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.

1991: October 19-25

Wandin Valley party
The Seven Network’s A Country Practice turns ten years old next month.  The planned celebration for cast, crew and media is to be held later this month in Sydney – but for three cast members it will also be a farewell party.  Gordon Piper, Syd Heylen and Matt Day are leaving the series, to be followed in the new year by Georgie Parker and John Tarrant.  But one cast member who has been there since day one is Shane Porteous (pictured, with Parker), who recalls a discussion early in the show’s run about its chances of lasting ten years.  “We talked about it, but quickly woke up to ourselves!” he says.  “The most amazing thing about celebrating 10 years is there are kids now in high school who cannot remember A Country Practice not being on TV!  It’s a feather in the cap of the formula.” 

Skipping back!
TV Week has visited the set of The New Adventures Of Skippy, the Nineties remake of the 1960s classic.  The series, being made at the Habitat Wildlife Park on the Gold Coast, stars Andrew Clarke (pictured), Fiona Shannon, Moya O’Sullivan, Kate McNeil, Simon James… and a new Skippy, although unlike the original this one does all her own stunts – no close-ups of fake stick-like paws that do anything from starting lawnmowers to cracking bank safes.  The New Adventures Of Skippy has already been pre-sold to the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, France and Italy.

Mummy dearest!
Production is underway on the fifth season of the ABC’s Mother And Son – and Ruth Cracknell is having a great time playing geriatric Maggie Beare.  “Never will I think twice about playing Maggie,” she told TV Week.  “Maggie is a character you slip back into pretty quickly.  The thing that makes the show a success is that you get a crowd around you while you’re filming – people who are just as rapt in the show.  They all come – it’s most extraordinary.  That level of interest will always be there as long as the scripts are kept to the standard they are now.”  One of the guest stars to feature in the latest series is former A Country Practice and E Street star Joan Sydney, who joins Maggie for a spot of gambling at the races.  “They have a wonderful day together and get stuck into the champagne,” says Cracknell.

Briefly…
Production is due to start in the new year on a third series of ABC’s Embassy, although this time around there will be a number of cast members missing.  Bryan Marshall, Nina Landis and Janet Andrewartha will not be appearing in the new episodes as producers give the show “a new direction”.

Former Home And Away and Hampton Court star Adam Willits has spoken of being “bashed” by British police when it was suspected he was breaking into the hotel he was staying at while on tour for the Home And Away musical.  “I couldn’t understand why they wanted to arrest me when I had the key in my hand.  They tried to cuff me and I resisted.  The police thought that the only way to get me in cuffs was to give me a few thwacks around the head,” he said.  “I never touched them.  I only tried to resist them putting the handcuffs on me.”  He was later released without being charged.   

Actor Cameron Daddo and fiancee Alison Brahe (pictured) have set a date for their wedding.  Engaged earlier this year, the pair are set to marry before Christmas.  They are currently living in Melbourne, where Daddo is working on the spin-off series from the Bony telemovie.  Model Brahe is set to start work soon on a new children’s show, Guess What?, to be produced for the Nine Network.

John Laws says…
”Did you notice that the sky hasn’t fallen in at SBS?  Did you notice the network hasn’t lost its credibility?  Did you notice that the SBS range of programs remains as diversified as ever?  I say this because it’s some months now since SBS began screening advertisements and we can all recall the prophets of doom who were predicting that SBS as we know it would be besmirched and changed forever – for the worst – if it accepted advertising.  The predictions, of course, were nonsense.  Advertising has been accepted into the SBS format with absolutely no problems.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, October 19-25):
Saturday:  ABC presents live coverage of the First Quarter-Final and Second Quarter-Final of the Rugby World Cup. 

Sunday:  Ten crosses to the Gold Coast for the Uncle Toby’s Ironman Super Series, while Nine crosses to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix.  Sunday night movies are A View To A Kill (Seven), Ghostbusters II (Nine) and Dragnet (Ten).

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), the strange behaviour of Matron Prior’s (Maureen Edwards) son conceals a mystery, and plumbers apprentice Grant Frazer (Rob Carlton) hides a personal problem – until it’s almost too late.  In Col’n Carpenter (Ten), Colin (Kim Gyngell) starts to doubt his own sanity and agrees to see a psychiatrist.

Tuesday:  In Chances (Nine), Alex’s (Jeremy Sims) loyalty and love for Paris (Annie Jones) is tested when her father makes an offer that Alex may not be able to refuse.  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Maxine Gray reports on a drug which, when administered to addicts, triggers massive, rapid withdrawal that leaves their bodies opiate free.

Wednesday: In Hey Dad! (Seven), it’s council clean up day and Martin (Robert Hughes) rouses the troops to do their bit.

Thursday:  Test cricketer Merv Hughes makes a guest appearance in The Flying Doctors (Nine) as the Coopers Crossing Crusaders take on the Broken Hill Brumbies.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  19 October 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: August 24-30

‘Don’t call us the new Jason and Kylie!’
E Street’s Melissa Tkautz and Bruce Samazan (pictured) are set to become TV’s hottest couple, with their characters Nicky and Max deciding to turn their friendship into a closer relationship.  But with Tkautz already moving into a music career – with the top-selling single Read My Lips – and Samazan’s recording ambitions, the two stars are keen to distance themselves from comparisons to that one-time Neighbours supercouple, Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue. 

