1992: May 3-9

Rebecca does a double take!
Being an aunt several times over – with 14 nieces and nephews – All Together Now star Rebecca Gibney (pictured) is no stranger to crying babies, which makes her well equipped for this week’s storyline which sees her character Tracy offering to babysit a pair of five-month-old twins.  But Gibney, engaged to singer Jack Jones, is in no hurry to start her own family.  “I’m not at the stage where I can even think about it,” she told TV Week.  “It wouldn’t make sense to me to have a child now.  I think you’ve got to be settled as a human being before you go into it.”

Peta tells: ‘Marriage, millions and me’
Actress Peta Toppano’s character in the upcoming Six Pack episode titled Piccolo Mondo tells her two friends (played by Victoria Longley and Denise Scott) that they all should have married rich men.  And, ironically, that’s what Toppano has done in real life, marrying one of Australia’s richest men, Perth entrepreneur Kerry Stokes.  But while she is enjoying being a millionaire’s wife, the former Prisoner and Return To Eden star is not planning to leave showbusiness but is enjoying a break while spending time with her new husband and his two teenage sons.  Toppano is very enthusiastic about her role in Six Pack.  “It was a fabulous part and so well written,” she told TV Week.  “When I read the script I found myself laughing so much – Lena was a great character.  I haven’t played anyone quite like Lena before.  I guess she was a little like the character in Return To Eden, but a much more authentic woman.”

‘I’m Captain Good Guy… again!’
Former Home And Away star Julian McMahon (pictured) is accustomed to playing nice guy roles, such as his latest role in GP as a policeman, but is keen to play the role of a villain.  “I’m really looking forward to playing a villain for a change, instead of being Captain Good Guy,” he tells TV Week.  “In The Power, The Passion – my first television job – I touched on villainy… just.”  The GP role comes just after McMahon has completed work on movie Exchange Lifeguards, starring alongside Christopher Atkins, Elliott Gould and Mark Hembrow.  The production was an intense schedule, with 14-hour days over seven weeks.  “Now I’m never going to the beach again unless I get paid for it!,” he said.

Briefly…
Actor John Waters (pictured) is taking on an unusual role as host of ABC’s upcoming Bush’s Australian Sheepdog Challenge.  The show comes after the success of similar shows in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.  Waters, who recently starred in mini-series Which Way Home, will soon be heading to South-East Asia for his next role, a private eye in the movie Singapore Sling.

Producers of Seven’s new sitcom Newlyweds are still on the hunt for an actress to play the lead role after the sudden departure of Alyssa-Jane Cook.  Former Neighbours star Annie Jones has cropped up as a possible contender for the role.

The third series of Embassy is soon to start screening on ABC.  One of its upcoming guest stars will be actor Nicholas Eadie (pictured), playing the part of a politician with a kinky sex life.

There are rumours around the television industry that the Ten Network is considering the idea of one national news bulletin for the whole network, based in Melbourne.

The Nine Network has commissioned a six-part series as a spin-off to the recent documentary special, Sex, hosted by Sophie Lee.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
”Back in the bad old days when the Seven Network, in particular, was more fragmented than it is today, this type of thing used to happen regularly.  The network’s major stations – ATN7 in Sydney and HSV7 in Melbourne – were not as closely aligned as they are now and often there was a lag of up to four weeks with regular series such as A Country Practice.  In other words, a major storyline, such as a wedding in Wandin Valley, would be seen a month earlier – or later – in one city, a nightmare for a national publication such as TV Week.  But genuine networking of schedules was going to solve all that and, to a large extent, it did.  Which makes the current situation with The Darling Buds Of May all that more disappointing.  The delightful six-hour series, one of the most popular shows in Britain last year, will screen on Seven at 8.30 on three consecutive Friday nights… in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.  Other capital cities will have to wait, mainly because AFL games are scheduled on those nights and, in the case of Melbourne, partly because the powers that be at HSV privately admit they’re not sure where to slot The Darling Buds Of May, anyway.  The feeling is that series would sit more comfortably in the ABC’s schedule, rather than the line-up of any commercial station.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 3-9):
Sunday:  Showbiz legend Toni Lamond and her son, actor Tony Sheldon are guests on this week’s Sunday Afternoon With Peter Ross (ABC).  Sunday night movies are Blue Steel (Seven), Joe Versus The Volcano (Nine) and Grass Roots (Ten).  Late night sport includes Shell Australian Touring Car Championships (Seven), the Spanish Grand Prix (Nine) and delayed coverage of the rugby league Winfield Cup (Nine).

Monday:  Nine presents the debut of children’s series The New Adventures Of Skippy, a modern take on the TV classic Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, starring Andrew Clarke (pictured).  In A Country Practice (Seven), Kate (Michelle Pettigrove) blames the town’s new vet Anna (Anne Looby) for the death of her horse.  This week’s Six Pack (SBS) feature is Loveless, exploring the complexities of human sexuality as Tom (Simon Burke), who has just lost his father, makes a video about a relationship between a father and his gay son.

Tuesday:  In GP (ABC), Julie (Denise Roberts) is confronted with the fear of living alone after her bag is snatched.  The episode features guest stars Julian McMahon and Joy Smithers.  In Chances (Nine), Madelaine Wolfe (Karen Richards) the agency’s new photographer needs Angela’s (Patsy Stephen) help when she has problems with a nude model.

Wednesday:  Nine’s telecast of the Rugby League State Of Origin is being scheduled in prime time across Australia for the first time.  In the past the network had been reluctant to commit to a prime-time screening in non-rugby territories, but last year’s prime time telecast by NWS9 Adelaide showed that the game can attract strong ratings outside of its traditional markets.

Thursday:  Seven presents delayed coverage of the AFL Centenary Match, between Collingwood and Carlton on the 100th anniversary of the traditional rivals’ first match, from the MCG.

Friday:  ABC presents the long-awaited debut of its new big-budget children’s series Lift Off, starring Mark Mitchell (pictured), featuring a combination of live action, puppetry and animation. 

Saturday:  SBS presents a live telecast of the Coca-Cola Soccer League Awards from the Darling Harbour Convention Centre, followed by live coverage of the FA Cup Final from Wembley Stadium, UK, and a delayed telecast of the Scottish FA Cup Final from Glasgow.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  2 May 1992.  Southdown Press.

