitt, Lois Collinder and Marilyn Rodgers are now on the hunt for “criminals” in the Comedy Festival production Peroxide, a send-up of the old Australian TV cop shows. “We are three police officers looking for a despicable character who has been spreading blonde jokes,” Bobbitt (pictured) told TV Week.  “We become the Peroxide squad!”  Bobbitt is no stranger to the early TV cop shows.  When she first arrived in Australia in the 1960s, she played various roles in shows including Matlock Police, Homicide and Division 4.  “I played anything from madams in whorehouses to housewives with children.  I have very happy memories of my cop show days.”

Viewers will see a different side to Steve Vizard when he presents the upcoming World Vision special The Forgotten World.  The program features Jennifer Keyte (pictured) and actor Tom Burlinson, who travelled to Latin America and Africa for the special.  “With something like this, you only have to get people to pay attention,” Vizard told TV Week.  “Once you see the work World Vision is doing, you’d have to be a halfwit not to sit up and take notice.”

Production has stalled on the Nine Network series Snowy.  The 26-part drama focusing on the Snowy Mountain Scheme has run into financial difficulties.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”You must have noticed television’s obsession with putting on trial anything remotely controversial.  No doubt this most recent spate of TV trials was kicked off when the late but unlamented Fat Cat was convicted without much of a hearing, then executed come the dawn.  Jana Wendt and A Current Affair kept the ball rolling by gathering a bunch of lawyers and witnesses and a retired supreme court judge and spending two futile nights pondering whether or not the Prime Minister, Paul Keating, has murdered the Australian economy.  Mr Keating’s day in court was followed by ABC’s Live And Sweaty putting the Nine Network in the dock for its treatment of the NSW Rugby League replays.  Nine apparently stands charged with not replaying games in their entirety.  After that, we had the real kangaroo court – Skippy, a marsupial native of the Australia bush, put himself on trial, probably because no-one else could be bothered doing it.  I haven’t caught up with the result of that laughable exercise yet.  If you have, do me a favour and keep it to yourself.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne: April 12-18):
Sunday:  Nine crosses to Eastern Creek, NSW, for live coverage of the Australian 500cc Motorcycling Grand Prix.  Seven’s afternoon of AFL coverage includes Sydney versus Footscray and West Coast Eagles versus Geelong.  Sunday night movies are Advance To Ground Zero (Seven), A Chorus Line (Nine) and Meet The Applegates (Ten).

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Matt (John Tarrant) is suspicious when his father, Gil (George Whaley), arrives unannounced.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Bryan Smith discovers the paper that’s made of corn, and Amanda Keller tells how super computers are helping the British to predict the weather.  In Chances (Nine), Alex (Jeremy Sims) signs Faith Matthews, a 17-year-old Olympic swimming golden girl, but gets more than he bargained for.  In A Country Practice (Seven), Gil (George Whaley) offers Matt (John Tarrant) and Lucy (Georgie Parker) an opportunity to leave Wandin Valley.

Wednesday:  ABC presents Australia’s first Aboriginal musical, Bran Nue Dae, telling the story of an Aboriginal boy’s flight from Perth to his homeland at Djaridin.

Thursday:  In Phoenix (ABC), the police force are questioning the resources spent on the Phoenix investigation.  In Neighbours (Ten), Dorothy (Maggie Dence) and Lucy (Melissa Bell) believe they may have killed Faye’s (Lorraine Bayly) best friend.

Good Friday:  Seven’s traditional Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal dominates its day’s programming – starting at 9.00am and, apart from News, Real Life and Home And Away, continues through to midnight.  The evening telecast features Tony Barber, John Burgess, Robert Brough, Eric Walters, Jennifer Keyte, Rachael Beck, David Straussman, Darryl Cotton, Alyce Platt, Victoria Nicolls, Russell Morris, Mike Brady and the Australian Girls Choir.

Saturday:  Nine’s Wide World Of Sports includes live coverage of the Stawell Gift, the Doncaster Handicap and the AJC Derby.  Seven’s evening includes AFL Today, highlights of the day’s AFL matches, followed by live coverage of the Brisbane Bears versus West Coast Eagles from Carrara, Queensland.  Ruth Cracknell and Gordon Chater star in Sydney’s Theatre Royal production of The Importance Of Being Earnest, broadcast on ABC.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  11 April 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: March 29-April 4

Why Rebekah’s quitting Summer Bay
After two years playing hapless teenager Sophie in Home And Away, Rebekah Elmaloglou (pictured) has decided to leave the series.  The 18-year-old will tape her final scenes for the show in September and hopes that life after Home And Away will be a little less frantic.  “There is definitely life after Home And Away,” she told TV Week.  “It’s been great and I’ve learned heaps, but the pace is just too much and I need a break.  Come September, I plan to do a lot of travelling overseas and I might even do a pantomime in London.”

