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form y separately published work icon The Victim single work   film/TV   crime  
Issue Details: First known date: 1969... 1969 The Victim
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

The script held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes (excluding regular characters):

'HEATHER CHAPPLE. Twenty. A fairly average young girl, engaged to be married. Plans a 'white' wedding. She is brutally raped by an intruder in her flat. When the initial shock passes, she begins to worry about the court case, publicity, gossip. What people think about her is blown up in her mind. She is unable to accept her violated life and turns to her boyfriend for support.

'GEORGE FINCH. Thirties. A man who is pathetically unable to succeed at anything. From big plans and dreams he has been reduced over the years, to selling cheap plastic kitchenware door-to-door. His wife is now eight months' pregnant. Their landlord is trying to evict them. Desperate for money, he takes to housebreaking and petty thieving. He's not much good at this either. On one of his forays, he is surprised by Heather. And in the struggle that follows (this is the culmination of all his frustrations) he rapes her.

'ELLEN FINCH. About thirty. When she met George, he was young and promising and persuasive. He talked her into leaving university and marrying him. Her mother thought she was marrying beneath her class and was never impressed by George. Loyal to George but hugely pregnant and desperately worried about their financial position, Ellen wants them to go and live with her mother. Until the child is born, at least. Fairly resilient, she is unable to cope any longer.

'TED KAVANAGH. Twenty-five. A big outdoors worker, engaged to Heather. Not particularly intelligent or sensitive, he is shocked at first by the attack and tries to comfort Heather. But he doesn't really understand his own feelings. They begin to change after he is provoked into a fight by a workmate. He has second thoughts, decides that the situation is more complex than he imagined, but there's something in it for him.

'ERNIE JACOBS. Fifties. A solid man, hardened by years in the trade. He helps the police as much as he can.

'HOOPER. Senior uniformed constable.

'GEARY. 25-30. A workmate of Kavanagh's. Rough and tough, without compassion. His world revolves around beer and sex.

'PRENDERGAST. 40-50. Boss in charge of a construction site, he rings the police when he is unable to break-up a fight among his men.

'MRS BRYANT. A gossipy-type housewife, age unimportant. She considers herself above door-to-door salesmen.

'MRS NELSON. Thirties. A woman who lives in one of the other flats. She offers to help Heather, but her attitude is one of curiosity and revulsion mixed.

'PEARSON. A retired man in his sixties who still has a reasonable income. A bit deaf. One scene only.

'TOM WILKINS. Fingerprint man from Forensic.

'EXTRAS. Two or three women, construction workers - if possible.'

According to Don Storey, 'The Broadcasting Control Board ruled that this episode was not to be screened before 8:30 PM'.

Notes

  • This entry has been compiled from archival research in the Crawford Collection (AFI Research Collection), undertaken by Dr Catriona Mills under the auspices of the 2012 AFI Research Collection (AFIRC) Research Fellowship.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Note: Storey suggests that Crawford was credited as director and Bennett as film director.
      1969 .
      person or book cover
      Script cover page (Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection)
      Extent: 104p.
      (Manuscript) assertion
      Note/s:
      • The script is labelled 'Episode L2' on the cover page. Accoridng to a notation in the top right-hand corner of the script, this copy was designated for 'Mina' (perhaps Mina Warneke who, according to the Crawford Productions tribute site [crawfordproductions.tv], worked in budget control from 1967).
      • There are no signs of annotation on this copy of the script.
      • The final page includes a list of crew credits:

        Written by Tom Hegarty.

        Edited by Dorothy Crawford.

        Typed by Shirley Ballard, Hilary Burgess, Christine Rook, Margaret Younger.

        Checked by Shirley Ballard, Hilary Burgess, Christine Rook, Margaret Younger.

        Duplicated by Doreen Arnold.

        The space beneath these for 'Producer's Remarks' has been left blank.

      Holdings

      Held at: AFI Research Collection
      Local Id: SC DIV : 28
Last amended 8 Aug 2018 15:03:48
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