Obituary: Harold Hopkins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nine Darwin – 40 years today

Although television started in Sydney and Melbourne in 1956 it wasn’t too much longer before other capital cities joined in – Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in 1959, Hobart in 1960, Canberra in 1962 – but for people in Australia’s smallest and most isolated capital city it was a much longer wait.

It was 1971 before television arrived in the Northern Territory capital of Darwin.  The first channel to air was ABC’s local outlet ABD6, opening in August 1971.

Darwin’s first commercial channel, NTD8, opened three months later – 11 November, 1971.  The first program on opening night was an Australian classic, Skippy The Bush Kangaroo.

Although Darwinites are known to like a drink, apparently the arrival of television had a major impact on attendances at Darwin pubs as many would race home to enjoy the wonders of the new medium.  This would potentially be of concern to the local brewers, except that at the time Swan Breweries was a major shareholder in NTD8 and, as the sole commercial channel in town, business was thriving.

Colour television was to arrive formally in March 1975.  In a TV Times article in October 1974, it was reported that NTD8 was confident that it was on schedule to have its facilities upgraded for colour in time for the March deadline.  The ABC, however, was less optimistic.  With a vast network of hundreds of transmitter sites Australia-wide to be converted, ABD6 was far down the list of sites to be enabled for colour – with a tentative conversion date of sometime in 1978!

But on Christmas Day, 1974 – barely two months after the article’s publication – Darwin was devastated by Cyclone Tracy.  Much of the city was destroyed and Darwin faced a mass evacuation to bring the population down from 45,000 to 10,000 within days as the recovery effort took place.

The cyclone took out all television and radio stations but the ABC, as the national broadcaster, was able to get ABD6 and its radio services back on the air within days.  NTD8, however, was less fortunate and took until October 1975 to return to the airwaves – providing even then a fairly rudimentary service.

But in the years to follow the city of Darwin was re-built as was NTD8.  The channel also undertook a $2 million redevelopment of its studios in the early 1980s, although transmission hours by 1982 were still largely limited to the evenings, with daytime broadcasting only on Sundays and Wednesdays.  The channel was also limited in communication infrastructure to the major cities, as the only inbound microwave link available to Darwin was leased full-time to ABC – leaving NTD with little means of timely access to national news stories or program material from interstate.  The channel did, however, maintain local programming including local sports coverage and discussion and a current affairs program, Spectrum.

The monopoly situation with the microwave link was rectified by 1982, finally giving NTD8 an instant connection to the major cities and enabling it to launch its first news service, News At Seven, in October of that year, initially in affiliation with the Nine Network but later changed to Seven.  One of the original members of the News team was Andrew Bruyn, who became the channel’s general manager in 1991 and continues in that role today.

By the mid-1980s, NTD8 was part of a bid to obtain the licence to operate a Remote Commercial Television Service (RCTS) to remote central Australia via the new AUSSAT domestic satellite.  The bid was unsuccessful, with the licence instead going to Imparja Television, operated by the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA). 

NTD lodged an appeal against the decision but in the meantime the channel was bought out by Kerry Packer, who sought to negotiate operating the new channel as a joint venture with CAAMA but at the last minute his company withdrew the appeal and CAAMA proceeded to launch Imparja in January 1988.

When Packer regained control of the Nine Network in 1990, NTD8 was brought into the network.  Despite ownership by Nine, NTD8 as the sole commercial broadcaster in Darwin continued with the Channel 8 branding, providing a composite schedule of programming from all three commercial networks. 

In 1994, Darwin became the last capital city in Australia to gain access to SBS – and it was 1998 before a second commercial channel, Seven Darwin, was launched in Darwin.

The launch of Seven Darwin (now Southern Cross Television) then saw NTD8’s schedule change to a mix of Nine and Ten network programs until New Year’s Day, 2003, when the channel was re-branded as Nine Darwin, even though it was still broadcasting on Channel 8.  The change saw the loss of most Network Ten programming and local access to a full-scale Ten schedule was not to arrive until 2008 with the launch of Darwin Digital Television (DDT).

DDT launched as a digital-only channel operated jointly between Southern Cross and Nine and the new channel gave incentive for viewers to convert to digital television, leading to Darwin adopting digital television at a faster rate than most other markets.  In the latest Digital Tracker survey, of the markets still in simulcast between analogue and digital, Darwin is leading the nation in digital conversion – with 89 per cent of households having converted their main television set, compared to the national average of 81 per cent.

Despite the arrival of competition – and the subsequent suite of digital multi-channels – into what is Australia’s smallest capital city (population: 120,000) Nine Darwin continues to take pride as the market leader and maintains its local reputation with its flagship being the local Nine News bulletin, fronted by Jonathon Uptin (pictured).  Production of the local newscast has recently been revamped to match the look and style of its Nine Network counterparts in the eastern states. 

As well as maintaining the Nine Network schedule the channel also conducts occasional local programming initiatives, ranging in topics including local history and recreational activities, and provides commercial production facilities to its local clients. 

Nine Darwin also provides transmission of Nine’s digital channels GO! and GEM.  Darwin is scheduled to switch to digital-only television transmission in the second half of 2013.

Source: NTD, Digital Tracker, TV Times, CAAMA, Australian Television Archive

1991: August 10-16

Lucy turns nasty… very nasty!
A bitter custody battle is set to show A Country Practice’s Lucy Tyler (Georgie Parker, pictured) in a disturbing new light.  The turnaround in her character has even shocked Parker herself.  In recent episodes, Lucy and husband Matt (John Tarrant) have settled into foster-parenthood with their child, Jason (Sam Boggs).  Now, when Jason’s mother, played by Lisa Hensley, returns to collect him after winning custody through the courts, Lucy refuses to give the child up. “It’s a dimension to Lucy that nobody has seen before,” Parker tells TV Week.  “She turns nasty, very nasty.”

Soap wars!
A war is brewing behind the scenes between rival soaps Home And Away (Seven) and Neighbours (Ten).  TV Week sources say that Neighbours producers have been trying to poach some of the more popular Home And Away stars.  “They have been secretly offering contracts to try and get some cast to leave Home And Away and move to Neighbours,” one source said.  “One major cast member was formally approached.  They are trying to do what Seven did when Craig McLachlan swapped networks (from Neighbours to Home And Away).”  It is believed that Ten also tried to sign up new Home And Away cast member Alistair MacDougall, but Home And Away have since secured him with a two-year contract.  Meanwhile, one former Neighbours cast member, Richard Norton, has joined Home And Away with a two-year contract.