John plays by new rules
”People tend to see me as Rafferty and nothing else,” actor John Wood tells TV Week.  “So I’m pleased that Dearest Enemy is about to be screened – it might break down that feeling a bit.”  The three-time TV Week Logie winner stars in the series alongside Linden Wilkinson, Bruce Spence, Frank Wilson and Vic Hawkins.  “I’ve been lucky in that in the two major series I’ve done, I’ve had wonderful female co-stars – Catherine Wilkin in Rafferty’s Rules, and now Linden.”  But with production of Dearest Enemy completed some time ago – and despite a current stage role in Sydney – Wood can’t get back into television.  “A couple of years ago, I was the most outstanding actor on television.  Now I can’t get a bloody job in television.  It’s amazing,” he laughs.

Richard insures against handbag attacks
As Terry Sullivan in the long-running series The Sullivans, actor Richard Morgan (pictured) became one of Australia’s most recognisable faces – something he hated, and was made more difficult when Terry started beating his wife.  “I copped a few handbags across the face in supermarkets from women who couldn’t tell between fantasy and reality,” he told TV Week.  Now, a decade later, he is content to enjoy his anonymity working in the insurance industry and appearing only in roles that appeal to him, such as the mysterious Michael Tranti in an upcoming episode of Chances.  Tranti is a married businessman who develops an unhealthy infatuation with advertising executive Angela (Patsy Stephen) when he enlists the advertising agency for his company’s new campaign.  Chances is Morgan’s first television appearance in 18 months, his last TV role being on the Seven Network drama series Skirts.

Briefly…
Australian actress Christine Harris (pictured), with television credits including The Young Doctors, Carson’s Law, Prisoner, Neighbours, Chances and ABC mini-series Darlings Of The Gods, is in the running for a major overseas role – the part of Scarlett O’Hara in the sequel to the cinema classic Gone With The Wind.

Former Neighbours star Andrew Williams is soon to begin a 13-week guest stint in Ten’s other prime time drama, E Street. He will make his on screen debut in June.

Meanwhile, the producers of E Street are now developing a drama-sitcom project featuring pop group The Teen Queens. The video clip of the group’s debut single, Be My Baby, appeared on E Street recently. The pilot for the new series, to be set in Bondi Beach, is to be filmed soon.

There is speculation that the Nine Network may give the flick to Clive Robertson and The World Tonight to make way for a new show to be hosted by Richard Wilkins.

Former Chances star Cathy Godbold, whose role as leukaemia victim Meg Bowman in Home And Away comes to a tragic end on screen this week, has appeared in a pilot episode of a proposed new sitcom, Newlyweds.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here:

’The Minister for Information and Immigration… has been the target for strong press criticism in this immigration venture’ .  With thousands of higher-living nationals awaiting entrance – English, Nordic types and Americans – who can offer this country ideas and culture, it is little wonder that this project has been the centre of bitter controversy.  Let us hope that immigration of the future will be planned deliberately and intelligently and offer more opportunities to the people of our own stock.’ 

“Those quotes (above) are not from a speech by someone from the extreme right of South African politics.  They are taken from a Cinesound Review newsreel, made right here in Australia.  The government minister to whom the voice-over referred was the late Arthur Calwell, who held the Information and Immigration portfolios in the Chifley Government between 1945 and 1949.  The newsreel footage is part of Alec Morgan’s film Admission Impossible: The Story Behind The White Australia Policy.  A Film Australia production, it screens on ABC this week.  The film, narrated by former Four Corners reporter Paul Barry, is a combination of archival film and interviews with immigration officials.  It paints successive Australian governments as underhanded and racist.  Admission Impossible forcefully supports Alec Morgan’s contention that Australia as an egalitarian nation embracing multiculturalism was – and is – a myth.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, March 29-April 4):
Sunday:  With cricket season now over, Nine’s weekly sports magazine programs Wide World Of Sports: Sunday Edition and Sports Sunday return.  During the afternoon, Nine crosses to Suzuka, Japan, for live coverage of the Japanese 500cc Grand Prix.  Sunday night movies are Black Rain (Seven), Flatliners (Nine) and Revenge (Ten) – while ABC screens the Film Australia documentary Admission Impossible, focusing on the behind-the-scenes political forces and propaganda campaigns that attempted to populate Australia with pure white migrants. 

