1992: January 11-17

There’s nothing psycho about this shower scene
E Street star Kate Raison shares her thoughts on the steamy closed-set shower scene that marks a turning point in the relationship of her character Sheridan Sturgess to Wheels (Marcus Graham).  Although Raison describes the steamy scene as not so much raunchy but “more your first kiss”, it is apparent that the scene – which lasts for two minutes – is a lot more than that.  But she points out that in reality neither actor was nude for filming of the scene and that it was nowhere near as romantic as the end product appears.  “I don’t want to take the romance out of it for people, but it’s not romantic at all,” she told TV Week.  “It’s very technical and difficult to film.  We had two cameras and we were trying to pivot in a baby’s bath… it took about three or four hours to film.  It’s one of the worst things you could ever imagine.  They were very difficult scenes to create and it’s a very technical thing in the end.  Hopefully, it will look romantic to the audience.  We want to make it look, and be, as real for the audience as possible.”

Luck of the draw!
Although he has appeared in commercials and occasionally gets caught on camera on Hey Hey It’s Saturday, the show’s resident cartoonist Andrew Fyfe is about to take on a new challenge as he faces the cameras in the new children’s show, Guess What?  Despite the challenge of a prominent role in a new show, Fyfe – who also produced the former Ossie Ostrich cartoon strip in TV Week and had been a cartoonist for satirical magazine Mad – has a positive outlook.  “The first thing I like about this is that it’s great fun.  The second thing I like is that it’s great fun.  And thirdly, I like it because it’s great fun,” he said.  Guess What?, which also stars Alison Brahe (recently Mrs Cameron Daddo), is being taped in Adelaide and debuts on Nine in February.

Red-hot for Silver!
TV Week takes a look at who could be strong contenders for this year’s Silver Logies for most popular actor and actress at the TV Week Logie Awards.  Neighbours stars Mark Little, Richard Huggett, Gayle and Gillian Blakeney and Melissa Bell are listed as potential nominees – while E Street also boasts a strong field, including Tony Martin, Marcus Graham, Kate Raison, Bruce Samazan, Alyssa-Jane Cook, Toni Pearen and Melissa Tkautz.  Home And Away has popular cast members including Les Hill, Rebekah Elmaloglou, Mat Stevenson, Nicolle Dickson and Emily Symons.  A Country Practice’s Georgie Parker and Shane Porteous have both won Silver Logies in the past and may do so again this year, but TV Week reminds readers not to underestimate other favourites such as John Tarrant, Matt Day and Joyce Jacobs.  Former The Flying Doctors star Rebecca Gibney now has new fans with her role in All Together Now, and Col’n Carpenter stars Kim Gyngell and Anne Phelan and Hey Dad!’s Julie McGregor are also listed as potential contenders.  TV Week also reminds readers of cast members of other series Chances, GP, Embassy, Police Rescue and The Flying Doctors that could also be worthy of votes.

Briefly…
Home And Away star Rebekah Elmaloglou talks about her teenage character Sophie coping with falling pregnant – and with the baby’s father David (Guy Pearce) now dead, she fears that she will lose custody of the child to her parents.  “Sophie’s got no husband or boyfriend, no money and not a happy future,” she told TV Week.  “Sophie starts to think that the only way she is going to be able to keep David’s child is by running away.  Her hormones are clouding her better judgment.”

It was a lavish event on the grounds of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron in Kirribilli as former ‘Til Ten host Joan McInnes married Sir James Hardy just before Christmas.  The wedding was attended by many TV and showbiz identities, including Midday’s Ray Martin and Geoff Harvey and Wheel Of Fortune hostess Adriana Xenides. 

Home And Away star Dee Smart’s recent outburst in TV Week about how unhappy she is about being in the show has caused quite a stir at Seven.  The network is now believed to be trying to release her from her contract to appease her, but this is proving difficult with planned storylines for the show written well in advance – so she may be in Summer Bay still for some time yet.

