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Eleanor Witcombe Eleanor Witcombe i(A20680 works by)
Born: Established: 20 Sep 1923 Yorketown, Southern Yorke Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, ; Died: Ceased: Nov 2018 Sydney, New South Wales,
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 The Film That Never Was Eleanor Witcombe , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 29-30 November 2003; (p. 2-3, 12)

Witcombe details her research into the life of Daisy Bates. Witcombe was invited by Sir Robert Helpmann, on behalf of Katherine Hepburn, to investigate Bates' life with a view to developing a filmscript. (Hepburn intended to star in the film production.)

Witcombe uncovered previously unknown aspects of Bates' life that threw doubt on popularly held images of the iconic figure.

1 The Anatomy of No 96 Eleanor Witcombe , 1994 single work prose
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 27 December-3 January (1994-1995) vol. 116 no. 5952 1994; (p. 90-91)
1 Smugglers Beware Eleanor Witcombe , 1989 single work drama children's
— Appears in: Pirates at the Barn / Smugglers, Beware! 1989; (p. 53-114)
1 y separately published work icon Pirates at the Barn / Smugglers, Beware! Eleanor Witcombe , Sydney : Currency Press , 1989 Z859309 1989 selected work drama musical theatre children's adventure humour
1 form y separately published work icon The Harp in the South Ruth Park's The Harp in the South Eleanor Witcombe , George Whaley , Ruth Park , ( dir. George Whaley ) 1987 Sydney Australia : Anthony Buckley Productions Network Ten , 1987 Z993016 1987 series - publisher film/TV

Adapted from Ruth Park's novel of the same name, The Harp in the South is a six-part mini-series that follows the lives of an impoverished Irish-Australian family during the late 1940s. The Darcy family have moved from the bush to a housing-commission enclave in inner-city Sydney: a world of sly grog shops, prostitutes, pimps, and boarding houses. The father, Hughie, was a shearer's cook who lost his job through alcoholism. Although he is now able to hold down a job, his pay is often docked because he's recovering from a hangover. The family is held together by Mumma Darcy, a kindly but uneducated woman who still cannot get over the loss of her son, who disappeared as a child many years ago. The Darcys' two remaining children are Dolour (who is still at school) and Rowena (who works in a local factory). In order to make ends meet, the family take in boarders, some of whom are quite strange.

1 form y separately published work icon Jonah Eleanor Witcombe , ( dir. Eric Tayler ) 1982 Australia : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1982 Z869032 1982 series - publisher film/TV

A young boy living on the streets at the turn of the twentieth century decides to make something of his life. The Australian Women's Weekly describes the program as 'detailing the rise of a hunchbacked 1900s larrikin gang leader from the gutter to the respectability of owning a shoe emporium' (Wed. 24 June 1981, p.118S).

For a detailed, episode-by-episode synopsis, see Film Details.

1 form y separately published work icon Water Under the Bridge Eleanor Witcombe , Michael Jenkins , Network Ten (publisher), ( dir. Igor Auzins ) Australia : Network Ten , 1980 Z869028 1980 series - publisher film/TV

The story of a group of people whose lives are entwined through time and circumstances in several ways, from love to murder.

For detailed, episode-by-episode synopses, see Film Details.

2 30 form y separately published work icon My Brilliant Career Eleanor Witcombe , ( dir. Gillian Armstrong ) Adelaide : Margaret Fink Productions , 1979 Z817179 1979 single work film/TV (taught in 7 units)

Based on the book by Miles Franklin, this feature film tells the story of an Australian country girl who, at the end of the nineteenth century, wants to make her own way in the outside world.

Rejecting an offer of marriage from a wealthy suitor (who is also her childhood friend), she instead finds herself obligated to work off her father's debt to a neighbouring family, for whom she works as governess and housekeeper. Returning home, she again rejects her suitor's proposal, this time in favour of writing a novel based on her experiences.

1 Don't Shoot the Writer Eleanor Witcombe , 1979 single work prose
— Appears in: The National Times , 6 October no. 452 1979; (p. 56)
2 10 form y separately published work icon The Getting Of Wisdom Eleanor Witcombe , ( dir. Bruce Beresford ) Australia : Southern Cross Films , 1978 Z1446682 1978 single work film/TV (taught in 2 units)

In the early 1900s, the spirited and talented Laura Tweedle Ramsbotham arrives at an exclusive Melbourne ladies' college, only to be greeted with jeers and treated as a country bumpkin. Although she is defiant towards her peers, the pressure almost defeats her. She soon learns, however, to be as ruthless as the other girls. Caught out after inventing an illicit liaison with the handsome new minister, she becomes a pariah until she is taken under the wing of an older girl, the elegant and kindly Evelyn Suitor. Laura subsequently falls in love with Evelyn, causing the latter to leave the school in order to escape Laura's attentions. Laura eventually completes her schooling, winning a two-year music scholarship to study piano.

Source: Australian Screen.

1 form y separately published work icon Ben Hall Ted Roberts , Eleanor Witcombe , Tony Morphett , Ray Johnson , ( dir. Frank Arnold et. al. )agent United Kingdom (UK) Australia : 20th Century Fox British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1975 6014217 1975 series - publisher film/TV crime historical fiction

A co-production between the ABC and the BBC, 'in association with 20th Century Fox', Ben Hall was a thirteen-part historical drama series about bushranger Ben Hall (1837–1865). Famous as a bushranger who never killed anyone but was nevertheless shot dead by police under the Felons Apprehension Act 1865, Hall was the ideal candidate for a drama series in an era in which Australian television was becoming increasingly fascinated with the dramatic possibilities of its colonial past.