Monday:  In the series return of Dearest Enemy (ABC), Alex (Linden Wilkinson, pictured) gets a crash course in political wheeling and dealing.  In A Country Practice (Seven), Frank Gilroy (Brian Wenzel) gives up plans for retirement when Constable Tom Newman (Jon Concannon) decides to quit.

Tuesday:  Nine presents delayed coverage of the presentation of the 64th annual Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal at the Los Angeles Music Centre.  Nominations for Best Picture are Bugsy, Beauty And The Beast, JFK, Prince Of Tides and Silence Of The Lambs.

Wednesday:  In Home And Away (Seven), Meg (Cathy Godbold) needs all her energy to live her final days to the full. 

Thursday:  In ABC crime drama Phoenix, Lochie (Andy Anderson), frustrated by his desk jockey status, finally has the chance to lead a raid but it goes embarrassingly wrong.

Friday:  Documentary series A Big Country (ABC) looks at Tim Kelly, former champion rodeo rider – with the hard-drinking and hard-living life-style that came with it – whose life has changed since gospel preachers called him to God.  Now, Kelly is a sincere and gentle man whose wife, a former barmaid and bikie, has also converted to the Christian faith.

Saturday:  Afternoon sport includes netball (ABC), highlights of the Australian Swimming Olympic trials (Seven), Hong Kong 7’s Rugby Union (Ten) and five hours of Wide World Of Sports (Nine).  Evening sport includes live coverage of the Mitsubishi NBL Challenge from the National Tennis Centre (Ten), highlights of the day’s AFL matches (Seven) and a late-night delayed telecast of Winfield Cup Rugby League (Nine).  This week’s episode of the SBS documentary series Through Australian Eyes looks at the lives of three Australian-born Jewish sisters and their children.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  28 March 1992.  Southdown Press.

1992: February 8-14

‘Don’t call me Betty!’
While Hey Dad! star Julie McGregor (pictured, centre, with co-star Rachael Beck) loves playing the role of ditzy secretary Betty Wilson in the long-running sitcom (“I’m not sure that there is anything around that would be as rewarding to do,” she says) don’t ask her to “do a Betty” when she’s not working.  When McGregor leaves the studio after a taping, she leaves Betty behind in the prop cupboard.  “You just shut off, put the toys away, and you come home,” she told TV Week.  “Of course, every now and then you say something and you think, ‘Oh gosh, that sounded like Betty’.”  In the series’ return to air this week, Betty’s old boyfriend Stan (Bill Young) is looking for work, but his potential new employer sparks a brawl when he makes some less than polite remarks about Betty.  The punch-up is not shown on screen, but it’s the talk of the Hey Dad! household.

Gay murder rocks GP
ABC’s medical drama GP makes a controversial return to screens this week with scenes depicting graphic violence and a storyline surrounding a gay bashing and murder.  Simon Radley (Felix Nobis) joins the Ross Street practice as a locum and possible replacement for Dr Nicola Tanner (Judy McIntosh) – but after work hours he frequents gay bars looking for sex, while his partner David Robinson (Scott Burgess) is keeping the home fires burning.  A vicious assault on Dr Radley is witnessed by Dr William Sharp (Michael Craig), who identifies one of the culprits in a police line-up.  A second attack on Dr Radley leaves him beaten to death.  “It’s pretty heavy stuff,” Burgess told TV Week.  “Simon and David share a house, but while Simon is driven by his urges to seek clandestine sex, David is settled and stable.  The story is as much about their private dilemma as it is about the prejudice that gay people who live in the city have to face – being supposedly different from everybody else.” 

When will the killings stop?
Has E Street’s serial killer storyline gone too far?  While insiders at the Ten Network claims that the ongoing storyline has boosted ratings, what effect does having a sustained storyline based on murder and having a deranged killer as the focal point have on the viewer – and is it appropriate for a 7.30pm timeslot?  Although the actor who plays the character of serial killer Steven Richardson, Vince Martin (pictured), is concerned that “there was perhaps too much killing… and I still feel this is the case because there are more deaths to go to air”, the show’s producer Forrest Redlich defends the storyline as “just storytelling”.  “I’ve got the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal’s code on violence,” he says.  “We have to stick to the letter of the law and we are doing that.  When you look at how the story is presented, it isn’t a violent storyline.  You don’t see a lot of violence in it when the murders are taking place.  I just think it’s basically about storytelling and working within the tribunal guidelines.”   Pat Manser of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal has expressed concern over the material being depicted but stresses that viewers do not have to just accept what is presented to them.  “The best method of attack is to go straight to the station, because the stations are quite sensitive to public criticism,” she says.  “If they get more criticism than pats on the back, they will do something about it.”

