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.

Ballarat television turns 50

It was at 7.00pm on Friday, 27 April 1962 that Ballarat’s first television station – BTV6 – made its first official broadcast.

The channel was the fourth regional station to launch in Victoria and marked the completion of the first stage of the roll-out of commercial television in regional Victoria.  (The second stage, started in 1964, saw the introduction of television stations in Albury/Wodonga and Mildura)

BTV6, Friday, 27 April 1962 7pm Commence Transmission 7.01 This Is BTV Channel 6.  Documentary showing the development of Channel 6 since the station site was selected 7.15 Official Opening BTV6.  Introduced by Cr. Alan Pittard, Chairman of BTV Channel 6 7.30 BP Super Show – featuring Elaine McKenna 8.30 The Grey Nurse Said Nothing 10pm Movie: The African Queen. 1951 11.30 Close Source: TV Week, 23 April 1962.

The official opening of BTV6, led by the station’s chairman Cr. Alan Pittard, included pre-recorded greetings by national TV stars Bert Newton, Bobby Limb and Bob Dyer.  Also in attendance at the official opening was Dr J. R. Dowling, chairman of national broadcaster ABC.

After the official opening, BTV6 presented an episode of The BP Super Show, featuring Australian performer Elaine McKenna.  The program was followed by the 90-minute drama The Grey Nurse Said Nothing, written by Sumner Locke-Elliott.  The play, produced at Sydney’s ATN7 in 1960, starred Lyndall Barbour, Frank Waters, Nigel Lovell, Guy Doleman, Nancy Stewart and Ken Goodlet.

Although BTV6 was last of the first stage of regional channels to launch in Victoria, the channel did claim a number of ‘firsts’.  The channel was the first in Victoria to be equipped with Image Orthicon cameras – a more modern technology than those in use by existing television stations.  BTV was also to be the first Australian channel to have its transmission facilities co-located with ABC, which was due to open its Ballarat channel ABRV3 in the first half of 1963.

On its second day of transmission BTV6 presented its first news bulletin.  The channel, now the hub for the WIN television network in Victoria, continues to produce regional news bulletins each weeknight from the same studios in Walker Street for broadcast across WIN’s statewide network.

BTV6’s early line-up of presenters included children’s host Max Bartlett (later to gain national fame on The Magic Circle Club), newsreader Arthur Scuffins (pictured) and presenters Eric Gracie, Val Oldfield, Brenda Reid and David Bell.  Early program line-ups for the channel included Australian productions BP Pick A Box, Revue ‘62, The Johnny O’Keefe Show, The Bert Newton Show and The Best Of IMT.  And with the local ABC station almost a year away, BTV6 in August commenced the direct relay of rural affairs program Country Call from ABV2 in Melbourne, keeping viewers in Ballarat and Western Victoria up to date each week on rural and agricultural matters.

To boost its signal in the fringes of its coverage area, BTV6 later installed translator stations in Nhill (BTV7), Warrnambool (BTV9), Hamilton (BTV10) and Portland (BTV11).

As well as local news the channel maintained a steady schedule of local production over the next 30 years including children’s programs, rural affairs, daytime chat shows, sporting telecasts (including the annual Stawell Gift), religious programs, talent quests and variety programs.  Apart from News, possibly the most successful local production to come from BTV6 was the variety show Six Tonight, hosted by Fred Fargher.  The weekly program, often featuring local performers as well as national guest stars, ran for over a decade from 1972.  The program, later re-named Thursday Night Live, gained a wider audience in the mid-1980s when it was picked up by other regional channels across Victoria – giving the show a potential audience of around one million viewers each week.

BTV6 won a TV Week Logie in 1987 for its children’s production Kids Only – and the show’s host, Glenn Ridge, later became a national TV presenter as host of Sale Of The Century for over a decade.

Back in the days when country TV station staffers had to be jack-of-all-trades, Gary Rice was a musician and later sales manager at the channel.  He also read the local news and became general manager of the channel and later its parent company.  His experience in management at BTV6 led to him taking on executive roles at the Nine, Ten and Seven networks in the 1980s and 1990s.

In December 1989, BTV6 and its Shepparton-based sister station GMV6 were given a new on-air identity – VIC TV – as the two stations were soon to add STV8 Mildura to their network, and were preparing for the aggregation of regional Victorian markets which was to occur in January 1992.