Lawrie Masterson’s Sound Off
”It is inevitable that Australia – already overserviced by television networks, in my opinion – will now get a Pay TV system.  How it is implemented, the number of licences to be granted and who gets them, and some guidelines on content, are among the contentious issues still to be ironed out.”

John Laws says…
”What is it about A Current Affair that grabs the imagination of the nation?  In my view it’s because the program has become the evening newspaper that modern Australians don’t buy any more.  Combine 30 minutes of news and 30 minutes of A Current Affair and you have all the elements of what evening newspapers used to be about.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne/Regional Victoria, January 11-17):
Saturday: Summer sport continues with tennis (NSW Open and the Rio International Challenge) on Seven/Prime, golf (Sanctuary Cove Classic) on ABC and cricket (Benson And Hedges World Series Cricket) on Nine/VIC TV.

Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Inspector Morse: The Ghost In The Machine (Seven/Prime) and Buster (Ten/SCN), while Nine/VIC TV presents the first instalment in the re-run of mini-series Ellis Island.

Monday:  The Australian Open, the premier Australian tennis event of the year, begins its two-week competition today at Melbourne’s National Tennis Centre – with live coverage throughout the day and evening on Seven and Prime.  Nine/VIC TV begins a daytime re-run of the landmark 1970s US mini-series Roots.

Tuesday:  Australian Open on Seven/Prime and World Series Cricket on Nine/VIC TV are the only real highlights today, with both events taking up most of the afternoon and evening timeslots.

Wednesday:  E Street (Ten/SCN) returns for its fourth year.  Wheels (Marcus Graham) moves in with Sheridan (Kate Raison) to protect her from serial killer Steven “Mr Bad” Richardson (Vince Martin), but it doesn’t take long for their attraction for each other to become apparent.

Thursday:  ABC begins four days of coverage of golf with the Palm Meadows Cup, live from the Gold Coast.

Source: TV Week (Victoria Country edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  11 January 1992.  Southdown Press

1991: December 14-20

The Great End of Year Exit!
Home And Away and E Street have both been hit by a number of significant cast departures.  Network Ten’s E Street is going to lose original cast member Alyssa-Jane Cook and co-star Marianne Howard.  Their characters, Lisa and Alice, head to Queensland to visit Alice’s mother following of the murder of Lisa’s husband by serial killer Mr Bad (Vince Martin).  Their departure from the series follows the recent abrupt exit by co-star Melissa Tkautz.  Meanwhile, Seven’s Home And Away is about to lose Emily Symons and teen star Rebekah Elmaloglou.  Symons, who has also resigned from her other job as co-host of Seven’s Saturday morning show Video Smash Hits, is heading to London and plans to travel around Europe.  Elmaloglou is believed to be planning to exit the soap by mid-1992, although a Seven spokesperson said she is under contract until the end of 1992.  And Home And Away star Les Hill is believed to be negotiating an exit from his contract with the series.

Vizard’s hunch about Hinch
Despite the recent and sudden axing of his Seven Network current affairs show, Derryn Hinch (pictured) is confident of a television future in 1992 – and it could even be with Seven!  Tonight Live host Steve Vizard is believed to have offered Hinch a weekly segment on the popular late night show, prompted by earlier guest appearances during the year.  Despite Vizard’s comical send-ups of Hinch on comedy show Fast Forward, he has a great respect for Hinch and the way he handled the axing.  “I think Derryn’s been a total professional,” Vizard told TV Week.  “Most people are told of their demise and finish on the day.  Derryn was told well in advance and has handled the situation in a very professional way.”  And Nine Network’s Midday host Ray Martin has said that Seven has made a “huge mistake” in axing the Hinch program and wouldn’t be surprised if Nine made an offer for him.  Hinch has confirmed that he has received a number of work offers, and that some of those offers have come from television.  “I haven’t been out of work in 30 years, so it’s probably a good time to sit back and decide exactly what I want to do,” Hinch told TV Week.  “If you ask me if I want to stay in television, my gut feeling is that I do.”  But he is philosophical about his sudden axing by Seven.  “The fact I think they (Seven) are -------- for what they’ve done is just my opinion.  You’ve got to remember it’s a business.”