Briefly…
Jacki MacDonald (pictured) has described her new Network Ten show Healthy Wealthy And Wise as “a show that’s not really like anything else” and, after a decade as the funny girl on Hey Hey It’s Saturday and a year as host of Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show, is excited at the prospect at doing “something serious” for a change.  “In this show I’m not zany, silly or crazy,” she said.  “We all enjoy ourselves, laugh and have a good time – but it’s not a format for outrageous antics.”  Healthy Wealthy And Wise, which also features Ronnie Burns as co-host, is produced by former Hey Hey It’s Saturday co-producer Gavan Disney.  Although the show has only just debuted on Network Ten, it has already been sold for screening in New Zealand, Singapore and Papua New Guinea.

After six years of reading the news for ABC in Victoria, Mary Delahunty (pictured) is returning to current affairs television as she takes over as host of the Victorian edition of The 7.30 Report – replacing John Jost who has left the ABC to join the Nine Network as host of its new Melbourne Extra current affairs program.  Ian Henderson, a former European correspondent for the ABC, has taken over as newsreader for the 7.00pm ABC News in Victoria.

Mike Hammond, the former host of Ten’s Star Search and now the sole host of Good Morning Australia, is enthusiastic about the breakfast show’s new format.  “It has a totally new look, and a new format which is a world first.  Breakfast television has never before recognised the fact that daily routines don’t allow you extended periods of time to sit in front of the box watching long interviews.  Our new program informs you while you get ready to start your day.  If you want to compare us to Today, we still offer more news and weather, more financial news, more politics and sport, and more relevant stories.  And in what is probably a television first, there is up-to-the-minute traffic information as well.”

Former Quantum reporter Andrew Waterworth (pictured) has moved to the Seven Network as a reporter for Beyond 2000.  “I was with Quantum for five years and I put a lot into the show,” he told TV Week.  “But you get to a point in your life where you feel you would like a change.”

John Laws says…
”Whether Seven’s Real Life is going to offer any serious long-term problems to Jana Wendt’s A Current Affair on Nine is yet to be assessed, though the early signs are that ACA will be the toughest of nuts to crack.  Real Life’s problem may be that it has hyped itself up as being completely different to the current affairs shows we have become accustomed to – and this, as any viewer will tell (producer) Gerald Stone, is a load of old cobblers.  Real Life is a mixture of everything – a sort of mini-version of 60 Minutes, with shades of ACA and The 7.30 Report thrown in for good measure.  It really can’t be anything else.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, February 8-14):
Saturday:  Nine presents a two-hour preview of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, hosted by Ken Sutcliffe, taking a look at the behind-the-scenes preparations and focusing on the Games venues and competitions as well as the Australian team.  On Seven, AFL is back for the new year with its pre-season competition, the Foster’s Cup, live from AFL Park, Waverley.

Sunday:  The first day of ratings for 1992 – and Nine’s current affairs line-up of Business Sunday, Sunday and the evening 60 Minutes are back for another year.  Seven crosses to Darwin for live coverage of the afternoon match between Collingwood and the West Coast Eagles for the AFL Foster’s Cup.  Sunday night movies are Air America (Seven) and The ‘Burbs (Ten), while Nine presents live coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games from Albertville, France.

Monday:  Nine’s regular daytime line-up is back for the new year – with In Melbourne Today, What’s Cooking and Midday With Ray Martin all returning.  At 5.00pm, Nine launches its new game show Supermarket Sweep, hosted by Ian Turpie, followed by the debut of Melbourne Extra, with John Jost (pictured) presenting local current affairs as the lead-in to National Nine News.  Sale Of The Century (Nine) returns for another year at 7.00pm, while ABC launches a new series of comedy Mother And Son at 8.00pm.  Stuart Littlemore’s Media Watch is also back for the new year, at 9.15pm on ABC.  Nine starts its routine coverage of the Winter Olympic Games, hosted by Ken Sutcliffe, with over four hours of coverage each night from 8.30pm.

Tuesday:  The return of ABC’s medical drama GP focuses on the gay bashing of the new doctor at the Ross Street surgery.

Wednesday:  Seven presents live coverage of the AFL Foster’s Cup match between Geelong and St Kilda from AFL Park, Waverley.  In E Street (Ten), Alice (Marianne Howard) and Penny (Josephine Mitchell) try to cope with their new business venture – meanwhile someone else in the neighbourhood receives a surprise visit from Steven Richardson (Vince Martin).