Quoted in 1974, Andrew Osborn (BBC's Head of Drama series) summed up the possibilities as followed:

'The thing that makes Hall so interesting is, he tried to make a go of the land. He married a local landowner's daughter and settled down. But through persistent police persecution, beginning when he was falsely arrested for highway robbery, he was forced into a life of crime. He was a very handsome man, had many sympathisers in the districts where he operated, and was a magnificent horseman. What better story could you have? It's wonderful.' (Australian Women's Weekly, Wed. 27 February 1974, p.10).

The full-page advertisements with which the program was marketed also summed up this approach to the narrative, reading:

'This gang is going to capture a dozen or more police, rob 10 mail coaches and raid 21 towns and homesteads. BEN HALL: From law abiding cattleman of the Weddin Mountains to embittered outlaw. This is the saga of Ben Hall. Tough. Colourful. A desperate period of Australian History.' (See, for example, Australian Women's Weekly, 10 September 1975, p.8).

For a detailed, episode-by-episode synopses, see Film Details.

1 form y separately published work icon Seven Little Australians Eleanor Witcombe , ABC Television (publisher), ( dir. Ron Way ) Sydney : ABC Television , 1973 Z972389 1973 series - publisher film/TV children's young adult historical fiction

A ten-part television mini-series adapted from the 1894 novel Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner (q.v.). Set in Sydney in the 1890s, the stories concern Captain Woolcot, an English widower with seven children, who has recently married again. The family lives in their large home 'Misrule,' which lies along the banks of the Parramatta River. As an officer in the New South Wales Regiment, Woolcot attempts to implement regimental discipline but is constantly harassed and embarrassed by the antics of his seven mischievous children: Meg, Pip, Judy, Nell, Bunty, Baby, and 'The General.' Since he is unable to control them, it is his new wife who invariably takes on all the trials of bringing up the children, with the most difficult child being the ring-leader Helen, commonly known as Judy.

1 11 form y separately published work icon Number 96 Lynn Foster , Robert Caswell , David Sale , Ken Shadie , Eleanor Witcombe , Johnny Whyte , ( dir. Peter Benardos et. al. )agent Sydney : Cash Harmon Television , 1972 Z1812749 1972 series - publisher film/TV

A highly successful soap opera, Number 96's permissive and adult tone emerged, in Moran's terms, from 'the atmosphere of censorship liberalisation that had occurred in Australia in the early 1970s, and the intention to screen the serial in a late evening timeslot'. As such, the programme interspersed the domestic and romantic storylines that usually drive soap operas with plots exploring rape, drug abuse, and homosexuality. For example, the long-running character Don Finlayson (played by Joe Hasham) was an openly gay character whose relationships attracted neither censure nor any unusual degree of attention from his neighbours, showing him as unusually (for the time) integrated into a mainstream community.

According to Moran, 'Number 96 moved the Australian television soap opera completely away from its radio predecessor by organising a series of simultaneous storylines with various characters moving in and out of these, the storylines lasting only two to six weeks on air.' Long-running storylines included the 'Knicker Snipper' (a msyterious figure stealing the residents' underwear) and the Pantyhose Murderer (a serial killer).

As the show's ratings began dropping in 1975, various attempts were made to revitalise interest in the series, including killing (or otherwise writing out) long-running characters, increasing the amount of location shooting, and publicising the increased amount of nudity in the show (including both female and--briefly--male full-frontal nudity). Despite this, ratings continued to drop to the point where the show was cancelled in July 1977.

1 1 form y separately published work icon Redheap Eleanor Witcombe , ( dir. Brian Bell ) Australia : ABC Television , 1972 Z869036 1972 series - publisher film/TV

Nineteen-year-old Robert Piper has spent all his life in the country. He now starts a new life at university in the city.

2 form y separately published work icon Seven Little Australians [Episode 1] Fowl for Dinner Eleanor Witcombe , 1971 single work film/TV
— Appears in: Close-Up : Scripts from Australian Television's Second Decade 1971; (p. 152-174)
Captain Woolcot is embarrassed by the antics of his seven mischievous children--Meg, Pip, Judy, Nell, Bunty, Baby, and 'The General'--when they interrupt a dinner given for Colonel Bryant, the Captain's new commanding officer, and his wife.
2 1 form y separately published work icon The Pastures of the Blue Crane Eleanor Witcombe , ( dir. Tom Jeffrey ) 1969 Australia : ABC Television , 1969 Z869026 1969 series - publisher film/TV young adult

A coming-of-age story about Rhyll Mereweather, a teenage girl who, after her father dies, believes that she now has no family. Soon afterwards, however, she is informed that she has inherited a run-down northern NSW banana plantation. When she travels from her home in Melbourne to see the property, she discovers a crusty old grandfather and some other surprising relatives she didn't know about.

As with the book, the screenplay deals with many issues, including the irresponsible property development ruining the pristine coastline of northern NSW. It also, in a witty and hopeful way, deals with some of the most unsavoury aspects of Australian culture: its casual racism, its ingrained sexism, and the pressures put upon young people to conform to expectations. The film was arguably the first Australian television series to address racism in any meaningful way. Although the series was made at a time when Australia was still pursuing a white-only immigration program and when discrimination against Aboriginal peoples was endemic, the subject matter was handled with some care by the producers.

1 y separately published work icon The Runaway Steamboat Eleanor Witcombe , 1968 (Manuscript version)x401230 Z868763 1968 single work drama children's
1 Wuthering Heights Eleanor Witcombe , 1966 single work drama
1 1 y separately published work icon Pirates at the Barn Eleanor Witcombe , Sydney : Ure Smith , 1963 Z24621 1963 single work musical theatre children's
2 form y separately published work icon Cry on the Wind Eleanor Witcombe , 1962 (Manuscript version)x401231 Z869130 1962 single work radio play
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