Expansion across the Regional Victoria market as the Nine Network affiliate saw VIC TV dominate – the first ratings survey post-aggregation saw VIC TV outrate its competitors Prime and Southern Cross Network combined.

VIC TV became WIN Television following the takeover by the NSW-based broadcaster in 1994 but maintains studio facilities in Ballarat for the production of six newscasts – one for each region across Victoria – each weeknight.

Source: The Age, 26 April 1962.

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 28-January 3

The doctor’s lusty bedside manner!
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.

Briefly…
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.” 

A new policeman is about to make an entrance into A Country Practice’s Wandin Valley.  Senior Constable Tom Newman (Jon Concannon, pictured) comes into town as the heir apparent to Frank Gilroy (Brian Wenzel) – and while producers won’t give much away, it appears that the new policeman’s arrival creates some resentment on Frank’s part.  Concannon has previously starred in mini-series Nancy Wake and All The Rivers Run II and in the ABC series House Rules.

Lawrie Masterson’s Sound Off
”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.”

John Laws says…
”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

1991: December 21-27

Two secret showbiz weddings
Secrecy was the key word surrounding two recent celebrity weddings.  Actor Cameron Daddo has married model Alison Brahe at the Garrison Church in Sydney’s historic Rocks area – while E Street star Marianne Howard married dancer Drew Anthony at the secluded Holy Trinity Anglican Church at Berrima, NSW.  Both weddings were shrouded in secrecy as the couples sought to escape mass media coverage.

Ray seizes the day again
Despite persistent rumours that he was headed to the Seven Network to front the new current affairs program, unofficially dubbed ‘Project X’, Midday host Ray Martin says he will be with Nine in the new year and insists it was never going to be any other way.  “I’ve never spoken to (producer) Gerald Stone about ‘Project X’,” Martin told TV Week.  “My understanding is that he has a real commitment not to poach people from Channel Nine.  The rumour regarding me isn’t, and wasn’t, true.”  Martin has also revealed that due to his wife giving birth to their second child he has pulled the pin on a planned night-time interview show that was set to screen on Friday nights that had been given the go-ahead by Nine.  “We were going to be on air for 90 minutes after Burke’s Backyard,” Martin said.  “So the bottom line is I will definitely do Midday next year and other specials.  I’ll also fill in for Jana Wendt (on A Current Affair), which I’m delighted to do as long as it’s for short stints.”  Martin is also looking forward to next year as it marks the 20th year for Midday – having started as The Mike Walsh Show on the 0-10 Network in 1973 before moving across to Nine in 1977.  Mike Walsh then made the controversial, and short-lived, move to prime-time while Martin took over the re-named Midday in 1985.  “We are looking to get a special show up, with me and Mike Walsh co-hosting,” Martin said.  “We have a lot of television under our belts.”

‘Let me out of here!’
Home And Away actress Dee Smart (pictured with co-star Bruce Roberts) has likened her two-year contract to the Seven Network series to a prison sentence as she is desperate for “release” after eight months.  “It feels like I’ve been here for years,” she told TV Week.  After studying acting for two-and-a-half years, the 25-year-old says the constant turnaround of episode production is what is most frustrating.  “There is no time to develop.  It is almost impossible to do a good job with the amount of time you have,” she told TV Week.  “I used to bag the soapies.  I used to say, ‘That actor is so bad.  How can they be on this show? It’s awful’.  Now I have nothing but admiration for these guys because of the amount of time they have.  I’m amazed they even get the words out, let alone try to act at all.  There is just no time to think about things.  And this Lucinda character goes on and on and on.  It is kind of abnormal for a character to last this long.”  But despite her frustration, Smart says Home And Away has been an invaluable learning experience.  “I’m learning and being stretched in my acting,” she says.  “If you can justify the ups and downs of soap, you can justify anything.  One thing is certain, I won’t go racing into another long-term contract.”

Briefly…
ABC’s The Afternoon Show host Michael Tunn (pictured) has scored a coup with an exclusive interview with US boy band New Kids On The Block when they tour Australia next month.  “We do requests on The Afternoon Show, and at least half are for New Kids On The Block,” 17-year-old Tunn told TV Week.  “We thought, as they’d be touring Australia – and because our audience loves them so much – we would look at the behind-the-scenes as well as out front.  The boys have agreed to an extensive interview with us backstage during the tour.”  The interview and behind-the-scenes special is expected to go to air in February.