Skippy’s making a comeback… and the new Sonny is a daddy!
The Nine Network has commissioned 26 episodes for a Nineties version of the classic TV series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo.  The original series, which ran for 91 episodes and was syndicated around the world, featured child actor Gary Pankhurst as park ranger’s son Sonny Hammond.  In the Nineties version, Sonny is grown up, a widower with two children, and running his own animal park in Queensland.  Andrew Clarke (pictured), former star of Sons And Daughters, Anzacs, Sword Of Honour and Flair, has signed on for the role of Sonny Hammond.  Filming of the new series is due to start at the Warner Bros studios on the Gold Coast in the next few weeks and the series will go to air next year.

Briefly…
Neighbours is welcoming two new cast members as the long-running series celebrates its 1500th episode.  Former Cleo Covergirl of the Year Rachel Blakely and actor Scott Michaelson join the series as Gaby and Brad Willis, daughter and son of Doug and Pam Willis (Terence Donovan and Sue Jones).  Despite his new role, Michaelson jokes that he is an “old hand” at Neighbours.  “I was first on as an extra when it was on the Seven Network.  Then about four years ago, I had a small part as one of the school kids,” he said.

As the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes approaches its 500th edition, reporter Mike Munro is asked about some of the women he’s interviewed over the years.  His favourite?  “Katharine Hepburn, without a doubt.”  The hardest to get to was Madonna.  “The string of entourage was incredible,” he told TV Week.  “Hepburn had an assistant and a maid.  Madonna had six bodyguards, a personal assistant and four public relations people.”

When former Prisoner star Sheila Florance went into hospital for her fifth cancer operation in June, most people – including Florance herself – thought it would be the last time they saw her.  But she has come out of the operation and celebrated her 75th birthday with friends and former Prisoner co-stars.  Her birthday also became a double celebration, as she has also been nominated for an AFI Award for her recent performance in the film A Woman’s Tale.

John Laws says…
”I’ve been a bit perplexed at how Peter Couchman’s program – ostensibly established to canvass Australian issues, otherwise why the name Couchman Over Australia – has seen fit to travel overseas to bring us its talkfests.  I can recall Couchman and his considerable entourage turning up in various countries, including Turkey, New Zealand and some others.  Has it all been worthwhile?  Do we really need a taxpayer-funded Australian TV personality to travel the world organising talk-ins about problems that affect countries thousands of kilometres away from Australia?  In critical economic times – as we now face – all organisations, private and public, have to tighten the purse-strings and in the case of the ABC there has to be a realisation of this essential truth to business life.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, August 10-16):
Saturday:  Ten debuts a new children’s series, Kelly, about a smarter than average police dog, starring Gil Tucker and Alexander Kemp.  Ian Moss, James Freud and Martin Plaza are guest stars on Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Nine).

Sunday:  ABC presents live coverage of the 21st annual City To Surf road race from Sydney. 60 Minutes (Nine) celebrates its 500th edition.  Sunday night movies are Dead Poets Society (Seven), Lethal Weapon II (Nine) and Major League (Ten).

Monday: Former Neighbours star Guy Pearce guest stars in Col’n Carpenter (Ten).

Tuesday:  Beyond 2000 (Seven) reports on a team in Sydney that has developed a new way to monitor the heart that goes one step further than the ECG.

Thursday:  In Embassy (ABC), a Ragaani mail-order-bride is murdered by her Australian husband.  In response, Mahmoud (Joseph Spano) orders that no passports are to be issued to Ragaani women.

Friday:  Bathmat-turned-celebrity Agro is an unlikely guest on this week’s Burke’s Backyard (Nine).

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  10 August 1991.  Southdown Press

Obituary: Bill Hunter

Bill Hunter, one of Australia’s most recognisable and prolific actors, has passed away in Melbourne at the age of 71.

The actor had been admitted to a Melbourne hospice early last week with inoperable cancer.

Born in Ballarat, Hunter went on to a career spanning 50 years with more than 100 roles in various film, stage and television productions. 

Early television roles included appearances in Hunter, Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, The Long Arm, Riptide, Dynasty, Catwalk, The Spoiler, Spyforce and King’s Men as well as appearing on multiple occasions in Division 4, Homicide and Matlock Police.

He later appeared in series including Prisoner, Golden Soak, Young Ramsay, 1915, Scales Of Justice, The Dismissal, Eureka Stockade, The Flying Doctors, A Fortunate Life, Stark, Seachange, All Saints, Pizza, Stingers and Two Twisted.

Hunter had an extensive film resume, including iconic Australian titles Stone, Newsfront, Gallipoli, Strictly Ballroom, Muriel’s Wedding, The Adventures Of Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert, Australia and Finding Nemo.  He also starred in films The Shiralee, Ned Kelly, Far East, Street Hero, Crackerjack and Bad Eggs.  He had recently played the role of racing legend Bart Cummings in the to-be-released film The Cup, recreating the 2002 Melbourne Cup.

He also featured in a number of commercial roles, including recent campaigns for ‘Grain Wave’ chips and the AFL.

Source: The Age, ABC, IMDB, Mark Morrissey

Eric Fullilove

Film and television producer and director Eric Fullilove, one of the names behind legendary series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo and a pioneer producer for SBS, has died at the age of 85.

An established film producer with many years’ experience, English-born Fullilove first came to Australia with the Royal Navy in 1952 to film the detonation of the first British atomic bomb, in the Montebello Islands off the West Australian coast. 

By the mid-1960s, Fullilove emigrated to Australia as a “Ten Pound Pom” and became involved in Australia’s fledgling film and television industry – working on programs including Boney, Barrier Reef, Catch Kandy and Song For Melbourne.

He was a director for TV series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo – and met his future wife, Paddy Barker, on the set.

Fullilove (pictured, above, in 1980) was a producer and director of various programs for multicultural Channel 0/28 (now SBS) in its early days – including telemovie The Three Sea Wolves (pictured), which aired on the channel’s opening night in 1980, current affairs programs SCOOP and Forum and dramas City West and The Liberation of Skopje.

Eric Fullilove is survived by Paddy, his children Julie, Michael and Christian and their partners, and seven grandchildren.

Source: TV Week, 18 October 1980; Sydney Morning Herald

1990: May 5-11

Love is on the air!
The frustrated relationship between nurse Lucy Gardiner (Georgie Parker) and Wandin Valley vet Matt Tyler (John Tarrant) takes a new turn when, in episodes to air this week, Tyler decides to propose marriage when presenting his “Valley Vet” radio show.  But, despite the engagement, marriage for the pair (pictured) is still a long way off.  “There are more twists and turns,” Parker told TV Week.