Thursday:  Seven begins four days of coverage of the Australian Masters golf, live from Huntingdale, Melbourne.  In the evening, sitcom Acropolis Now (Seven) returns, while ABC presents a movie-length debut of its new police drama Phoenix, starring Paul Sonkkila, Simon Westaway, Nell Feeney, Sean Scully and Andy Anderson.

Friday:  Burke’s Backyard (Nine) is back for another year, hosted by Don Burke with presenters Peter Harris, Dr Harry Cooper and Densey Clyne.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  8 February 1992.  Southdown Press

1991: December 7-13

Set to scorch!
E Street stars Kate Raison and Marcus Graham (both pictured, far right) were due to leave the series with this week’s series final – but a “scorchingly romantic” storyline devised for their characters was enough to convince both actors to re-sign.  “The storyline is so fantastic I couldn’t refuse it,” Graham told TV Week.  “The difference between E Street and other Australian serials is that it takes risks.  It is imaginative.  There is no other show doing it.  If Forrest (Redlich, the show’s producer) wasn’t doing it, nobody would be.  Even the network doesn’t want him to do it.”  The storyline, which will see both actors stay with the show for another six months, comes as E Street’s crazed serial killer Steven Richardson (Vince Martin) sets Sheridan Sturgess (Raison) in his sights and Wheels (Graham) comes to her rescue.

‘It’s all over’
It appears that Nine’s The Flying Doctors is about to fly off into the TV sunset.  The official line from the network is that the show is going into an extended break until the end of 1992 and that producers Crawfords are putting the shows sets into storage.  “As far as the cast and crew are concerned, it’s all over… and we have to let people know about it,” cast member David Reyne told TV Week.  Reyne says he was contemplating leaving the show, anyway, and is keen to develop some new projects for television.  “I think television is in the doldrums and the networks have to employ new blood,” he said.  “If you look at Nine, nearly everyone on after 6pm has been around for years… where’s the new blood?”  And not restricting himself to drama, Reyne says he could see himself hosting an information program or even a music show.  “I’d love to grab music television and give it a good shake,” he said.

New laughs from an old team
Lex Marinos and Max Gillies (both pictured) are set to team up for a new ABC comedy series, with Gillies as the star and Marinos the co-director.  The planned half-hour episodes will introduce Gillies fans to a new range of characters and will feature some of Australia’s top comedic talent in short plays scripted by leading writers.  The pair are not unfamiliar colleagues – they worked together in the Seventies as Chico and Groucho Marx at Melbourne’s Pram Factory.  “It’s nice to get back together after 17 years of meeting in foyers,” Marinos told TV Week. 

Briefly…
The biography of underworld figure Mark “Chopper” Read has claimed that in the late ‘70s he was asked by a notorious robber – now deceased – to take part in a plan to “kidnap” actress Lynda Stoner (pictured), then starring in drama series Cop Shop.  “He had photos taken of her and even knew where she did her shopping; he really was quite nutty over her,” according to Read.  “(He) was always falling in love with TV stars and making outrageous fairytale plans to kidnap them.”  But even Read, with his past criminal background, knocked back the elaborate scheme, instead insisting “we’ll all get 100 years’ jail for this!  Send the bloody woman some flowers instead!”. 

ABC’s yet-to-be-screened police drama Phoenix has already been given the green light for a second series.  Production is due to begin in June and expected to go to air in 1993.  The show’s first series of thirteen episodes, starring Paul Sonkkila, Sean Scully, Simon Westaway, Andy Anderson and Nell Feeney, is expected to go to air early in 1992.

This week’s Christmas episode of Col’n Carpenter (Ten) departs from the usual traditional sitcom formula to acknowledge that for some people it can be a sad time.  In the episode, Col’n (Kim Gyngell) faces the prospect of being alone at Christmas.  In a dream sequence, he clings to the hope his family (featuring Dale Stevens, Monica Maughan and Ray Baldwin, pictured) will arrive – but this appears unlikely.  “This is a very emotional issue,” Gyngell told TV Week.  “Obviously, Col’n’s big wish is to have his family around him for the occasion.”

John Laws says…
”When you present a current affairs program three nights a week for most of the year, relying mostly on satellite interviews on one selected issue each night, you have to be good to survive.  Kerry O’Brien’s Lateline carries a format like this – a simple, direct way of dealing with pertinent issues for sure, but still a TV mixture that in the wrong hands could prove a disaster.  O’Brien, though, is a seasoned political hand and a fine interviewer with a relaxed TV presence and there’s never really been any doubt that he was going to make this program work – and work well.  So, can a program like Lateline go to a fourth night of the week and maintain the quality?  I see no reason why not.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, December 7-13):
Saturday:  Nine presents the year’s final Saturday edition of Wide World Of Sports.  ABC presents the grand final of That’s Dancin’, and Seven’s World Around Us presents a Malcolm Douglas special, Return To The Top, featuring his return to central Arnhem Land 17 years after his first visit.