Sale Of The Century host Glenn Ridge, whose career started in radio in the late 1970s, is set to present the breakfast shift on Melbourne radio station TTFM while its regular hosts Darren James and Jane Holmes are on holiday.

After two years studying acting in the US, former Double Dare host and Home And Away star Gerry Sont (pictured) is back in Australia and has signed a one-year contract with the Nine Network’s Chances.  Sont plays the role of Cal Lawrence, a bit of a loner who lets chance decide what he does and ends up having an affair with Barbara (Brenda Addie).  “Chances is a real challenge for me,” Sont told TV Week.  “It’s challenging people’s view of drama.  It doesn’t follow the simple formula of Neighbours or The Flying Doctors.  It’s new and it’s fun.”

With the future of The Flying Doctors in limbo, actor Paul Kelman is excited to have picked up a role in another Crawfords Australia production, the upcoming children’s series Halfway Across The Galaxy And Turn Left.  “I’m rapt because this is so different to anything I’ve done before,” he told TV Week.  “I’m playing a character from another planet so it’s a big challenge to make something like this believable to the audience.”  Halfway Around The Galaxy And Turn Left co-stars Kerry Armstrong, Bruce Spence, Colleen Hewett, Sandy Gore, Jan Freidl and Lauren Hewett and is expected to screen on the Seven Network in 1992.

Lawrie Masterson‘s Sound Off
It was under wraps longer than the identity of Who Shot JR (does anyone remember?), but the Seven Network finally has loosened up on some of the details of Gerald Stone’s so-called ‘Project X’.  In about four weeks, Seven will unveil a new 6.30pm program which, considering it’s television, has been given the unreal title of Real Life.  Consequently – and as has been expected for ages – the soap Home And Away will be thrust into head-to-head combat with Network Ten’s Neighbours at 7.00pm.  The intrigue continues about how some names and faces out of left-field – notably the program’s host, former ABC man Stan Grant – will fare at taking on the almost death-defying challenge of trying to topple Jana Wendt’s A Current Affair on the Nine Network.  And will Grant sign off with the line: “That’s real life?”  Questions also continue about the effects of the two soaps having to battle each other.  Could it be that the biggest beneficiaries of that little scrap will be Nine’s Sale Of The Century or ABC News?

Program Highlights (Melbourne, December 21-27):
Saturday:  Nine presents a one-hour special, Spirit Of Australia, documenting Australia’s entrant in the Americas Cup and their challenge to bring the cup back to Australia.  Barry Crocker and Jackie Love host Seven’s Carols In The Domain, featuring performances by Judith Durham, David Hobson, Suzanne Clachair and The Australian Girls Choir.

Sunday:  Seven’s afternoon is dominated by Christmas movies and specials, while Ten crosses to New Zealand for the Ironman Super Series.  Sunday night movies are Ernest Saves Christmas (Seven), Going In Style (Nine) and Prancer (Ten).

Tuesday:  The highlight of Christmas Eve is the traditional Carols By Candlelight, live from the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, hosted by Ray Martin and featuring performances by John Farnham, Marina Prior (pictured with Martin), James Blundell, Julie Anthony, Denis Walter, John Bowles, Anthony Warlow, Debbie Byrne and Tommy Emmanuel.  Seven screens the movie Scrooge, while ABC presents the 1956 musical comedy High Society.  Later in the evening, Ten presents the traditional Midnight Mass For You At Home.

Wednesday (Christmas Day):  ABC’s broadcast day begins with Christmas Mass, celebrated by Pope John Paul II at St Peter’s Basilica, Rome.  Christmas morning on Seven is predominantly cartoons followed by delayed broadcast of Adelaide’s John Martin’s Christmas Pageant and the 1983 movie Bush Christmas, starring John Ewart, John Howard and Nicole Kidman.  Nine presents a replay of last night’s Carols By Candlelight, and Ten presents Christmas specials and movies throughout the day.  SBS screens a one-hour Christmas Carols concert, recorded by the SBS Youth Orchestra.  ABC, Seven and Ten include the Queen’s Christmas Message in their evening news bulletins, while Nine broadcasts it later in the evening.  Seven presents a one-hour special Darling Harbour Christmas Parade, hosted by Kathryn Greiner and Rev Dr Gordon Moyes – while ABC’s That’s Dancin’ presents a special Christmas edition featuring guest stars Marina Prior, Rhonda Burchmore, Tony Fenelon and The Barbara Lynch Dance Group.

