AustLit

Screenwriter, author.

Ross Napier began writing radio drama scripts for the series Address Unknown and Night Beat at the end of the 1950s. From about 1958 up until 1970, he wrote all the episodes of the radio serial Portia Faces Life and wrote many other radio drama scripts during this period as well. Napier also provided scripts for numerous television series, including Barrier Reef (q.v.), Boney (q.v.), Chopper Squad and Skippy (q.v.), and was a member of the writing team for the television series The New Adventures of Skippy (1991).

In addition to a series of historical novels, published under the series title The Castlereagh Line, Napier wrote the scripts for eight stories that were recorded onto cassette and vinyl disc and released in 1975 as Exciting Stories from Australia's History (performed by Ron Roberts). The stories were 'The Eureka Stockade', 'Smithy Crosses the Pacific', 'Hargreaves Discovers Gold', 'The Japanese Attack on Darwin', 'The Kellys' Last Stand', 'Crossing the Blue Mountains', 'The Rum Rebellion' and 'The Tragedy of Burke and Wills'.