AustLit

List of episodes:

Series one

1. The Long, Hot, Dusty Day (broadcast 30 April 1965)

When Sergeant Adam Strang learns that the young constable who is being sent from H.Q. to help him is not only new to the Territory but is a 'Pommy' an ex-London bobby, in fact—he has his doubts. (Radio Times, 22 April 1965, p.65)

2. The Long Stringer (broadcast 7 May 1965)

When young Michael Dawson, the ex-London bobby now attached to Sergeant Adam Strang of the Northern Territory Police, first meets the garrulous horse-breaker, ' Stringer ' Long, he emerges a little the worse for the encounter. But when ' The Stringer ' returns with a tale of a lagoon on fire he unwittingly provides Adam Strang with the solution to a mystery. (Radio Times, 29 April 1965, p.67)

3. The Place Where the Eagles Drink (broadcast 14 May 1965)

The nationwide search for an eloping couple brings the girl's father, the rich and formidable Sir John Graham. into Sergeant Adam Strang 's territory. Adam discovers that the runaways have vanished into a remote, hostile wilderness, unexplored even by expert bushmen—a perilous place for a young' couple with no experience of the Northern Territory. (Radio Times, 6 May 1965, p.61.)

4. The Old Hand (broadcast 21 April 1965)

Old Soldiers never die; and 'Chiller' Dempsey, ex-Light Horseman, won't even admit to growing old. Dempsey is a drover and resents the plan to air-freight a valuable bull to Folly Downs. But when a bush-fire strikes, terrifyingly, Sergeant Adam Strang discovers that there is no hand like an old hand. (Radio Times, 13 May 1965, p.65)

5. Red Eyes in the River (broadcast 28 April 1965)

Sergeant Adam Strang and Trooper Michael Dawson travel to the crocodile country–the waters of the Nilligah River. They plan a short fishing holiday. But the mystery of a deserted camp on the river-bank plunges them into unexpected drama, with passion and hatred flaring in a tempestuous conflict between the Old World and the New. (Radio Times, 20 May 1965, p.61).

6. The Blind Water-hen (broadcast 4 June 1965)

The Aboriginal Reserve of Arnhem Land is forbidden to white men. Into it, on a mission of mercy, goes Doctor Miriam Kalinga, herself a native. But when the Kurdaitcha man, the 'feather-feet' killer, strikes, then Sergeant Adam Strang must follow. (Radio Times, 27 May 1965, p.67)

7. Chinaman's Luck (broadcast 11 June 1965)

The first rains of The Wet maroon Mardie Strang at the abandoned gold-mine of China-man's Creek. An unexpected encounter with a secretive prospector leads to the disclosure that even blood-brothers can fall out when the prize is big enough —and a man's luck is in. (Radio Times, 3 June 1965, p.53)

8. Black Opal (broadcast 18 June 1965)

Two lonely people meet on a tourist coach travelling 'The Bitumen,' the great highway of the Northern Territory which at times follows the trail of 'The Singing String,' the historic Overland Telegraph Line. At the scene of a long-ago tragedy, Sgt. Strang comes face to face with a wanted man–and a story of betrayal and flight. (Radio Times, 10 June 1965, p.61.)

9. The No-Hoper (broadcast 25 June 1965)

Ted Donkin , the dingo-hunter, swears that Manny O'Keefe is a born loser: 'He just can't take a trick!' Manny is an ex-boxer who has turned his hand to a score of jobs without success. And somewhere along the track he has lost Shirley, the one girl in the world who believed he could win. (Radio Times, 17 June 1965, p.57.)