Skippy bounces back
The legendary children’s series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo is about to make a comeback in a new series for the Nine Network.  Nine’s drama chief Alan Bateman says that the new Skippy will be more in tune with the modern-day concerns for the environment.  “Skippy in this generation is going to be very environmentally aware.  The storylines will focus on genuine environmental issues such as preserving our native forests, land degradation and protecting endangered species,” Bateman told TV Week.

Soapie saga stumbles on!
While Nine’s evening soap Family And Friends is struggling to find an audience a far less likely ‘drama’ is giving the network a ratings spike.  A Town Like Dallas, created as a send-up of daytime soaps and, in particular, the Seven Network’s daytime drama The Power The Passion, is a weekly segment on Midday With Ray Martin and has become a hit with viewers.  The mock soap opera, featuring in the show’s last quarter hour each Friday, has clocked up 50 episodes with guest stars including John Mangos, Don Burke, Glenn Shorrock, Geoff Harvey, Queenie Ashton, Angry Anderson, Yahoo Serious and US actors Emma Samms and Thaao Penghlis appearing alongside segment regulars Gretel Killeen, David Argue, Ross Daniels and Shane Bourne and the show’s host, Ray Martin.  Within a few weeks of its launch, A Town Like Dallas was getting ratings of 17, a huge ratings figure for a daytime timeslot, and The Power The Passion was rating two.

Kate’s a class act!
It’s hard work being a child on a TV series – that’s the verdict from 11-year-old Kate Ritchie who has played orphan Sally Keating in Home And Away for the last three years.  “Sometimes I wish I could just be at school,” she says.  “It’s very hard work, but I do enjoy being on Home And Away very much.  I’m so fortunate to be doing what I do.”  Ritchie names Tracy Mann and Nicole Kidman as her favourite actors.  “I worked with Tracy on the mini-series Cyclone Tracy.  I was the little girl who got sucked out of the bathroom!”  But despite her years in showbusiness, Ritchie is thinking of other pursuits for the future.  “I want to be an architect.  I also hope to keep acting.”

Briefly…
Former Neighbours co-stars Peter O’Brien and Elaine Smith have called an end to their four-year relationship.  The split is said to be amicable, caused largely by the actors working apart – with O’Brien spending a lot of time in the UK and Smith commuting back and forth.

After a “disappointingly quiet” couple of years, actor Andrew Clarke is returning to TV in a guest appearance on the US series Mission: Impossible, being filmed in Australia.  Clarke is also currently working on a children’s series, The Girl From Tomorrow, for the Nine Network.

The somewhat touchy topic of hair loss is being tackled on Seven’s comedy series Hey Dad! – with Simon Kelly (Chris Mayer) contemplating a bald future after sister Debbie (Simone Buchanan) plays a prank to make him think he is losing his hair.

John Laws says…
”At time of writing, my viewing of Skirts (starring Tracy Mann, pictured) has been limited to the opening two-hour telemovie – but it was more than enough to convince me that the Simpson Le Mesurier production house has come up with the most significant Australian TV drama series in years.  All it needs is to avoid slipping into the Cop Shop “soapie” mould and it can become a long-distance runner in the ratings game.”

Program Highlights (May 5-11):
Saturday:  HSV7 presents the 1959 four-hour movie epic, Ben Hur, starring Charlton Heston.
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Once Upon A Texas Train (HSV7), The Holcroft Covenant (GTV9) and Colors (ATV10).  ABC presents the debut of a new documentary series, Hindsights, hosted by Geraldine Doogue and Chris Masters.  And SBS presents its annual telecast of the Eurovision Song Contest, this year being held in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, with 22 countries competing for the right to host the event next year.
Monday:  In A Country Practice (HSV7), Bob Hatfield (Gordon Piper) fights for his life after a bee sting.  And Luke (Matt Day) and Shirley (Lorrae Desmond) visit Father Moore’s refuge in Sydney.
Tuesday:  Andrew Clarke and Patrick Ward are guest stars in this week’s episode of Mission: Impossible (GTV9).
Wednesday:  ABC presents a one-hour special, Tales Of Helpmann, a profile of Sir Robert Helpmann, one of the theatre world’s most controversial, outspoken and flamboyant identities.  ATV10 presents a late-night delayed telecast of the Rugby League State Of Origin from the Sydney Football Stadium.
Thursday:  SBS makes an early-morning (4.00am) cross to Sweden for the final of the European Cup Winners Cup.  For those that are not early-risers, SBS repeats the match at 10.25pm.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.      
5 May 1990. Southdown Press.

Online revival for classic TV fare

NineMSN’s catch-up TV website, FIXPlay, is set to expand its program offerings to include a back catalogue of classic TV titles – including family favourites like Hey Hey It’s Saturday, Skippy The Bush Kangaroo and Thunderbirds.

The website, launched only six weeks ago, is reported to have already clocked up its one millionth visitor with the site’s most popular program being the Nine Network series Underbelly 3: The Golden Mile.  Other popular programs on the video-on-demand website include Sea Patrol, the US sci-fi series V and former Nine series McLeod’s Daughters.

The Seven Network has its own online TV site, Plus7, and ABC has iView, but FIXPlay claims to be the first to offer a back catalogue of classic programming.

Source: Herald Sun

1990: February 17-23

Cover: Johnny Depp, Dannii Minogue

Fast lane to death
After 20 years in the industry, journalist John Budd recalls the last 18 months have been a nightmare.  “When the industry collapsed it left a lot of people without jobs,” he says.  Facing unemployment following the axing of Network Ten’s Public Eye current affairs program, Budd landed a job at ABC’s Four Corners – and after three months’ gruelling research, his first report, Amphetamines: The Quiet Achiever Of The Drug Trade, is ready to go to air this week.  Dubbed the “fast-lane drug of the Eighties”, amphetamines are set to become the big issue of the Nineties, he told TV Week.  “They’re very much a yuppie drug, socially acceptable and mix nicely with alcohol to create a euphoric state of confidence, well-being and hyped-up vigilance.”  Budd interviewed 30 reformed drug users and dealers and also worked with Victoria Police “who are alarmed at the rapid pace of this quiet achiever of the drug trade.”