Murder, marriage and mayhem!
TV Week previews some of the storylines to occur in Australia’s popular dramas when they return in the new year:

• Chances (Nine) will finally resolve the mystery surrounding Alex Taylor’s (Jeremy Sims, pictured) missing 12 months – though not before he goes on the run after finding himself waking up next to two dead women, a knife close by and no memory of what happened.  This leads to a chain of events that see him end up in a straitjacket and locked up in a detoxification centre.  Meanwhile, his parents Barbara and Dan (played by Brenda Addie and John Sheerin) are having marital issues which may lead to Barbara having an affair with a much younger man.
• E Street (Ten) will be dominated early in the new year by the romance between Wheels (Marcus Graham) and Sheridan (Kate Raison) and the continuing reign of terror from Mr Bad (Vince Martin) – with Toni (Toni Pearen) potentially his next target.  Meanwhile, Reverend Bob (Tony Martin) and Elly Fielding (Diane Craig) are still engaged but have not yet made any wedding plans.  The series will also welcome the arrival of fashion designer Penny O’Brien (Josephine Mitchell) and Max’s (Bruce Samazan) cousin James (played by Scott McRae) and the return of publican Ernie Patchett (Vic Rooney).
• Romance will feature heavily in Home And Away (Seven), with Blake (Les Hill) entering into a relationship with a new character, who arrives in Summer Bay with a major problem.  “This will be the strongest and most relevant story we have done,” according to producer Andrew Howie.  Meanwhile, Marilyn (Emily Symons) finds a new love, and Findlay (Tina Thomsen) begins a relationship with a man who doesn’t meet the criteria that Pippa (Debra Lawrance) and Michael (Dennis Coard) expect.  A love triangle develops that will force Bobby (Nicolle Dickson) to choose between her ex-husband Frank (Alex Papps) or Greg (Ross Newton).  Home And Away will also enter a new era as it moves to a new timeslot – 7.00pm, up against Neighbours – and welcomes new cast members Cathy Godbold (formerly from Chances) and Debbie Byrne.
• In A Country Practice (Seven), Wandin Valley farewells Lucy (Georgie Parker) and Matt (John Tarrant) who leave the town after finally becoming parents.  Luke (Matt Day) is also leaving to pursue a flying career, and Wandin Valley bids farewell to larrikins Cookie and Bob (Syd Heylen and Gordon Piper, pictured) – but will they be gone for good?  Series stalwarts Lorrae Desmond, Shane Porteous, Brian Wenzel and Joyce Jacobs will be joined by newcomer Gavin Harrison.  Meanwhile, on-again-off-again lovers Harry (Andrew Blackman) and Kate (Michelle Pettigrove) will continue their game of cat and mouse, and there will be a new love for Dr Terence Elliott (Shane Porteous).
• ABC’s widely-acclaimed medical drama GP enters the new year with guest appearances by veteran actors Willie Fennell and Queenie Ashton (pictured), and joining them will be Normie Rowe, Jeff Truman and Scott Burgess.  Now entering its fourth year, GP will start the year with the murder of one of Ross Street surgery’s medical staff.  Jackaroo star David McCubbin joins the series as the son of Robert Sharp (John McTernan), and Dr William Sharp (Michael Craig) will finish his career as a general practitioner.
• Neighbours (Ten) enters the new year with confidence, despite the recent departure of eight cast members and with rival Home And Away set to move into its long-held 7.00pm timeslot.  Following the recent arrival of new cast members Melissa Bell, Scott Michaelson, Rachel Blakely and Andrew Williams, the series will soon be joined by newcomers Natalie Imbruglia and Simon Stokes.  Recently-widowed Madge Bishop (Anne Charleston) returns to Ramsay Street and finds herself being chased by old flame Lou Carpenter (Tom Oliver).  Veteran actress Lorraine Bayly (pictured) joins the series as Faye Hudson, a fun character far removed from her previous more serious roles in The Sullivans and Carson’s Law.  Meanwhile, Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) faces financial ruin with the collapse of his business.
• The Flying Doctors (Nine) continues over the Christmas/New Year period – with one storyline featuring a controversial bedroom encounter between Guy (David Reyne) and Penny (Sophie Lee), spurred by her unfaithful boyfriend Steve (Paul Kelman), and a pregnancy that forces the evaluation of many relationships.  Meanwhile, Jackie Crane (Nikki Coghill) faces a grim future when she’s accused of negligence following a patient’s allergic reaction to penicillin.  Guest stars to appear in upcoming episodes include Gus Mercurio, Justine Saunders and TV Week Gold Logie winner Rowena Wallace (pictured).