Future shock!
The Nine Network’s move to cut Chances down from two hours a week to one has seen the show embark on a new dramatic twist – jumping the storyline ahead a year in time.  The move forward will see the Taylor family believe that Alex (Jeremy Sims) has died after a plane he boarded crashes with no known survivors.  However, a man bearing a striking resemblance to Alex is found to be working hard as an honest farmhand and in a steady relationship with a hairdresser (played by Annie Jones), the sort of qualities that Alex is hardly known for.  The happy couple are unaware of the resemblance that the farmhand has to the devious advertising executive and the trouble it will eventually cause.  The format change to Chances also sees two cast members written out, with Anne Grigg and Leverne McDonnell exiting the series, following the recent departures of Kimberley Davenport and Yvonne Lawley.

Wild goose chase leads Lisa to the golden egg
The image of a nun wielding a rake while she chases a goose through the convent grounds is one that Brides Of Christ star Lisa Hensley holds dear.  It stood out as she read the script and dreamed of the role that would change her life.  As the faithful Sister Paul, Hensley could picture herself chasing that goose.  “I’d go to bed every night and visualise me in that scene,” she told TV Week.  “I wanted the role so badly.”  The role of Sister Paul sees Hensley reunited with Josephine Byrnes, a former colleague from the mini-series Shadows Of The Heart.  “I never thought in my wildest dreams that Josephine and I would work together again,” she said.  For Hensley, the Brides Of Christ role is a reward after taking the stand not to accept any of the ‘nice’ soapie roles offered to her after working on the Nine Network series All The Way.  “While the offers were flattering, I was scared I wouldn’t get to fulfil my dream of doing theatre and exploring different roles.  So I said no to the offers and disappeared for a while,” she said.  “It was a very hard decision and I don’t know if I could make it again.”

Briefly…
Despite disappointing ratings, Network Ten has renewed sitcom Col’n Carpenter for a fourth series.  The series will now continue on Monday nights after a disappointing run on Sundays.  “The new timeslot has been a big part of the decision to go on,” creator Kim Gyngell (pictured, as Col’n) told TV Week.  “We’ve just had to grin and bear the Sunday timeslot.  Monday is much better.  We all feel like we have a new lease on life now.”  Along with Gyngell as title character Colin, cast members Stig Wemyss and Anne Phelan will continue in the new series, but Kaarin Fairfax is unable to continue her role of Linda as she is expecting a baby in October.  The show is also seeking a new producer to replace Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell, who has had to leave for other commitments.

Actor Joss McWilliam (pictured), best remembered for his role as an iron-man in the movie Coolangatta Gold, is taking on his first ongoing TV role as a park ranger in the upcoming series The New Adventures Of Skippy.  “If I had the choice I’d rather work in film – it’s a great medium.  But the exposure from television is wider.  An ongoing role in Skippy could be my big chance,” he told TV Week.  The New Adventures Of Skippy is expected to debut on the Nine Network next year and has already been pre-sold to a number of countries.

Bruce McAvaney will be heading Seven’s coverage of the third World Athletic Championships from Tokyo.  “For pure excellence in sport, I rate the championships second only to the Olympics,” he told TV Week.  “These titles also give me the chance to work on my technique for next year’s Olympics because I haven’t called an international meet since 1989.”  Seven’s coverage will consist of daily highlights packages presented after Tonight Live, and live coverage of the women’s and men’s marathons.

Lawrie Masterson’s Sound Off
”I think there must be a recovery taking place in the television industry, because, just lately, it seems some of the networks have resumed their old habit of plying the rest of the media with food and booze, given the barest hint of an excuse.  As my mate Kenny pointed out last week when we were leaving a bash thrown by Network Ten to celebrate 1500 episodes of Neighbours, things have been so bad for so long that now there is a generation of young journos to whom the traditional Interstate Junket is a whole new experience.  The evening previous to the Neighbours bash, there was a very posh party on for the brilliant mini-series Brides Of Christ.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, August 24-30):
Saturday:  Greg Matthews, Marty Coffey and Syd Heylen are contestants on this week’s Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune (Seven). 

Sunday:  Seven crosses to Tokyo this morning for live coverage of the Women’s Marathon in the World Athletic Championships.  Sunday night movies are Casualties Of War (Nine) and Colors (Ten) up against the debut of two-part mini-series To Be The Best (Seven).

Monday:  Four Corners (ABC) presents a special edition to commemorate its 30th anniversary, introduced by reporter Chris Masters.  In Col’n Carpenter (Ten), close to death, Colin (Kim Gyngell) is rushed to hospital.  Ten then presents a delayed telecast of the 43rd Emmy Awards from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Los Angeles.

Tuesday:  Former Neighbours and Jackaroo star Annie Jones (pictured, with Jeremy Sims) makes her debut in Chances (Nine), while former The Young Doctors star Eric Oldfield guest stars.  Beyond 2000 (Seven) reports on new technology from Britain that offers a better way to fight fires on board aircraft.  All Together Now (Nine) is preparing for the 16th birthday of twins Thomas  (Steven Jacobs) and Anna (Jane Hall).

Wednesday: In Neighbours (Ten), Jim (Alan Dale) learns some startling news about Helen’s (Anne Haddy) new husband – and in E Street (Ten), Sheridan (Kate Raison) is playing games with Wheels (Marcus Graham), but who’s really fooling who?

Thursday:  In The Flying Doctors (Nine), a patient’s life is jeopardised when Guy (David Reyne) discovers golden staph in the operating theatre.  ABC screens the series final of Embassy, and Seven presents a repeat of the sketch comedy special from The D-Generation.

Friday:  ABC’s Backchat host Tim Bowden is a guest on Burke’s Backyard (Nine).  Documentary series A Big Country (ABC) focuses on two different cultures and how each contribute to the changing face of Australia.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  24 August 1991.  Southdown Press