Keyte’s flying high
”It all happened fairly quickly,” is how HSV7 newsreader Jennifer Keyte (pictured) describes her rise to national stardom as the news presenter on Steve Vizard’s new national variety show, Tonight Live.  “I had seen Steve around the station last year and we used to have make-up room chats.  He made me laugh so much.  The make-up girls hated him because they couldn’t get my lips done.  I guess we established a rapport then.”  As well as her booming TV profile, Keyte also has other matters to attend to – a mid-year wedding to Melbourne nightclub owner Brett Kochner.

“I had to beat the animal that controlled me…”
Actor Tony Bonner, best known from TV series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, Cop Shop and Skyways, is looking relaxed and healthier than ever.  Currently in Los Angeles following good reviews for his work in the Tom Selleck movie Quigley Down Under, Bonner recalls the day only three months ago when he walked into a Melbourne clinic for help in overcoming alcohol problems.  “I came to a proverbial crossroad in life and there were three options – the first was to become a down-and-out lost soul; the second was to be committed to an insane asylum; and the third was to die.  So the option to take was simply to beat the animal that controlled me – alcohol.”  Bonner feels his career is now on a new direction and, since the Quigley movie, is meeting heads of drama at two US networks keen to cast him in telemovies and is also discussing offers with Disney studio Hollywood Pictures.

Briefly… 
Former Perfect Match host Cameron Daddo (pictured) has just finished a long run in the stage production Big River but already has two other projects in planning – one is to join veteran Leo McKern to play the legendary roles of Dad and Dave in the $6.3 million feature film On Our Selection, and the other is a potential lead role in the Grundy Television production of Bony, based on the 1972 series of the same name.

Singer Kate Ceberano, having just completed a cameo role in the film Till There Was You, is now in negotiation for a guest appearance in the new Nine Network series Family And Friends.

Home And Away star Dannii Minogue admits to being nervous over public reaction to her new single, Love And Kisses, and the $50,000 video to promote it – but is determined to silence critics that she is cashing in on the success of her older sister Kylie.   “A lot of people thought I’d copy Kylie and have a sound exactly like hers.  But that’s just not the sort of stuff I do.  This is more my style – but yes, it’s good to be different.” 

John Laws says…
”By any standards, Steve Vizard’s opening show was a crushing disappointment.  The second night was not much better.  The third showed a slender improvement.  Much has been expected of Vizard because of his fine work with Fast Forward.  If anyone could hold a Tonight show together it should be him.  Yet on debut night Vizard was flailing around like a beached whale within seconds of the studio audience’s contrived hysteria being stilled.  Vizard, I’m sure, does have the talent to put on a better show.  It’ll take time to get it right.  I hope Seven has the cash and the patience.” 

Lawrie Masterson’s Sound Off
”Steve Vizard has established Tonight Live as an energetic, cheeky show which goes just far enough – but not too far – to sit nicely in its adults-only timeslot.  Many of the lines have induced a good laugh, some of the music has been top class and somehow – just somehow – a touch of serious news has been shoved in without upsetting the applecart.  But what’s most infectious from where I sit is that the host himself appears to be enjoying it all enormously.  And when he’s having a good time, so am I.”

Program Highlights (February 17-23):
Saturday:  Hey Hey It’s Saturday returns for a new year with Daryl Somers, Denise Drysdale, Ossie Ostrich, John Blackman, Red Symons and Wilbur Wilde.  ABC presents the ABC Sports Award Of The Year, live from the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra.
Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Someone To Watch Over Me (GTV9) and The Man From Snowy River II (ATV10).  HSV7 presents the first instalment of mini-series Small Sacrifices.
Tuesday:  GTV9 crosses to the SCG for the Benson and Hedges World Series: Australia versus Pakistan.  Coverage starts at 2.20pm and, after breaking for National Nine News, A Current Affair and Sale Of The Century, continues through to 10.30pm.
Wednesday:  David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz return for a new series of The Movie Show on SBS. 
Thursday:  SBS launches a new series, Viva World Cup, hosted by Les Murray and Andy Paschalidis in the lead-up to the 1990 World Cup, including reports on the venues, personalities and the final 24 teams.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.
17 February 1990. Southdown Press.

John McCallum

Actor and producer John McCallum, co-creator of the iconic TV series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, has died in a Sydney nursing home at age 91.

Born in Brisbane in 1918, McCallum was trained at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before a career that included stage, film and television in both the United Kingdom and Australia.  In the mid-1940s, McCallum met actress Googie Withers and the pair were later married and would work together on numerous occasions during their married life.

In 1958, after a decade in the UK, McCallum returned to Australia to run theatre company JC Williamsons.

By the mid-1960s, McCallum had produced the popular Australian film, They’re A Weird Mob, based on the book about an Italian immigrant settling into life in Australia. 

The success of the film led to McCallum and producer Lee Robinson to devise an Australian-based TV series that would have wide international appeal.  Their co-creation would become Australia’s first global television hit, Skippy The Bush Kangaroo.  (Although McCallum later credited Robinson for being the brains behind the concept, devising the show’s premise around a boy and his pet kangaroo and for naming the pet Skippy)  The children’s series put an Australian twist on a well-travelled genre of overseas shows to feature multi-talented animal characters, such as Flipper, Lassie and The Littlest Hobo, and was sold to over 120 countries including syndication throughout the United States.

Forty years after production on Skippy ended, the series is still shown on a semi-regular, late-night basis on the Nine Network.

Apart from Skippy, McCallum also produced TV series Barrier Reef, Boney, Shannon’s Mob and Bailey’s Bird.

John McCallum is survived by wife Googie and children Joanna, Nicholas and Amanda.

Source: news.com.au, TV Eye, Talking Heads, ABC News, IMDB

1979: September 8-14

Emergency edition: Due to an industrial dispute at TV Times’ printers, this issue of the magazine has required a change in its usual format.  All regular features have been maintained as well as our complete program coverage.  We apologise for any inconvenience to your usual reading habits.

High-flying mates
Friendships are rare among actors, who often have to fight for themselves and seldom work long together.  An exception is the friendship of over 13 years between Ken James and Tony Bonner, both stars of Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, The Box and now Skyways.  Bonner recalls that it was in 1966 when he first met James, then 13 or 14 years old and auditioning for a role in Skippy.  Despite their nine year age difference, and a stint overseas by Bonner, the pair often found their paths crossing professionally and personally and their families meet quite frequently.  James recalls Bonner’s enthusiasm for motorbikes and some of the his antics caused producers some anxiety.  He also recalls how the pair also went on strike against the canteen at ATV0 while taping The Box: “We didn’t like the food so we used to bring in our own prawns and avocados and set up the white wine and dine in style.”