Thursday: From midday Ten presents 90 minutes of live coverage of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, with updates through the afternoon.  With the cricket Second Test being played at the MCG, Nine in Melbourne picks up coverage only from 3.40pm until close of play at 6.00pm, with half an hour of highlights from 11.40pm.  At 5.30pm, Ten crosses to Perth for live coverage of the Australian Derby horse racing.  In The Flying Doctors (Nine), Rowie’s (Sarah Chadwick) seriously ill father is admitted to hospital and pleads with Guy (David Reyne) not to tell Rowie of the severity of his illness.

Friday:  ABC presents a new series of Aboriginal affairs program Blackout.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  21 December 1991.  Southdown Press

Magazine covers from Christmases past

Television.AU wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas and takes a trip down memory lane to some of the TV magazine covers that have marked this very special day…

George Mallaby and Rowena Wallace (Cop Shop), pictured with Mallaby’s son Guy and co-star Greg Ross’ son, Simon.  TV Week, 1978

Humphrey B. Bear (Here’s Humphrey).  TV Times, 1978.

(Clockwise from bottom left) Marcia Hines (Marcia’s Music), Mike Walsh (The Mike Walsh Show), Susan Hannaford (The Sullivans), John Orcsik (Cop Shop), June Salter (The Restless Years), Peter Lochran (The Young Doctors).  TV Times, 1979

Tony Barber and Alyce Platt (Sale Of The Century).  TV Week, 1986.

Kylie Minogue (Neighbours).  TV Week, 1987.

Kerrie Friend and Cameron Daddo (Perfect Match). 
Scene On TV (The Sunday Mail, Brisbane), 1987.

(Clockwise from top left) Graeme Goodings, Jane Doyle, Max Stevens and Anne Wills (Seven Nightly News, Adelaide).
Sunday Mail TV Plus (Adelaide), 1993.

None Hazlehurst and John Jarratt (Better Homes And Gardens) with Bree Desborough, Kristy Wright and Lynne McGranger (Home And Away). 
TV Week, 1998.

Carla Bonner, Madeleine West, Kym Valentine (Neighbours). 
TV Week, 2000.

Kate Ritchie (Home And Away).  TV Week, 2006.

Some other TV memories of Christmases past as presented on this blog:

Merry Christmas, ‘76 style
Merry Christmas from QTQ9 (1967)
TV Week’s Strictly Christmas (1992)
Christmas cheer from SBS (1983)
’Twas the night before Christmas…

BCV: Television Centre of Victoria

Saturday, 23 December, 1961 – fifty years ago today – brought an early Christmas present to residents in the Goulburn Valley and central Victorian regions with the respective areas receiving their first TV stations.

Just two weeks after the debut of GLV10 in Gippsland, BCV8 was opened in Bendigo and serving central and north west Victoria, and on the same night GMV6 was opened in Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley.

BCV8, Saturday 23 December 1961: 6pm Special: The Magic Mirror A Christmas Pantomime 7pm Official Opening BCV8 by Postmaster-General Mr C. W. Davidson 7.25 News 7.30 BP Super Show 8.30 Whiplash 9pm The Phil Silvers Show 9.30 Peter Gunn 10pm Adventures In Paradise 11pm Close Source: The Age, 23 December 1961

BCV8’s local programming in the very early days included a 15-minute news summary at 6.45pm each weeknight read by Ron Alderton (who would later appear on ATV0 and GMV6), with an expanded 30-minute bulletin from 6.30pm on Thursdays to include a weekly segment presented by the Department of Agriculture.  Alderton also presented Be My Guest, a brief interview segment screened in the mid-evening three times a week.  The channel’s afternoon children’s session was Cobber’s Teleclub, hosted by John Crook, who later went on to Hobart channel TVT6 and then had a long stint as a morning show host at Brisbane’s TVQ0.

