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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'A gripping thriller, set in Maralinga, South Australia, at the height of the Cold War. At a remote army base carrying out British nuclear testing, paranoia runs rife and nuclear bombs are not the only things being put to the test, as loyalty, love, and betrayal are pitted against each other.' (Production summary)
Includes
-
4form y
[Episode 4] Operation Buffalo
Australia
:
Porchlight Films
,
2020
20826466
2020
single work
film/TV
Australia
:
Porchlight Films
,
2020
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Maralinga : Thunder Raining Poison
2021
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Humanities Australia , November no. 12 2021; (p. 48-58) 'The events surrounding the British nuclear tests in Central Australia came alive for Australian television audiences when the ABC screened Operation Buffalo in May and June 2020. The series was inspired by the actual tests at Maralinga, although screen writer and producer Peter Duncan was upfront in announcing that it was a work of ‘historical fiction’, along with a proviso that ‘a lot of the really bad history actually happened’.1 The series was promoted as a ‘captivating drama’ set in Maralinga in a Cold War climate in which ‘paranoia runs rife and nuclear bombs are not the only things being tested as loyalty, love and betrayal are pitted against each other’.2 The characters in Operation Buffalo include the handsome operations manager Major Leo Carmichael who is seduced by visiting British meteorologist Eva Lloyd George, a Russian spy; British General ‘Cranky’ Crankford who befriends Ruby and her Aboriginal family affected by the testing; and nurse Corinne who treats soldiers exposed to deadly nuclear chemicals. Meanwhile the British High Commissioner, key Australian politicians, prostitutes and ASIO agents weave in and out of the drama that includes visiting dignitaries observing the explosion of a nuclear device from a viewing platform.' (Introduction) -
Before the Dust Settled
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Inside Story , June 2020;
— Review of Operation Buffalo 2020 series - publisher film/TV 'The ABC’s satirical take on the Maralinga tests captures the confusion and the wilful blindness' -
Operation Buffalo : A Historical Fiction
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: History Australia , vol. 17 no. 3 2020; (p. 573-575)
— Review of Operation Buffalo 2020 series - publisher film/TV'The makers of the six-part Maralinga-themed series on ABC TV, Operation Buffalo, were careful to note at the start of each episode that the story was ‘historical fiction’, adding rather unhelpfully, ‘but some of the really bad history actually happened’. This disclaimer looks apologetic, intended to head off criticism. ‘Historical fiction’ certainly means that the story will be fictional, but it must also be historical. However, in this series there is effectively no meaningful history. An example of historical fiction is Judy Nunn’s novel Maralinga, which is historically accurate in its background, with a fictionalised story in the foreground. The story portrayed in Operation Buffalo has virtually nothing in common with the real events at Maralinga. The makers have taken two real names – Maralinga and Operation Buffalo – and riffed on them. They are of course entitled to do so, as a creative project. However, a question may legitimately be asked: why would they choose a tragic part of Australian history still within living memory and play games with it?' (Introduction)
-
Sixty Years on, Two TV Programs Revisit Australia’s Nuclear History at Maralinga
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 June 2020;'Over successive Sunday nights, the ABC has premiered two important television programs recounting the history of nuclear testing in Australia – the documentary Maralinga Tjuratja and a six-drama series Operation Buffalo. Both explore the ramifications of the Anglo-Australian nuclear venture conducted at Maralinga during the cold war – but in very different ways.' (Introduction)
-
Blast from the Past
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 23 May 2020; (p. 19)'The creative talent behind Rake is at it again with another original series, this time set against the British atom bomb tests at Maralinga in the 1950s.'
-
Operation Buffalo : A Historical Fiction
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: History Australia , vol. 17 no. 3 2020; (p. 573-575)
— Review of Operation Buffalo 2020 series - publisher film/TV'The makers of the six-part Maralinga-themed series on ABC TV, Operation Buffalo, were careful to note at the start of each episode that the story was ‘historical fiction’, adding rather unhelpfully, ‘but some of the really bad history actually happened’. This disclaimer looks apologetic, intended to head off criticism. ‘Historical fiction’ certainly means that the story will be fictional, but it must also be historical. However, in this series there is effectively no meaningful history. An example of historical fiction is Judy Nunn’s novel Maralinga, which is historically accurate in its background, with a fictionalised story in the foreground. The story portrayed in Operation Buffalo has virtually nothing in common with the real events at Maralinga. The makers have taken two real names – Maralinga and Operation Buffalo – and riffed on them. They are of course entitled to do so, as a creative project. However, a question may legitimately be asked: why would they choose a tragic part of Australian history still within living memory and play games with it?' (Introduction)
-
Before the Dust Settled
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Inside Story , June 2020;
— Review of Operation Buffalo 2020 series - publisher film/TV 'The ABC’s satirical take on the Maralinga tests captures the confusion and the wilful blindness' -
Blast from the Past
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 23 May 2020; (p. 19)'The creative talent behind Rake is at it again with another original series, this time set against the British atom bomb tests at Maralinga in the 1950s.'
-
Sixty Years on, Two TV Programs Revisit Australia’s Nuclear History at Maralinga
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 June 2020;'Over successive Sunday nights, the ABC has premiered two important television programs recounting the history of nuclear testing in Australia – the documentary Maralinga Tjuratja and a six-drama series Operation Buffalo. Both explore the ramifications of the Anglo-Australian nuclear venture conducted at Maralinga during the cold war – but in very different ways.' (Introduction)
-
Maralinga : Thunder Raining Poison
2021
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Humanities Australia , November no. 12 2021; (p. 48-58) 'The events surrounding the British nuclear tests in Central Australia came alive for Australian television audiences when the ABC screened Operation Buffalo in May and June 2020. The series was inspired by the actual tests at Maralinga, although screen writer and producer Peter Duncan was upfront in announcing that it was a work of ‘historical fiction’, along with a proviso that ‘a lot of the really bad history actually happened’.1 The series was promoted as a ‘captivating drama’ set in Maralinga in a Cold War climate in which ‘paranoia runs rife and nuclear bombs are not the only things being tested as loyalty, love and betrayal are pitted against each other’.2 The characters in Operation Buffalo include the handsome operations manager Major Leo Carmichael who is seduced by visiting British meteorologist Eva Lloyd George, a Russian spy; British General ‘Cranky’ Crankford who befriends Ruby and her Aboriginal family affected by the testing; and nurse Corinne who treats soldiers exposed to deadly nuclear chemicals. Meanwhile the British High Commissioner, key Australian politicians, prostitutes and ASIO agents weave in and out of the drama that includes visiting dignitaries observing the explosion of a nuclear device from a viewing platform.' (Introduction)
Awards
- Maralinga, North West South Australia, Far North South Australia, South Australia,
- Maralinga, North West South Australia, Far North South Australia, South Australia,
- 1950s