Gunston in the gun!
John Eastway, producer and director of The Norman Gunston Show, watched horrified as the giant sumo wrestler picked up the pint-sized Norman Gunston (Garry McDonald, pictured).  Despite Eastway carefully explaining through an interpreter what he wanted the wrestler to do, something was lost in translation.  So without so much as a ripple of a muscle, the wrestler threw Gunston a couple of metres and then pounded him onto the ground.  McDonald managed to get to his feet – and cracked a joke.  “Garry took a terrible beating that day.  It took him all afternoon to recover,” Eastway said.  The wrestler incident is just one of many unpredictable moments during four-and-a-half years of producing the show for ABC and now the Seven Network.  Another unplanned moment was when Gunston was interviewing Keith Moon, drummer with the Who rock group, in London in 1976 and Moon poured a bottle of vodka over him.  Although temporarily blinded by the vodka, McDonald carried on as Gunston and the cameras kept rolling.  Both McDonald and Eastway were angry from the incident and Moon’s entourage apologised profusely.  Despite the number of unscripted incidents, only once has Eastway decided against screening an interview – that with British film-maker Ken Russell who didn’t take too kindly to Gunston asking him if he wrote, produced and directed his owns films because he couldn’t afford staff.  Russell became extremely upset, even violent, threatening the crew.  Eastway ushered McDonald from the scene.

Judy takes the plunge
Actress Judy Morris likes playing many different characters – and it shows in her most recent parts.  Playing a lesbian air hostess in Skyways, Morris is also seen as a photographic model in the feature film In Search Of Anna and this week plays a marine biologist in ABC’s Patrol Boat.  Morris took on the role of air hostess Robyn Davies (pictured) in Skyways because she thought it presented an interesting approach to lesbianism:  “I did the part because I felt like working, the role was different and it only took a few weeks to do.”  At 32, Morris has been an entertainer for twenty years – starting in radio plays for ABC while still at school in Queensland.  But experience hasn’t made her work any easier:  “It’s harder to act now than when I was younger.  When you’re young you can think you can play any part, even an 80-year-old woman with a limp.  As you get older you realise how hard it is to play roles, and you ask much more of yourself.” 

Briefly…
Acclaimed stage actor John Gaden has joined the cast of The Young Doctors for a guest role as a hotel manager.  Also making a guest appearance, in a different storyline in the series, is Pamela Gibbons, who has worked on The Norman Gunston Show and appeared in Number 96 and The Oracle.

After a three-year battle, the controversial Australian film Petersen (pictured) is allowed by the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal for release to television, on the condition that it is not shown before 9.30pm.  The movie, starring Jack Thompson, was originally scheduled and promoted for screening by HSV7 in 1976 but was withdrawn from the schedule at the last moment by the censors.  Ironically, the version that has been permitted to air on Australian TV is the edited version for American television.  A late programming change by HSV7 will now see Petersen aired this week.

Former The Box actress Monica Maughan returns to TV in an upcoming role in Prisoner as mother Pat O’Connell, a very family-minded inmate at Wentworth Detention Centre.

Although Peter Wherrett has publicly said that he wouldn’t produce another Torque series, the mail and phone calls received since the last series went to air indicates that there is public demand for another series.  The eighth series of the popular motoring program will go into production in December and will air on ABC next year.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”I watch Countdown often but when Ian Meldrum’s Humdrum comes on I feel like turning off the TV.  When great pop stars come to the show he wears shirts and jumpers with their names all over them, but as soon as they leave the country he criticises them.” T. Mitchell, QLD.

“When a friend told me that there would be a two-hour episode of Cop Shop, I settled down to enjoy it, but was so disappointed and disgusted that I switched to another channel.  Who except the morally sick would enjoy hearing about lesbians and homosexuals?  I know what the reaction of some readers will be to this letter, but I also happen to know a great number of people who think the same as I do.  Can’t we “make Australia beautiful” by cultivating clean minds.  TV can do so much in that line.” M. Caffery, QLD.

“I’d like to complain about the time Blue Fire Lady was shown on Sydney’s TCN9.  TV Times programs showed the screening time as 8.30pm to 10.30pm on Friday 27 July, but it was on from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.  Through the fault of TCN9 and TV Times, I missed the first hour of the movie.  I hope the same mistake won’t be made again, as there will be many unhappy viewers.” R. Courts, NSW.  (TV Times responds:  “This program change by TCN9 came too late to catch the publication of the Sydney edition of TV Times.”)

What’s On (September 8-14):
On Saturday afternoon, ATV0 presents the gospel outreach World Literature Crusade, a 5-hour special hosted by Dr Jack McAlistair, President of World Literature Crusade, featuring musical performances and dramatised historical conversations with pioneer missionaries.

Saturday Night Live (HSV7), hosted by Ernie Sigley with Trudy Jaworski, features a music hall theme with guest appearances by Bartholomew John, Ian Turpie, Terry O’Neill, Terry Norris and Vi Greenhalf.

With the VFL finals now in progress, ATV0 presents the Cazaly Awards on Monday night.  Hosted by Michael Williamson, Ted Whitten, Harry Beitzel and Jack Dyer, live from VFL Park.  The Gold Cazaly and $5000 will be awarded to the outstanding footballer of the year.  A further $20,000 in prize money will be awarded to the overall best players in all eighteen game positions.  The awards will also recognise the most popular footballer from each club.

In Cop Shop (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), a pedestrian is nearly killed as a car spins out of control, the driver of the car claims he was only a passenger.  O’Reilly (Terry Norris) waits for the birth of his grandson, and Vic Cameron (Terence Donovan) is gradually becoming accepted and liked at Riverside.  Constable Roy Baker (Gil Tucker, pictured) decides his love life is wearing a bit thin and joins a computer-dating service.

In Prisoner (ATV0, Tuesday and Wednesday), Vera Bennett (Fiona Spence) has hopes of a new interest in her personal life.  While in Skyways (HSV7, Monday and Thursday), Anne Williamson (Kathryn Dagher) is a new hostess at Pacific International, and David Rankin (Fred Parslow) arrives with news of a 15 per cent pay cut in Pacific’s personnel.