10. Spanish Gold (broadcast 2 July 1965)

A young Spaniard with an amazing story seeks Adam Strang's help before setting out into the remote country of the Lionhead Gorge to search for traces of a 300-year-old expedition. But the search takes a startling, unexpected turn, with disaster waiting among the sun-scorched, pitiless rocks. (Radio Times, 24 June 1965, p.59)

11. The Bower Bird (broadcast 9 July 1965)

A party of buffalo-hunters passes through Malabar Plains. With them

Is Mary Carnaby, an old school friend of Mardie Strang's, who engaged to marry one of the hunters. But Mary is faced with a dilemma—a decision to make and a lack of will to make it. (Radio Times 1 July 1965, p.53)

12. The Waterloo Coat (broadcast 16 July 1965)

Constable Michael Dawson, delivering the Census papers, meets a remarkable old lady with a strong sense of family pride. Later, he encounters an itinerant pedlar. (Radio Times, 8 July 1965, p.57)

13. The Poddy-Dodger (broadcast 23 July 1965) (final)

Pat Gordon holds a Rodeo and half the Territory swarms to Folly Downs for the gala occasion, including old-timer Hughie Moffat. It is his presence which supplies Serjeant Adam Strang with a clue to the recent systematic stock-losses which point to thieving' cattle-duffing '—on a huge scale. (Radio Times, 15 July 1965, p.53)

Series two

1. The Sundowners (broadcast 19 May 1966)

To commemorate the Pioneers who opened up the Northern Territory, a memorial has been raised beside the old Sundowners' Track. The unveiling is a big event in the quiet lives of the Territorians ... so also is the surprise homecoming of a half-forgotten man. (Radio Times, 12 May 1966, p.53)

2. Children of the Dreamtime (broadcast 26 May 1966)

A find of bauxite in remote ' mission ' country promises new prosperity for the Northern Territory. But in the wake of the bulldozers comes trouble from a dispossessed tribe of aborigines [sic] and a major headache for Sgt. Adam Strang. (Radio Times, 19 May 1966, p.57)

3. The Old Mates (broadcast 2 June 1966)

Drought has struck the Northern Territory, which lies baking under the glaring sun from a cloudless sky. Disaster threatens the cattle-stations, and Sergeant Adam Strang finds himself involved in a quarrel between two old men who have been inseparable through a lifetime of drought and flood. (Radio Times, 26 May 1966, p.51)

4. Gun Licence (broadcast 9 June 1966)

A raid on an arms dump in the Northern Territory brings Adam Strang to an oil-drilling expedition in the lost heart of the Old Man Desert ... and to an encounter with a man with a notorious past. (Radio Times, 2 June 1966, p.53)

5. Walkabout (broadcast 16 June 1966)

The finding of a wrecked catamaran off the lonely coast of Northern Australia brings Adam Strand into the nation-wide search for Tom Chatterton ... and gives 'walkabout' a new meaning. (Radio Times, 9 June 1966, p.53)

6. The Man from Thursday (broadcast 23 June 1966)

The search for a missing book-keeper from Folly Downs Station sends Sergeant Adam Strang north to Darwin, where the trail takes him to a Chinese restaurant and involves a pearl-buyer from Thursday Island. (Radio Times, 16 June 1966, p.49)

7. The Eye of the Tracker (broadcast 30 June 1966)

An accident to a small boy suffering from haemophilia sends Sergeant Adam Strang on an emergency patrol. But what should be a routine task soon turns into a desperate race against time–complicated by the presence of an old and stubborn black-tracker. (Radio Times, 23 June 1966, p.49)

8. Boomerang (broadcast 7 July 1966)

A retired bushman from the Old Timers' Homes at Alice Springs and a young married couple on a cattle station produce a situation in which Sergeant Adam Strang is called upon to undertake an unaccustomed responsibility. (Radio Times, 30 June 1966, p.41)

9. Carey's Brand (broadcast 14 July 1966)

The death of a bore-minder on the lonely cattle-route from the Territory to Queensland touches off a drama of the outback, and takes Sergeant Adam Strang on a long, hard patrol. (Radio Times, 7 July 1966, p.55)

10. Road-Train (broadcast 21 July 1966)

A giant road-train brings much-needed supplies to a new Mission hospital in the Outback, and with it comes a Liverpool sailor, Con MaKee, in search of harbour. On patrol, Sergeant Adam Strang Is faced with new problems. (Radio Times, 14 July 1966, p.45)

11. The Spinner (broadcast 28 July 1966)

The repercussions from a city underworld crime, together with a young Scotswoman new to the Outback and the relief driver of the inland mail-car, put rather more on Sergeant Adam Strang's plate than he bargained for. (Radio Times, 21 July 1966, p.49)