Sunday:  SBS debuts a new ten-part series, Our Stories, from the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association.  Sunday night movies are Casanova (Seven), Weekend War (Nine) and classic James Bond with You Only Live Twice (Ten).  ABC’s Sunday Stereo Special screens the Australian Ballet’s production of Romeo And Juliet. 

Monday:  In Neighbours (Ten), Glen (Richard Huggett, pictured) makes a sudden marriage proposal to Gaby (Rachel Blakely).  Seven Nightly News launches a late-night edition as a summer replacement for Tonight Live With Steve Vizard.

Tuesday:  Nine crosses to Hobart for the Benson And Hedges World Series Cricket match between Australia and India.  During lunch, Nine switches to ten-pin bowling with the Goldpin Coca-Cola Classic.

Wednesday:  SBS debuts a three-part documentary series, Nostalgia, with each episode focusing on a prominent Australian and their country of origin.  In E Street (Ten), Mary (Joan Sydney) makes a decision that will affect the rest of her life.

Thursday:  In the series final of E Street (Ten), Wheels (Marcus Graham) and Sheridan (Kate Raison) contemplate the next step in their relationship, while Alice’s (Marianne Howard) labour isn’t what she expected.

Friday:  Good Morning Australia (Ten), Neighbours (Ten) and The World Tonight With Clive Robertson (Nine) present their final editions for 1991.  Nine Network daytime show What’s Cooking (featuring Gabriel Gate and Colette Mann, pictured) moves into prime-time for the summer season.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  7 December 1991.  Southdown Press.

1991: August 17-23

Cover: Matthew Krok, Rachael Beck (Hey Dad!)

The end for Hey Hey?
Nine Network executives may have be sent into a mild state of panic following a statement from Daryl Somers that he may be looking at ventures other than Hey Hey It’s Saturday in the not-too-distant future.  “It is not a foregone conclusion that Hey Hey will be on next year,” he said.  “This is the last year of our current three-year contract and we’ll certainly be talking to Channel Nine.  I love doing the program, but there are a lot of things I want to do apart from Hey Hey.  I’ve had to turn down two roles in London stage shows, whereas I’d like to be able to do these things because years down the track I may not get the opportunity.”  Meanwhile, plans are continuing for Hey Hey’s Hollywood-based special to be held later this year for the show’s 20th anniversary.

Horror head-on!
In a dramatic episode of Home And Away to screen this week, who will survive Summer Bay’s tragic car crash?  It is only known that David (Guy Pearce) and Adam (Mat Stevenson, pictured) are involved in the head-on crash – but only one will survive. 

Just another quiet night in suburbia…
A car bomb which leaves two police officers dead launches the new ABC police drama Phoenix.  The explosive scene was enacted outside the Camberwell Civic Centre in Melbourne.  Surrounding streets had been blocked off by police as a Ford Falcon loaded with more than a dozen charges was detonated, triggering a 20-metre high fireball.  Almost 100 cast and crew and six cameras were involved in the production of the explosion.

Briefly… 
The Bugs Bunny Show host Sophie Lee (pictured) is philosophical about rival Network Ten’s bid to knock the popular cartoon show down a few notches by recently launching a music video show, Power Cuts.  “I’ve read about it, but that’s cool,” she said.  “I don’t know the people involved.”

Simone Buchanan was looking forward to a change from comedy when she left Hey Dad! – and that’s exactly what she got when she took on the role of a rape victim in A Country Practice in episodes to go to air this week.  “It will allow me to break free from the typecasting from Hey Dad!,” she told TV Week.  “The ACP scenes are some of the heaviest I’ve ever been involved with.  They left me feeling emotionally and physically exhausted.  I had 19 scenes in a row.  I had to cry in all of them!”

The Barcelona Olympic Games are less than a year away and the Seven Network, given its recent financial instability, is under pressure to deliver results for the $40 million it paid for the Australian television rights.  “This will be the biggest-ever single undertaking by an Australian television network,” Seven’s network sports director Gary Fenton told TV Week.  “We’ll be taking about 150 people across, building a complete studio over there, then dismantling it all and bringing it back home.  What we plan to do is make sure that viewers see more of the Australians competing at the Games than ever before.”