Special guests on The Norman Gunston Show (HSV7, Wednesday) include Elliot Gould, George Segal, Valerie Perrine, Ed Asner and Hal Linden.

Jim Waley presents a one-hour special, The Babymakers (GTV9, Thursday) which unveils some of the facts about infertility in Australia which will surprise many Australians and bring hope to couples who have been unable to conceive.  The special also discusses fertility clinics, artificial insemination centres and the possibility of Australia’s first test tube baby.

On Friday night, GTV9 presents a delayed telecast of the 31st annual Emmy Awards for 1978-79.  The awards presentation took place in California on the previous weekend.

Sunday night movies: A Magnificent Hustle (HSV7), Love’s Savage Fury (GTV9), The Prisoner Of Second Avenue (ATV0).  A Man Of Action is the third instalment of ABC’s A Place In The World, starring Nick Tate, Carmen Duncan and Max Osbiston.

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

Reg Evans

Actor Reg Evans (right) and his wife Angela are reported to be among the rapidly growing list of fatalities from the bushfires that have destroyed parts of Victoria since the weekend.

The couple were believed to be defending their property in St Andrews, north of Melbourne, from the tragic blaze. 

At the time of writing, the toll from the fires stands at 181 - making it the worst natural disaster ever to hit Australia.

Born in the United Kingdom in 1928, Evans came to Australia in the late-1950s and has featured in a long list of Australian television productions including Consider Your Verdict, Homicide, Division Four, Matlock Police, Number 96, The Sullivans, Prisoner, Skyways, A Country Practice, Women Of The Sun, Seachange, MDA, Something In The Air and most recently Blue Heelers.  He also starred in children's dramas The Rovers and Skippy The Bush Kangaroo and in the Australian adaptation of Are You Being Served?

Movie roles included Mad Max, Stone, Gallipoli, Evil Angels, Heaven Tonight and only recently completed a role with Paul Hogan in Charlie And Boots.

Source: Herald Sun, TV Tonight, IMDB

Help the survivors of Victoria's bushfire disaster, donate to the Australian Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal at http://www.redcross.org.au; telephone 1800 811 700, or to the Salvation Army Bushfire Appeal at http://www.salvos.org.au; telephone 13SALVOS (137258)

The Nine Network will present Australia Unites, a two-hour Bushfire Appeal telethon on Thursday 12 February.

1979: January 20-26

That was the year that was!
For Mike Walsh (pictured), the king of daytime TV, 1978 earned him an even greater following and more accolades including a Gold Sammy for best male TV personality and the award for best light entertainment series. Highlights for The Mike Walsh Show during the year included guest appearances by Peter Ustinov, Derek Nimmo and English comedian Jimmy Edwards. "Looking back, 1978 was a most successful year for us and we will have an even bigger and better line-up this year, especially on the international scene."

Young Doctors on the go!
Two of the stars of the Nine Network's The Young Doctors are set to leave the popular series with one of them rumoured to be signed up for the Seven Network's new series Skyways. Sydney-based Bartholomew John (pictured), who plays Dr Chris Piper, is about to depart the series for a visit to the US before settling in Melbourne but is not about to confirm his future plans: "All I can say is that I have a star role in a new series and that I am going to live in Melbourne." Meanwhile, fellow The Young Doctors star Tony Alvarez is set to finish in the series next month with plans to embark on a music career. And another The Young Doctors star, Joanne Samuel, who was written out of the series late last year, is also heading to Skyways which is due to begin production in March.

Blockbuster movies in TV line-up
TV Times columnist Noel Risby previews some of the big movie titles headed for TV in the new year. The Nine Network is set to feature the Australian movie Caddie, starring Helen Morse, Jack Thompson and Jacki Weaver, the 1970 classic Love Story and other titles including The French Connection, The Three Musketeers, Harold And Maude and Harry And Tonto. Some of the movies coming up on Seven will be Australian titles Petersen and Storm Boy (pictured) and imported titles Great Expectations, Mandingo and the 1977 remake of King Kong. The 0-10 Network promises the Academy Award winning Dog Day Afternoon, action-packed titles Mr Majestyk and Dirty Harry, musical Mame and controversial - though most likely to be heavily edited - titles Last Tango In Paris and Deliverance. The network also promises Woody Allen's Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask.

End of the news for Eric
The tears flowed at the studios of GTV9 as veteran newsreader Eric Pearce (pictured) made his final farewell from the newsroom. It was actually the second time Pearce has retired from reading news - the first was in 1972 but he was then lured back to Nine in 1976 in an attempt to stop viewers switching over to rival Seven National News with Brian Naylor who, ironically, has now been signed up to replace Pearce at Nine. Naylor admitted being nervous at starting afresh at Nine after many years at Seven but has been having regular off-air runs in the five months since he left Seven National News: "I think when we settle in, we will have a very strong team." Pearce, 74, is now preparing for a somewhat less strenuous role as director of community affairs for the channel.

Briefly...
An ATV0 news team had a lucky escape when a light plane in which they were travelling crash-landed. Reporter Malcolm Gray, cameraman Clive Banfield and the pilot of the chartered plane were shaken but not injured and the news story they were working on still managed to get to air that night.

Philip Brady is said to be staying at GTV9 despite rumours of him accepting a very generous offer to join ATV0's Peter Couchman Tonight.

Former The Young Doctors star Cornelia Frances has been snapped up for a guest role in the Seven Network's Cop Shop.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
"After watching Steve Raymond's show for a few weeks, I have found it the most informative, entertaining show on Australian TV. His interviews are extremely interesting and he does not have the same old guests and panels as on The Mike Walsh Show week after week." T. Barnett, NSW.

"Why did they stop making Chopper Squad? My family and friends thoroughly enjoyed the series, and to me it showed a great deal of realism." A. Gosen, QLD.

"The Bill Peach special about China (ABC) is just the sort of TV program the communists love to see produced about a communist country. It presents the Chinese people as one big happy family. The multitude of refugees from China and South Vietnam who have risked their lives to escape communist tyranny are eloquent witnesses to what conditions are really like in communist countries. Let us have TV programs that tell the whole truth about communist nations." W. Maguire, QLD.

What's On (January 20-26):
More cricket during the week with the Sheffield Shield and the 3rd One-Day International on ABC and World Series Cricket on GTV9.

On Sunday afternoon, ATV0 presents a three-hour live broadcast from Torquay Beach hosted by Ray Burgess. Included in the telecast is coverage of surfing events and the final of the Miss Victorian Beach Girl Quest.