Briefly…
Former 60 Minutes reporter George Negus (pictured) has been a vocal critic of the state of current affairs on TV – and now he has a chance to address the situation as the front man of Foreign Correspondent, a new program to start soon on ABC.  “It’s because this program is different that I’ve agreed to do it,” Negus told TV Week.  “If the ABC had said, ‘We want you to be involved in a new current affairs program which is a variation on a theme,’ I probably wouldn’t have said yes.”

A breakdown in negotiations have appeared to have halted plans for Craig McLachlan to take over from Jacki MacDonald as the host of Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show.  Negotiations were believed to also include the option for McLachlan to become a fill-in host for Hey Hey It’s Saturday, but money wrangles appear to have killed the deal.  Meanwhile, Jacki MacDonald’s new venture with Network Ten, a weekly lifestyle show, is believed to have the working title Saturday Night Live-Style and is set to go up against her old show Hey Hey It’s Saturday.

Former E Street star Melissa Tkautz is reluctant to talk about her recent split from the show but hits out at suggestions that her emerging pop music career saw her neglect her commitments to the show.  “I don’t have time to ponder why I left E Street,” she said.  “It was good while it lasted.  I feel like I’ve done my part.  I was always there, I always knew my lines and I was at every rehearsal and every studio call.  I never let them down in any way.  They should all wish me well.”

John Laws says…
”In what bracket could you place a movie like the Nine Network’s Hardbodies?  It had no plot and its cast was comprised of talentless young people posing as actors.  It had, as far as I could detect, no redeemable feature whatsoever.  Set at a California beach house, it depicted groups of young people in various stages of half-dress and undress.  When they weren’t gyrating to a truly awful all-girl band, they were gyrating in bed, getting into bed, or getting out of bed.  Yet the fact that a TV station screens Hardbodies at 8.30pm, shows that there is a substantial audience who will watch it.  Which proves that where the prospect of a few minutes of TV boobs and bums are concerned a significant section of the population – presumably mostly male – is willing to put up with anything just to get a glimpse of them.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, December 14-20):
Saturday:  Afternoon sports coverage includes Benson And Hedges World Series Cricket on Nine, and highlights of Grand Slam Cup tennis from Munich, Germany, on Seven.  Ten’s afternoon schedule includes children’s programs Kelly and re-runs of The Henderson Kids.

Sunday:  Sunday night movies are Eddie Macon’s Run (Seven) and Stroker Ace (Ten) up against the debut of two-part mini-series Atlanta Child Murders (Nine).

Tuesday:  Jennifer Keyte hosts a one-hour special, Drinking Like There’s No Tomorrow (Seven), an insight into alcohol abuse amongst teenagers.

Wednesday:  Nine’s day is dominated by the Benson And Hedges World Series Cricket, live from Perth, with coverage starting at 2.20pm and continuing through to 10.30pm – with a one-hour break for National Nine News and A Current Affair: Summer Edition.  Melbourne filmmaker Paul Cox is the topic of the final episode of the SBS series Nostalgia.

