AustLit

A feature-film version of the popular ABC serial Bellbird, Country Town sees the district gripped by a severe drought and undergoing severe financial hardship. When young reporter Philip Henderson arrives to further investigate the town (having already published a series of articles that have outraged the local population), he is met with hostility and wariness. Old tensions and enmities are also stirred following Henderson's arrival, but the town eventually rallies together to hold a fund-raising gymkhana. A pub gathering later breaks into celebrations as the much-needed rains arrive.

The Aussie Soap Archive notes that while Country Town retains many of the main characters from the TV series, it is more a standalone piece of cinema than a television spinoff. Interestingly, many of the main television characters do not play pivotal roles in the film's narrative. Instead, they are incorporated into group scenes in the pub and at town meetings: 'Nevertheless they are well-integrated into the proceedings ... Their presence adds texture and complexity to the examination of the town and its travails. In their appearances, the various characters serve to present their own take on the events of the story and how things affect their own situation, resulting in a film that presents various viewpoints and seems to have a realistic scope. The repeated brief interludes where yet another batch of struggling farmers or business people falling on hard times are introduced do not become repetitive and successfully accentuate the severity of the drought problems'. (sighted 16 September 2009).