John Laws says…
”Why, I wonder, would the main ABC employees’ union and the Friends Of The ABC organisation be “surprised” – as they say they are – by the ABC’s offer of a new five-year contract to managing director David Hill?  Is it because Hill dances to the beat of a different drummer?  Opposition to Hill being reappointed must, I guess, be expected because the past few years have been heady and controversial ones for the ABC.  But it’s probably never had a higher profile right around Australia, and that’s due in no small measure to Hill’s input.  Staff-management problems are to be expected in an organisation the size of the ABC, and there’s no doubt Hill has had to make some necessary – and to some people, unpleasant – decisions about staffing levels, programming and future direction.  The next five years are going to pose fresh challenges to the ABC because TV is changing all the time, and there are going to be new demands on the national broadcaster, not least of which is the possibility that, one day, it is going to have to accept some form of advertising and sponsorship.  There will also be the challenge of pay-TV.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, August 17-23):
Saturday:  On the anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, Seven devotes much of its afternoon and evening schedule to paying tribute – with movies Kissin’ Cousins, Elvis On Tour and Jailhouse Rock and a two-hour special The Elvis Files, presented by Bill Bixby, that promises “startling new information surrounding Presley’s death and the very real possibility that he is still alive.”  This week’s guests on Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine) are Craig McLachlan, Rita Rudner, Cameron Daddo and Cathy Dennis.

Sunday:  Nine presents the long-awaited debut of two-part mini-series Golden Fiddles, starring Cameron Daddo, Rachel Friend, John Bach, Kate Nelligan, Pippa Grandison, David Reyne (pictured) and Adriana Xenides.  Golden Fiddles tells the story of the struggles of the Balfour family during the depression of the 1920s, and the news which could offer them a happy and prosperous future.  Sunday night movies are Cocktail (Seven) and Death Hunt (Ten).

Monday:  Ernie Bourne (The Magic Circle Club, Prisoner, Neighbours) and Beverley Phillips (Neighbours) guest star in Col’n Carpenter (Ten).  Craig McLachlan begins his week-long stint as guest host on Tonight Live (Seven).

Tuesday:  ABC presents a direct telecast from Canberra of the first Budget speech from Federal Treasurer John Kerin.  Beyond 2000 (Seven) reports on a new discovery that may lead to a better contraceptive; and the Norwegians have developed a revolutionary system for beating rising damp.  GP (ABC) presents a special episode dedicated to Camp Quality which gives unique holidays to children with cancer.

Wednesday:  In the series return of Hey Dad! (Seven), eight-year-old Arthur McArthur (Matthew Krok) falls for an older woman.  In Neighbours (Ten), Madge (Anne Charleston) is shocked by Harold’s (Ian Smith) new business partner – Brenda Riley (Genevieve Lemon).

Thursday:  In The Flying Doctors (Nine), Clare’s (Beverley Dunn) life is turned upside down when her old flame arrives in town for the opening of Steve’s (Paul Kelman) new garage.  In E Street (Ten), the new marriage between Lisa (Alyssa-Jane Cook) and Michael (Graham Harvey) could be on shaky ground – is she still in love with Wheels (Marcus Graham)?

Friday:  Star Search – The Next Generation (Ten) presents a ‘celebrity special’ looking at past guests and winners.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  17 August 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: July 13-19

Hey, look who’s together now!
Christopher Truswell, who is leaving his role as Nudge in Hey Dad!, has signed up for a guest appearance in Nine’s All Together Now, playing an admirer of Anna (Jane Hall).  The special appearance, scheduled to screen later this month, is currently a one-off but Truswell (pictured, top right with All Together Now’s Rebecca Gibney) may be asked to return.

Chances star is out
The Nine Network’s struggling drama series Chances is set to trim its cast line-up as it aims to cut costs while boosting ratings.  Kimberley Davenport, who plays mother-to-be Charlie in the series, is the first victim from the cast shake-up.  Despite the show’s lack lustre ratings Nine is set to commit to a series renewal, though will be trimming the show’s weekly output from two hours a week to one.

All good things must come to an end…
Tonight Live host and producer Steve Vizard will be taking a three-week break to make a series of specials from Barcelona, the host city of the 1992 Olympic Games.  The specials, which are set to feature many of the Fast Forward cast, will go to air on Seven in the lead up to the Games.  Vizard is currently in negotiations with international names like Ben Elton and Bob Geldof to host Tonight Live in his absence.  Meanwhile with Artist Services, the company led by Vizard and Andrew Knight, working on as many as seven projects planned for 1992, Vizard has said it may be impossible for ratings hits Tonight Live and Fast Forward to continue next year in their existing formats.  “The network obviously wants both shows to continue, but we said from the outset that you can only do these things when you’re enjoying it and making them well,” he told TV Week.  In the case of Fast Forward, Vizard said it may be limited to a series of specials next year, while he is considering walking away from the hosting role on Tonight Live to allow him time to focus on the company’s other projects which include a variety show hosted by John Farnham and three sitcoms.