On Saturday afternoons BCV presented a weekly Sports Roundup and on Saturday evenings during the winter there was Football Forum, presenting a post mortem of the day’s games of the Bendigo league.  On Monday and Tuesday evenings there was the latest on the local cattle sales in the Stock Report.  Local variety acts appeared in A Date With 8, a brief segment that appeared at various times during the week where there was an odd five or ten-minute gap to fill in the schedule.

Like many commercial channels in that era, BCV presented a line-up heavy in imported – particularly American – material but the channel in its first year did pick up a number of popular Australian programs from the capital cities, including Bandstand, The Mobil-Limb Show, The Channel Nine Show, Pick-A-Box and Sunnyside Up.

By the late 1960s regional stations were beginning to open translator stations to expand their signal to audiences in fringe areas where reception would normally be patchy.  BCV8 launched its Swan Hill translator BCV11 (later BCV10) in May 1967 with a variety program, Variety Eleven, hosted by national TV personality Tommy Hanlon Jnr and featuring performances by local artists from the Swan Hill area.  With the two channels in operation, the station then became known as BCV-TV.

Bendigo was the site of ABC’s first regional television station, ABEV1, launching in 1963 – and ABC stations were soon to spring up around Victoria in Shepparton (ABGV3), Ballarat (ABRV3), Albury (ABAV1), Gippsland (ABLV4), Mildura (ABMV4) and Swan Hill (ABSV2) with their own network of translator stations in smaller towns.

 

By 1973, BCV8 had partnered with GLV10 (later GLV8) to form a network presenting a common program schedule and offering national advertisers the advantage of offering a larger regional audience with a single buy of airtime.  They were later joined by Mildura channel STV8.

Like many regional channels, BCV presented opportunities for talent that would later become known on a wider scale.  Glenn Ridge was a presenter of a music program, Breezin’, in the early 1980s before becoming host of Sale Of The Century, and Sandy Roberts had a stint at BCV8 before joining the Seven Network.

In 1986, BCV8 won a TV Week Logie for most outstanding contribution by regional television for its local newscast, Newshour.  BCV continued to produce local news from Bendigo until the change in branding to Ten Victoria in 1994.

BCV and GLV are now part of the Southern Cross Ten network which through a series of acquisitions has now expanded through regional New South Wales, Queensland and parts of South Australia.

With three regional television stations opening within two weeks of each other in 1961, Victoria was leading the way in the roll-out of regional television – but there was to be an raft of new stations open during 1962 in parts of New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania and in Canberra.

1991: November 30-December 6

An old affair rekindled
In a surprising move, the Nine Network has announced that former A Current Affair and Willesee host Mike Willesee will be hosting A Current Affair for three weeks in January while regular host Jana Wendt (pictured with Willesee) takes a break over the summer non-ratings period.  The move is surprising given that Willesee’s last appearance as a fill in host on the program two years ago was marked by controversy when he was caught stumbling on his words and had to apologise for giggling and “attempts to be humourous”.  The incident saw Nine and the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal inundated with complaints about his behaviour – and rival current affairs host Derryn Hinch opened his show the following night by saying, “I’m Derryn Hinch… and I’m sober”.  But Willesee, who claimed at the time that his behaviour was a result of “something he ate or drank”, is no longer keen to discuss the incident (“You’ve got to understand how often I’ve been asked about that.  There’s got to be a limit to how often I answer it.”) and is enthusiastic about his upcoming return to the program.

The eyes have it!
Actor and comedian Mark Mitchell could be forgiven for having a split personality after working on children’s series Lift Off.  In the multi-million dollar production Mitchell plays 19 characters, including an apartment caretaker, a farmer, a school principal and a geriatric legionnaire.  “I’m principally cast as Mr Fish (pictured), the caretaker, and represent the adult bureaucracy the kids have to deal with,” he told TV Week.  “He was made to look at flawed as possible, which is why he is fat, bad-tempered and wears glasses which make him look like a puff fish.  The show allows me to dress up and be silly, which is one of the reasons I’m doing it.”  Lift Off is expected to screen on ABC around mid-1992.

They’re sold on Alyce
When Alyce Platt (pictured) made a sudden exit from Sale Of The Century earlier this year, her television future appeared grim.  But apart from an appendix operation that saw her have to withdraw from a planned guest appearance in All Together Now, she has been almost in constant work since leaving Sale, with a guest appearance on Fast Forward and a role in the Seven Network’s new children’s series Animal Park.  She is also starring in stage production Torch Song Trilogy at Melbourne’s Universal Theatre.  “I enjoyed working on Sale for as long as I was there,” she told TV Week.  “But getting the part in Animal Park was the best thing that could have happened.”