12. Corinthian Cup (broadcast 4 August 1966)

The Picnic Race-Meeting at Malabar Plains is bigger and better than ever this year, and the influx of strangers gives the police patrol more problems than usual—especially the problem of what to do with two angry men. (Radio Times, 28 July 1966, p.45)

13. The Big Sky (broadcast 11 August 1966)

A man-hunt triggers off disaster when Trooper Michael Dawson joins forces with Sergeant Bob Garrison in the remote ' grass country.' And Adam Strang rides out on patrol to pick up cold tracks and bring back a killer. (Radio Times, 4 August 1966, p.45)

Series three

1. Home for Christmas (broadcast 22 December 1966)

No synopsis available.

2. The Wells of Mataranka (broadcast 29 December 1966)

In the Northern Territory of Australia, men sometimes find refuge in lonely places. But no man can hide from Sergeant Adam Strang, on patrol with a force perhaps unique in the world–The Northern Territory Police. (Radio Times, 22 December 1966, p.57)

3. The Inlanders (broadcast 5 January 1967)

The Northern Territory is wide open for criminals on the run, as Sergeant Adam Strang of the Territory Police knows only too well when the Fort Lamington sensation breaks. (Radio Times, 29 December 1966, p.49)

4. Never-Never Mailman (broadcast 12 January 1867)

In the Outback of Australia. the Mailman is often the only link between distant, lonely homesteads and the outside world. But sometimes the Mailman takes on another role, as Sergeant Adam Strang of the Northern Territory Police finds on his Overland Patrol. (Radio Times, 5 January 1967, p.53)

5. Mirage (broadcast 19 January 1967)

A survey aircraft missing in the Northern Territory sends the Malabar Plains Police Force on a vital patrol, and Sergeant Strang faces the challenge of the Hellfire Desert. (Radio Times, 12 January 1967, p.45)

6. Cannon's Circus (broadcast 26 January 1967)

The visit of a travelling circus is a rare event in the Northern Territory. Sergeant Adam Strang finds himself renewing an old friendship, and pursuing a trail of counterfeit money. (Radio Times, 19 January 1967, p.51)

7. The Crow-Strangler (broadcast 2 February 1967)

Sergeant Adam Strang and Police-woman Maisie Franklin go on a man-hunt stretching from the cotton fields of Australia's far North across the Queensland border to the coast of the Great Barrier Reef. And behind the man-hunt, inevitably, there is a woman. (Radio Times, 26 January 1967, p.45)

8. The Ear-Basher (broadcast 9 February 1967)

The people of the remote Northern Territory have to make their own pleasures and amusements, and from this often arise strange and unusual contests. Sergeant Adam Strang finds himself involved in one of them when 'Silent' Shorty King arrives in Malabar. (Radio Times, 2 February 1967, p.45)

9. The Painted Caves (broadcast 16 February 1967)

An anthropologist's visit to the Territory and the strange experiences of an aboriginal stockman on a cattle-station place Strang in a desperate situation among the painted eaves of the Jasper River. (Radio Times, 9 February 1967, p.49)

10. The Arnhem Land Lily (broadcast 23 February 1967)

Sergeant Adam Strang leads a patrol into the ' crocodile ' country of the Jericho River estuary in search of a man who proves the eld Territory saying: ' Only a fool goes on foot.' (Radio Times, 16 February 1967, p.53)

11. The Old Man of Oorawalla (broadcast 2 March 1967)

An old man living in the shade of the she-oaks by a billabong, and the sale of a cattle station in Sergeant Adam Strang's district involve the Malabar Plains Police on a night patrol in a race against death. (Radio Times, 23 February 1967, p.59)

12. Bird of Passage (broadcast 9 March 1967)

Jolly swagmen are rare these days on the outback roads of the Northern Territory. But Strang encounters two on the track which cuts through the desolate Gridiron country. And on the Gridiron, too, is a man from the past. (Radio Times, 2 March 1967, p.51)

13. A Bangtail Muster (broadcast 16 March 1967)

Sergeant Strang takes off alone on a patrol into the Gunsight Range ... and plays cards by the light of a camp-fire with a wanted man. (Radio Times, 9 March 1967, p.49)