AustLit

'The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is a tightly plotted murder thriller, a massive best seller that was a forerunner to Sherlock Holmes. As much a study of sophisticated 19th century Melbourne as it is of its captivating characters, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is a compelling telemovie with a surprise ending that no-one will guess.'

Source: Burberry Productions website, http://www.burberry.com.au/
Sighted: 09/07/2012

'Tony Piccolo is an average Aussie bloke. Early 40s. Affable. Hard working. He's a family man. Tony keeps his 'day job' secret from his wife and kids - for one very good reason. Tony is an underworld enforcer. Gripped by a sudden mid-life crisis, Tony decides he wants out. But in the gangster business, an enforcer with a conscience is a dead man - and a family is a dangerous thing to have.'

Source: Movie Network Channels website, www.mnc.tv/small-time-gangster (sighted 18/04/2011)

Three sisters die in a sudden and catastrophic carriage accident. Frustrated that they've been robbed of their full lives, they petition for a second chance--only to find themselves returning 150 years after their death, their old home now a boarding school. Not only must they become accustomed to modern life, but they mustn't let anyone know that they're 'living' ghosts.

Dead Gorgeous was created by British-born script-writer Barbara Slade, who already had a long work history with children's programming in both the U.K. and the U.S.A. Originally commissioned by Nickelodeon UK (who chose not to pick up the series after viewing the pilot), the series was ultimately made with the involvement of several broadcasters and production companies in both the U.K. and in Australia.

The series was filmed in Australia, and both directors were Australian. However, the majority of the script-writers (who, between them, produced the majority of scripts) were British: Australian script-writers Sam Carroll, Peter Templeman, and Sarah Rosetti contributed scripts to the program.

'Teenager Fergus McPhail (and his irrationally optimistic alter-ego), stumbles from crisis to crisis mostly of his own making. The stories cover a year in his life, showcasing Fergus at home with his erratic family, at school among friends, at play and sometimes, just sometimes, having a win in the steeplechase of adolescence.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 23/5/2014)

'Based on the popular books by Rose Impey, this comedy-drama series features five 12-year-old girls on their quest for identity, individuality, belonging, family, friendship and how to have the most fun while trying to deny the existence of boys.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 3/12/2013)

'Oscar's sister comes home for an anti-uranium demonstration. Her mother is going to join in but Oscar and his dad want them to keep out of trouble. Sophie is keen to be part of it and when she can't get anyone to join her she goes alone. Meanwhile, Kurt makes a special appearance with his father's band — but it is a gig he doesn't want anyone to find out about.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 18/6/2014)

'Kurt's video of his elderly neighbour, Mrs Green, begins as a joke. He wants to hurt the old lady by making her seem stupid, but the more time he spends with her the more he gets to like her. The new Kurt surprises his classmates, but not Mrs Green. She always knew there was more to the sullen boy. Kurt and Mrs Green form a close bond that is broken when she passes away before his video is completed.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 18/6/2014)

'The video camera can be a tool of expression, exploration and communication. But it can also be an instrument of manipulation, secrecy and lies. SHORT CUTS depicts a group of young people facing the normal challenges of growing up, in and out of school, using a camera in all its functions to learn about their lives.'

Source: Screen Australia.

Eugénie Sandler, tracing the mysteries of her own past (such as her missing birth certificate and her unwitting possession of a false passport), finds that she is the lost heir to the decaying kingdom of Versovia, currently a Soviet-style dictatorship. She and her school friend Warwick find themselves dodging mysterious Versovians and murderous, corrupt police officers, while trying to find Eugénie's missing private-investigator father, Ray.

The program harks back to the genre of Ruritanian romances: swashbuckling adventure stories set in fictional Central or Eastern European countries (such as Anthony Hope's Ruritania), centering on the aristocracy or royalty, and usually culminating in the restoration of a lost heir. Although the popularity of pure Ruritanian romances declined after the nineteenth century, aspects of their form were transplanted into speculative fiction, particularly the sub-genres of alternate histories and fantasies of manners. In this instance, script-writer David McRobbie transplants the Ruritanian romance to late-twentieth-century Australia, and further filters it through the contemporary concern of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

For McRobbie, Eugénie Sandler, PI followed his first children's television program, The Wayne Manifesto (1996-1997) and was followed in turn by Fergus McPhail (2004).

Australian Screen offers some content from episode two of Eugénie Sandler, PI online: http://aso.gov.au/titles/tv/eugenie-sandler-pi-episode-two/clip1/?nojs=. (Sighted: 17/2/2012)

The Wayne Manifesto takes us into the world of twelve-year-old Wayne Wilson, showing us the world as Wayne would like it to be and the world as it really is. When his family move to their new home, Wayne wants nothing more than to fit in and keep out of the way of the school bully. He befriends the laid-back Squocka, the self-reliant Violet, and the young, energetic Rosie, and takes on his new life with enormous optimism.

The program has a strong magic-realism component in Wayne's active imagination and the way in which he uses this to manipulate the viewer's sense of his reality.