Briefly…
Former Hey Dad! star Christopher Truswell, former Neighbours star Ian Williams and performer Maria Mercedes are set to star in a Nineties revival of the acclaimed rock musical Godspell which is scheduled to open at the Sydney Opera House early in 1992.

Some surprising announcements from the Ten Network with news that Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show host Jacki MacDonald (pictured) is to make a sudden shift from Nine to Ten to co-host a new lifestyle show to be produced by former Hey Hey It’s Saturday co-producer Gavan Disney.  “I’m very excited about moving on to a different style of program,” MacDonald told TV Week.  Disney is also tipped to be working on a revival of variety show Young Talent Time for the network.  Meanwhile, Bert Newton is making a regular TV comeback to host a new mid-morning talk show for Ten starting in the new year.  The program, tentatively titled This Morning, is tipped to also feature Kerri-Anne Kennerley from Good Morning Australia. 

Chances star Jeremy Sims and new A Country Practice star Kym Wilson have become TV’s hottest young couple despite them each living in separate cities.  Sims is based in Melbourne and Wilson is in Sydney, leading to regular weekend commutes and many long-distance telephone calls.

John Laws says…
”We’ve been fortunate in Australia to have a healthy history of satire on TV, going back as far as the ground-breaking The Mavis Bramston Show (pictured) in the Sixties.  Australians like to laugh at themselves – it’s probably one of our better human traits – and the success of programs such as Fast Forward and The Comedy Company are evidence of the presence of this self-depreciating sense of humour.  Fast Forward’s major attribute is its talented young cast.  Magda Szubanski is surely one of the finest comedy talents to have emerged for a long, long time.  Her Pixie-Anne Wheatley character is a classic.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, November 30-December 6):
Saturday:  The final day of TV ratings for the year.  Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine) presents a special three-hour show for its 1991 finale with guest appearances by John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, Marina Prior, Johnny Diesel and Rhonda Burchmore.  This week’s contestants on Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune (Seven) are swimmer Kieren Perkins, singer Venetta Fields and comedian Anthony Ackroyd.  Ten presents a re-run of mini-series The Heroes as a four-hour telemovie, starring Jason Donovan and Cameron Daddo.

Sunday: ABC presents the final episode of 1920s mini-series The River Kings.  Sunday night movies are Splash (Seven), Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Nine) and Bat 21 (Ten), up against the Australian Opera production of Don Giovanni on ABC.

Monday:  Repeats of early episodes Hey Dad! are the summer replacement for Home And Away on Seven, while Peter Luck hosts Summertime, replacing Derryn Hinch’s current affairs program.  Helen Dalley hosts the summer edition of A Current Affair (Nine).  Neighbours star Richard Huggett guest stars in Col’n Carpenter (Ten).

Tuesday:  Beyond 2000 (Seven) and Embassy (ABC) are presented in repeats for the summer season.

Wednesday:  In E Street (Ten), Sheridan (Kate Raison) has a taste of the working-class life, and Lisa (Alyssa-Jane Cook) has some exciting news.

Thursday:  Debbie Byrne guest stars in this week’s episode of The Flying Doctors (Nine), playing the part of a TV reporter who is stranded in Coopers Crossing due to a faulty plane.  To pass the time she prepares a “day in the life of the Royal Flying Doctor Service” report, but a plane crash forces her to understand the other side of a news story.

Friday:  Nine crosses to Perth for the Benson And Hedges World Series Cricket day/night match between India and the West Indies.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  30 November 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: July 20-26

Fame takes its toll
Some of TV’s most popular young stars are finding there is a downside to fame.  E Street’s Melissa Tkautz (pictured, top right), currently heading up the charts with her new single Read My Lips, says that while her showbiz career is a dream come true she admits to bursting into tears “almost every night” just from the sheer exhaustion of her TV and music commitments.  Tkautz also says she has received death threats and her family home is a target for fans.  “I’ve lived there all my life and just too many people know where I live,” she told TV Week.  Home And Away’s Rebekah Elmaloglou, 17, has also been feeling the strain of the 17-hour days and a recent health scare has seen her forced to take a two-week break.  “Some people think we film for half an hour a day.  They have no idea,” she told TV Week.  Meanwhile, former E Street star Richard Huggett has moved from Sydney to Melbourne for his role as Glen Donnelly in Neighbours – a move that has taken a personal toll as it has left his girlfriend Miriam in Sydney.  There is lots of weekend commuting as the pair seek some time together but Huggett says having his private life made public has been difficult.  “It was pretty scary to start off with,” he said.  “I just got really nervous about going out.  I even got agoraphobic there for a while.  You have to come to accept it’s part of the job.”