ATV0's The Restless Years is back for the new year, screening Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 7.30pm.

Later on Wednesday night, HSV7 presents an Australian TV adaptation of the play Kid Stakes. Set in 1937, it's the first story in the Ray Lawler trilogy. The second story, Other Times set in 1945, appears on Friday night. The third play, Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll, will appear next week.

Friday (26 January) is Australia Day but, like the previous year, there isn't much Australian content to be found on TV. In mid-morning, ATV0 screens the 1954 black and white movie King Of The Coral Sea, starring Rod Taylor, Chips Rafferty and Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, followed by re-runs of 1960s children's series Barrier Reef and The Rovers. The only Australian programming found on the commercial channels in the afternoon is Skippy The Bush Kangaroo on GTV9 and a 1935 movie, Heritage, on ATV0. Even ABC isn't making any concerted effort for Australia's national day apart from the ten-minute Australia Day message from the Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowen followed by a re-run episode of the documentary series Wild Australia.

Sunday night movies are repeats of All The Fine Young Cannibals (HSV7) and Battle Of Neretva (ATV0). GTV9 has World Series Cricket through to 10.30pm while ABC presents the first of a six-part New Zealand historical drama, The Governor, which tells the story of former South Australia governor Sir George Grey who became an influential figure in the European settlement of New Zealand in the nineteenth century.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 20 January 1979. ABC/ACP

1978: December 16-22

Cover: Marlon Brando (Superman The Movie)

Restless break for June Salter
Actress June Salter will take an extended break from The Restless Years to tour with the theatrical production Crown Matrimonial.  The hit stage play has had an extended season in Sydney and has also played to packed houses in Brisbane and Newcastle, but a national tour was not possible unless Salter could be relieved from her commitments to The Restless Years.  Crown Matrimonial starts its three-month national tour in February 1979.

War of the words
Veteran TV scriptwriter Mike McColl-Jones has left the Nine Network's The Don Lane Show to work on ATV0's late-night Peter Couchman program which is headed for a higher profile in the new year, extending to five nights a week.  "I think Peter Couchman has that same attraction that Graham Kennedy had.  Women want to mother him.  That is a particularly good quality for a man in his job to have," he told TV Times.

I'm not just a pretty face!
Actor Tony Bonner is feeling he has been able to shake off the stigma of the young, handsome, heroic type which he earned by playing helicopter pilot Jerry King in the '60s TV series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo.  The Sammy Award-winning actor has had recent roles in Power Without Glory, the telemovie The Alternative and ABC play End Of Summer before taking on an ongoing role in Cop Shop.  Bonner has also directed a series of half-hour documentaries, titled Making It Together, and is preparing to play the role of a blind man in an upcoming Seven Network telemovie Image Of Death.

From bullets to ballots
Millions of viewers know Gregory Ross as Constable Tony Benjamin in Cop Shop, but to his colleagues he is known as the Prime Minister.  Ross is closely associated with the Liberal Party in Victoria and hopes to stand as a candidate in the future.  "I hope to become a full-time politician in the future, maybe three or four years.  I've had the ambition for some time and I am deadly serious about a career in politics," he told TV Times. 

Briefly:
GTV9's children's series Nine Will Fix It recently featured a story on money being made at the Royal Reserve Treasury in Melbourne.  The crew also had the heart-breaking task of witnessing old money being shovelled into furnaces.  "That was painful!," according to presenter Penny Spence.

The Young Doctors star Marcus Hale, an experienced motorcycle stunt rider, found himself in a real hospital after an accident while riding to work had rendered him unconscious and with deep cuts on his chest, facial abrasions and a lump on the head.  The actor recalls nothing of what caused the accident.

ABC newsman Richard Carleton is currently on a trek through darkest Africa, on his way back to Australia for the new current affairs program Nationwide.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor
"ABC must be mad screening that rubbish Three's Company after only last year showing us the brilliantly funny Man About The House.  You would think the Americans could come up with something original."  D. Builton, TAS.

"What I want to know is why TCN9 Sydney is screening so many appalling programs in prime time while really superb movies like Medium Cool and Molly And Lawless John are hidden away in late night slots?  And if it's because they're repeats, it won't wash.  None of the channels has any qualms about repeating other programs in prime time." J. Anderson, NSW.

What's On (December 16-22):
Another week, and more tennis on HSV7 with the Ampol Men's Challenge, South Australian Women's Classic and the New South Wales Open filling afternoons during the week.  More cricket, too, with the Second Test on ABC and World Series Cricket on GTV9.

Christmas specials feature throughout the week, with specials from Good Times, Laugh-In, Grizzly Adams, Donny And Marie, Morecambe And Wise and The Black And White Minstrels.  On Thursday night, ATV0 screens Christmas carols from the Sydney University Choir.

Sunday night movies are All The Way To Paris (HSV7), Out Of Season (GTV9) and Operation Petticoat (ATV0).  ABC presents a Royal Heritage special on Queen Victoria.

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 16 December 1978, ABC/ACP

YouTube: Revisiting Skippy

It's been a while since a YouTube video has featured here, but I came across this one recently and thought it would be of interest.

This video takes us back to the original locale used for the 1960s children's series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, an area adjacent to the Ku-ring-gai National Park, north of Sydney.  Surprisingly, the ranger's headquarters - constructed specifically for the series' production  - is still intact, though showing some signs of wear.  The helipad is now a duck pond but the building's interior is like a time capsule with the decor and furnishings appearing to be virtually untouched since being occupied by Skippy and her fellow co-stars.

Ninety-one episodes of Skippy The  Bush Kangaroo were made between 1966 and 1969.  The program was made by Fauna Productions with some financial assistance from the Nine Network, and was sold to 128 countries including the United States where it was syndicated to 160 local television stations.  A feature film, Skippy And The Intruders, was also made.

Skippy also recently made news when one of the show's former stars, actor Tony Bonner, made a claim for royalties from the series following the DVD release.

Skippy The Bush Kangaroo also starred Ed Devereaux, Ken James (who later went on to The Group, The Box and Skyways), Garry Pankhurst, Liza Goddard and a guest list that includes some of Australia's most well-known actors.

A far more detailed history and episode rundown of Skippy The Bush Kangaroo can be found at TV Eye - Classic Australian Television.

YouTube: leokimvideo
IMDB: Skippy The Bush Kangaroo