Thursday:  ABC presents live coverage of the Colonial Mutual Classic tennis, live from Kooyong, Melbourne.  In The Flying Doctors (Nine), Penny (Sophie Lee, pictured) is locked in a tough administration battle with the hospital laundry staff, headed by Trisha (Colette Mann).  ABC debuts four-part series The Cricket Archives, documenting a history of Australian cricket based on film archive material, presented by Jack Egan.

Friday:  Ten presents the final 1991 episodes of ‘Til Ten, The Miraculous Mellops and Blind Date.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  14 December 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: November 2-8

Hey, Ben’s a dad!
It might be a shock to some to realise that Ben Oxenbould, the newcomer to the cast of Hey Dad!, is himself a dad.  The 22-year-old, who got his big break at the age of seven in the film Fatty Finn, has a one-year-old son but is very protective of him and won’t have him photographed by the media.  “He keeps me very busy when he’s with me,” Oxenbould (pictured with co-star Rachael Beck) told TV Week.  “He’s a classic combination of his mother – with whom he lives – and myself.  And, thankfully, I think he got everything good from us.  So that’s something.”  The Hey Dad! role is Adelaide-born Oxenbould’s first comedy role, having previously appeared in E Street and GP and will star in the upcoming SBS series Six Pack.

No naked ambition!
Former The Flying Doctors star Liz Burch (pictured) is no stranger to nudity, having starred in the controversial stage production Steaming, but when speaking of her upcoming role in Nine’s Chances she says the producers wouldn’t dare.  “They wouldn’t dream of asking me to take my clothes off… the ratings would plummet!  I did Steaming, but that was very different.  We rehearsed that for four weeks, the show was well-written and there was justification for it.  With Chances, the issue of nudity never comes into it,” she said.  In Chances, Burch plays a chemist, Sally Kirk, who is involved in a relationship with Jack Taylor (Tim Robertson) – but Alex (Jeremy Sims) plots to steal her away from Jack after realising she has information that could earn him millions. 

‘I was moved to tears…’
Maryanne Fahey, best known from The Comedy Company, is about to tackle one of the most demanding roles in her career – portraying the life of one of Australia’s most controversial and amusing personalities, Mary Hardy (pictured), in the upcoming play Mary Lives.  Hardy, who committed suicide in 1985, was well-known to Melbourne radio and television audiences in the 1960s and 1970s, in particular as presenter on the long-running variety show The Penthouse Club and on radio 3AW.  She also won a number of TV Week Logies for her popularity with Victorian audiences.  “I was moved to tears when I first read the play,” Fahey told TV Week.  “It was something I really wanted to do.  Mary was one of the real forerunners of women’s comedy in this country.  Hopefully, I will do her justice.  She was outrageous and prepared to cop the flak because she was an idealist, and I admire that more than someone who just goes out there to be funny.”

Briefly…
Hard Copy reporter Jane Hansen (pictured) has confirmed reports that she has been approached by former 60 Minutes producer Gerald Stone to join his new current affairs venture for the Seven Network, though stresses that nothing has been signed or agreed to as yet.  The new program, yet to be named, may potentially be slotted against Nine’s ratings giant 60 Minutes.

Joan McInnes, the host of Network Ten’s morning program ‘Til Ten, has announced her engagement to winemaker and yachtsman James Hardy.  The pair have known each other for more than five years but began seeing each other seriously two years ago and are expected to wed in December.

New Zealand actress Catherine Wilkin (Cop Shop, Rafferty’s Rules) is set to return to Australia after three years, starring as an ambassador in the next series of ABC’s Embassy.  “I’ve played a lot of strong-minded career women but never an ambassador,” she said.  “I’ll have to pay the Australian ambassador a visit here and do a crash course in diplomacy before I leave New Zealand!”