Daryl’s casino gamble
Daryl Somers is taking Hey Hey It’s Saturday to Perth’s Burswood Hotel-Casino later this month for what he calls a “very brave” assignment – a concert version based around the musical Grease.  “I’ve wanted to do a concert version for years.  This is an experiment in that it’s a theatrical event,” Somers told TV Week.  “It’s breaking new ground to take a studio show to a venue as large as the Burswood complex.”  And although plans to take Hey Hey It’s Saturday to London have stalled due to cost, Somers is still looking to take the show to Hollywood later this year for its 20th anniversary.

Yvonne chances a wedding
New Zealand actress Yvonne Lawley is looking forward to returning home after six months in Nine’s Chances.  “They (the producers) wanted to sign on for two years, but it’s too long at my age,” says the 75-year-old.  Her final episode, which screens this week, will see her character Hattie McGlashan wed her long-lost love Aubrey Nash (Alwyn Kurts) as well as helping to deliver Charlie’s (Kimberley Davenport) baby!

Briefly…
ABC’s long-running series GP is about to lose cast member Judy McIntosh (pictured), who is leaving after her contract expires later this year.  “It is the best television drama I’ve worked in and everybody has been wonderful,” she told TV Week.  “But I’m a great believer in the idea that when one door closes another one opens.”  Meanwhile, ABC has commissioned another 40 episodes of the popular series, guaranteeing it until the end of next year.

One of Home And Away’s most popular stars, Alex Papps (pictured), is returning to the series for a four-week guest appearance.  His return to Summer Bay will be part of the end-of-season cliffhanger.

Matthew Newton, who made his TV debut singing On The Road To Gundagai on his father Bert’s TV show at the age of three, is making a guest appearance in The Flying Doctors as a runaway named Wombat.  It is his second appearance on the Nine Network series, having appeared in a different role four years ago.  His next TV role will be in the upcoming ABC series The Worst Day Of My Life which will screen later this year.

John Laws says…
”Ten has had trouble for a long time finding the right newsreader for its late-night news program.  It surely has found the answer with Anne Fulwood (pictured) who is probably the best female newsreader in Sydney.  Anne’s slickness as a reader is matched by her striking good looks and the fact that she managed to let her personality and humour shine through.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, July 20-16):
Saturday:  Rock ‘n roll greats Shirley Strachan, Brian Cadd, Max Merritt and Normie Rowe battle entertainers Jackie Love, Chelsea Brown, Colleen Hewett and Jane Scali (pictured) in Celebrity Family Feud (Seven).  Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine) this week features guests Ratcat, James Reyne, Girl Overboard and The Bodeans.

Sunday: Sunday night movies are Leap Of Faith (Seven), Batman (Nine) and Cannonball Fever (Ten).

Monday:  Sale Of The Century (Nine) begins a week-long Celebrity Challenge – featuring stars of sport, entertainment, music and Hey Hey It’s Saturday.

Tuesday:  In GP (ABC), Nicola (Judy McIntosh) fights to save a Chelmsford victim from suicide.  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Amanda Keller looks at the facelift Barcelona is undergoing in preparation for the 1992 Olympic Games.

Wednesday:  Seven crosses to Sydney for the second rugby league Test between Australia and New Zealand. 

Thursday:  In Neighbours (Ten), Helen Daniels’ (Anne Haddy) hens’ night-out has a surprising finish.  In The Flying Doctors (Nine), Jackie Crane (Nikki Coghill) buys a motorbike and rents a run-down farmhouse, and discovers she is not alone as a teenage runaway, played by Matthew Newton, and his girlfriend have been secretly living there.

Friday:  Former Brisbane Lord Mayor Sally-Anne Atkinson is a guest on Nine’s Burke’s Backyard.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  20 July 1991.  Southdown Press