Briefly…
The Investigators host Helen Wellings tells TV Week of her early ambitions to be a comedian.  “I know it sounds strange,” she said.  “I know I’m not really a funny person.  I don’t even tell jokes very well, but I really wanted to be a comic.”

The Doug Anthony All Stars, famous regulars from The Big Gig, are returning to TV in a new sci-fi sitcom, DAAS Kapital.  The seven-part series, which debuts this week on ABC, promises to “stretch the boundaries of television”.

Production is about to start on a new 13-part drama series, Phoenix, for ABC.  The idea for the series came from the bombing of Melbourne’s Russell Street police headquarters in 1986.  “It’s not so much cops and robbers – in fact, there are very few villains – but more of a character piece centred on the members of the Major Crimes Squad and the pressure they are under,” producer Bill Hughes told TV Week.  Phoenix is set to star Simon Westaway (pictured), Nell Feeney, Sean Scully, Andy Anderson and Paul Sonkkila.

John Laws says: 
“What a spectacle SBS gave us with the live screening of the World Cup semi-final clash between Australia and Portugal, in front of a massive crowd of more than 112,000.  SBS’ coverage was, as usual, impeccable in its camerawork and especially in the controlled commentary of Les Murray and Johnny Warren, one of the finest sporting commentary teams of recent years.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, July 13-19):
Saturday:  Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine) includes a performance by guests Screaming Jets.

Sunday:  Ten presents daytime coverage of its annual Deafness Appeal Telethon, with live crosses during Video Hits and two-hour presentation in the afternoon, featuring personalities from Network Ten programs and Melbourne radio station 3AW.  Sunday night movies are Perry Mason: The Case Of The All Star Assassin (Seven), Coming To America (Nine) and Shy People (Ten).

Monday:  Seven launches a new afternoon quiz show, Blockbusters, hosted by Michael Pope.  Stuart Littlemore returns with a new series of Media Watch (ABC).  The Doug Anthony All Stars make their return to TV in a new comedy series, DAAS Kapital.  SBS debuts the landmark US documentary series The Civil War.

Tuesday:  Seven crosses to the WACA, Perth, for live coverage of the AFL State Of Origin: Western Australia versus Victoria, hosted by Sandy Roberts.  ABC presents the series final of The Big Gig.

Wednesday:  Aussie ex-pat and British TV presenter Clive James returns to Sydney after 30 years for a one-hour special Clive James – Postcard From Sydney (ABC).

Thursday:  In Embassy (ABC), Michael’s (Alan Fletcher) career is threatened by a scandal when a housegirl claims she is pregnant with his child.

Friday:  In Home And Away (Seven), Pippa (Debra Lawrence) and Michael (Dennis Coard) have a rebellious Sally (Kate Ritchie) to deal with.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  13 July 1991.  Southdown Press

ABC to say goodbye to Gordon Street?

ABC is set to expand its premises in inner-city Melbourne with construction of a new television studio.

The new development, which has now been approved by the ABC board, will be built adjacent to the broadcaster’s existing radio and administration complex in Southbank.

The new television studios will be used for both internal productions as well as being made available for external hire.

No timeline for the development has been announced and neither has there been any announcement as to the future of ABC’s existing Melbourne television studios in Gordon Street, Elsternwick, although The Age reports that it appears that the property will be sold off to assist in funding the new development.  In 2009 the Elsternwick site was estimated to be valued at around $25 million.

The Elsternwick studios, located next door to the historic Ripponlea homestead, were opened in May 1958 – eighteen months after ABC’s Melbourne television station ABV2 commenced transmission.  For the previous eighteen months the various functions of the new television station were carried out from makeshift premises scattered around Melbourne.

The studios have hosted various productions for ABC including Bellbird, Adventure Island (pictured), Countdown, Power Without Glory, The Saturday Show, Australia – You’re Standing In It, The Factory, Countdown Revolution, The Big Gig, The Late Show, Phoenix and Seachange. 

Spicks And Specks, The Marngrook Footy Show and Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight are also produced at Elsternwick.

The potential sale of the Elsternwick site comes after the sale of the historic GTV9 studios in Richmond last year – while Seven and Ten have long moved out from their original studio premises in South Melbourne and Nunawading respectively.

Source: The Age, The Australian, ABV, ABC, Real Estate Source