John Laws says…
”Who was it, I wonder, who allowed the Beyond 2000 format to slip from the clutches of the ABC and into the hands of the Seven Network all those years ago?  Those responsible must still be suffering recurring bouts of programmers’ guilt – as must be those misguided Seven executives who elected to give up on Neighbours and meekly hand it to Ten, where it was transformed into a long-running international smash-hit worth millions.  Watching Beyond 2000 the other night – and admiring its bright, informative segments on everything from eatable potato-chip containers to sonar fences to stop whales beaching themselves – only reinforced my long-held belief that it is one of Australia’s best programs.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, November 2-8):
Saturday:  Network Ten’s coverage of the Melbourne Cup Carnival kicks off with all-day coverage of Derby Day, live from Flemington Racecourse, presented by Tim Webster with racecaller Dan Mielicki.  This week’s contestants on Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune (Seven) are Rod Marsh, Lynda Stoner and Larry Pickering.  ABC presents live coverage overnight of the Rugby World Cup final from Twickenham, United Kingdom.

Sunday:  Nine’s crosses to Adelaide for its all-day coverage of the Australian Grand Prix, hosted by Ken Sutcliffe with commentators Alan Jones, Jackie Stewart, Murray Walker, Darrell Eastlake and Barry Sheene.  Author Colleen McCullough is this week’s guest on ABC’s Sunday Afternoon With Peter Ross.  Sunday night movies are Sex, Lies And Videotape (Nine) and The Great Outdoors (Ten), up against the debut of two-part mini-series Love And Hate (Seven).

Monday:  In A Country Practice (Seven), Matt (John Tarrant) admits he has had enough of marriage to Lucy (Georgie Parker).  Ben Mendelsohn guest stars in Col’n Carpenter (Ten).

Tuesday:  Melbourne Cup Day, and Network Ten presents live coverage of the highlight of the Australian racing calendar, starting at 9.30am and continuing through to 5.30pm, hosted by Tim Webster.  In GP (ABC), the sudden return of Dr Nicola Tanner’s (Judy McIntosh, pictured) wild brother Danny (Brett Climo) leads to the uncovering of a dark secret in the Tanner family.  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Simon Reeve reports from the UK on the Weatherall racetrack, made up of granulated rubber from old car tyres. 

Wednesday:  In E Street (Ten), Lisa (Alyssa-Jane Cook) tries to find the answer to Michael’s (Graham Harvey) death.  In Hey Dad! (Seven), Simon (Chris Mayer) is panic stricken with the fear of incipient baldness while Betty (Julie McGregor) solves the problems of the ozone layer.

Thursday:  Former Prisoner star Betty Bobbitt guest stars in The Flying Doctors (Nine).  ABC’s documentary series Wildscreen looks at the camel as a wild animal, detailing its fascinating and complex social behaviour.

Friday:  Talent quest series Star Search (Ten) presents its series semi-final, hosted by Mike Hammond.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  2 November 1991.  Southdown Press

1991: January 19-25

Alyce in Wunderland
While most television presenters have been taking a summer break, Sale Of The Century hostess Alyce Platt (pictured) has been pursuing a music career.  She has completed two tours with her band Alyce In Wunderland and has taken up song writing.  And although Platt and host Tony Barber will be back soon on Sale, this year she hopes to also realise her other dream – to release an album. 

Hey, look who’s back!
Although Simone Buchanan had already taped her final scenes for Seven’s Hey Dad! last year, she is now back in the studio for an extra five episodes of the popular comedy.  “The last episode we filmed last year didn’t resolve anything or suggest that she was leaving, so that’s why I’m coming back,” Buchanan told TV Week.  The five additional episodes are expected to go to air in March and April and will lead in to the appearance of new cast member Rachael Beck who replaces Buchanan but will play a different role.

Chances are it’s set to shock!
Almost twenty years after Number 96 shocked the nation with adults-only drama and glimpses of nudity, the Nine Network’s Chances is set to create the same controversy.  Described as provocative, steamy and risque, Chances is hoped to turn around Nine’s shaky recent history with dramas – apart from The Flying Doctors the network has failed to secure a major drama hit since the heyday of The Young Doctors and The Sullivans.  The new drama follows the story of a suburban family whose lives are changed when they win a $3 million prize in a lottery.  Producer Lynn Bayonas told TV Week that the new series will focus more on personal stories rather than social issues.  “We’ll leave the issues to A Country Practice and The Flying Doctors,” she said.  “We have personal issues.  We’ve got older women and younger men, marriage breakups, affairs with secretaries, and women desperate for love and racing off with everybody.  It has a different look.  It doesn’t look like a serial.”  Chances’ cast includes John Sheerin, Brenda Addie, Jeremy Sims, Natalie McCurry (pictured), Cathy Godbold, Tim Robertson and Ann Grigg.

Briefly…
Actress Rebecca Gibney, about to appear in Nine’s new comedy All Together Now, admits that she had turned down a number of roles since leaving the popular The Flying Doctors, in particular those with elements of sex, discrimination or unnecessary nudity.  “I’m wary of exploitation,” she says.  “There are enough roles around with gratuitous sex and violence and there’s always someone else who will play them.  You can make films without the sex and violence.  Pretty Woman was funny, warm and emotional – and without tits and bums.”  All Together Now (with Gibney, pictured, left) also stars Jon English, Steve Jacobs, Jane Hall, Garry Who and Bruno Lucia.

David Reyne and Nikki Coghill are leading the charge of new cast members in The Flying Doctors.  Coghill plays the role of feisty nurse Jackie Crane, who takes an instant dislike to the arrogant new doctor Guy Reid (Reyne).  Also joining the series will be Sophie Lee (The Bugs Bunny Show) and Sarah Chadwick (GP).

Sydney actor Simon Stokes had just completed his HSC when he auditioned for a role in the UK-based drama Families.  Two days after the audition he was told he had secured the role of Christian Stephens.  The series also features Australian actors Briony Behets (Number 96, The Box, Neighbours), Tessa Humphries, Imogen Annersley, Malcolm Stoddard and Tayler Kane.  Although it has completed its first year on air in the UK, Families has yet to be sold to an Australian network.

John Laws says…
”Seven’s Hey Dad! has to be one of Australian TV’s most spectacular success stories.  It glows with a freshness and vitality that its foreign competitors rarely match.  Hey Dad! warrants the tag “family entertainment” and there’s little enough of that left on TV in these days of high-powered screen violence.  I do hope that Hey Dad! will once again be a firm favourite among Australians in 1991.”

Program Highlights (January 19-25):
Sunday:  Ten crosses to Portsea, Victoria, for the Ironman Super Series.  ABC presents golf (Sanctuary Lakes Classic) and highlights of cricket (Women’s International: Australia versus New Zealand).  Sunday night movies are Hoosiers (Seven) and Ladyhawke (Ten).  Nine presents a re-run of the 1985 mini-series The Flying Doctors, the predecessor to the ongoing series.

Monday:  The Ford Australian Open (Seven) enters its second week of competition.  And with the ratings season approaching, some regular shows are returning for the new year – Today, Good Morning Australia and ‘Til Ten are back in the daytime, and A Country Practice returns for its tenth year.  Derryn Hinch is back on board at Seven’s Hinch.

Tuesday:  Jon English and Rebecca Gibney head the cast of Nine’s new comedy series, All Together Now, which debuts tonight, followed by Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show, with new host Jacki MacDonald replacing Graham Kennedy.

Thursday:  Nine’s The Flying Doctors returns for 1991.  Seven presents a re-run of mini-series Nancy Wake, starring Noni Hazlehurst and John Waters.

Friday:  Nine crosses to the Adelaide Oval for Day One of the Fourth Test, Australia versus England.

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