AustLit

One of Australia's highest rating dramas, All Saints is a Logie Award-winning Australian medical drama set in the fictional All Saints Western General Hospital in suburban Sydney. The stories originally focused on the nursing staff of Ward 17 run by Nursing Unit Manager Terri Sullivan. It was sometimes referred to as the 'garbage ward' because it took the overflow of patients.

In 2004 Network Seven producers overhauled the series in an effort to increase the show's gradually dwindling audience. They achieved this by closing down Ward 17 and transferring some of the staff to the Emergency Department managed by Frank Campion. Several other new lead characters were also introduced. The changes also saw the storylines begin to focus more on the lives of the doctors and nurses.

Another significant change to the series came in early 2009 when the producers introduced the Medical Response Unit. Central to this development was the helicopter which took doctors to rescue situations outside the hopsital and which in turn brought patients to the All Saints Emergency Department. The show's name was also changed at this time to All Saints: Medical Response Unit. The increased production costs created by having scenes shot on location played a part, however, in the series being cancelled mid-year. The series ended with the Emergency Department and Medical Response Unit teams having a dinner to farewell the last remaining original character, Von Ryan on her final day at All Saints.

All Saints was popular in many countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium and Iran.

'Inspired by true events, Stingers reveals the shadowy and ambiguous world of undercover cops — people with covert lives and constantly changing identities. They are police who defeat crime from within the criminal world — always without a badge and frequently without protection. The series follows the lives of the operatives as they befriend and betray those on the other side of the law. For these select few, it is a deadly way of life.The undercover cops of Stingers are a unique breed. They must juggle their own lives — love, laughter, family and humanity — with the tension of the criminal personas they adopt in their passion for justice.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 7/6/2013)

'Fast-paced series spin-off of the hit feature film. Filmed at an abandoned school in Sydney's Maroubra, this program was about an ethnically diverse group of students attending Hartley High School.'

Source: National Film and Sound Archive record.

A character-based television drama series about the lives of police officers in the fictitious Australian country town of Mt Thomas, this series began with the arrival of Constable Maggie Doyle (Lisa McCune) to the Mt Thomas station in the episode 'A Woman's Place'. Doyle and avuncular station boss Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon (John Wood) were the core characters of the series until the departure of Lisa McCune.

Immensely popular for a decade, Blue Heelers was cancelled in 2006 after thirteen seasons. The announcement was front-page news in Australia's major newspapers including The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney's Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun and The Age in Melbourne, and Brisbane's Courier Mail.

On June 8, 2006 Ross Warneke wrote in The Age:

'It's over and, to be perfectly blunt, there's no use lamenting the demise of Blue Heelers any more. When the final movie-length episode aired on Channel Seven on Sunday night, 1.5 million Australians tuned in, a figure that was big enough to give the show a win in its timeslot but nowhere near big enough to pay the sort of tribute that this writer believes Heelers deserved after more than 500 episodes.It is unlikely there will be anything like it again. At almost $500,000 an hour, shows such as Blue Heelers are quickly becoming the dinosaurs of Australian TV.'

A television series ostensibly based on Arthur Upfield's series of detective novels, and stemming from a telemovie aired two years earlier.

After protests from Indigenous groups about the casting of a white actor as a descendant of Detective Napoleon Bonaparte, the production was altered to make the character a white man who had once lived with Indigenous Australians. As such, it bears little real connection to Upfield's novels.

The series was not a success, and was cancelled after the first thirteen episodes.

G.P. is an Australian television series that ran for eight seasons. Set in and around a fictional general medical practice in an inner-city suburb, the storylines explore the professional and personal lives of the doctors and staff who worked there.

Like the earlier Crawford's series The Box, Prime Time was concerned with television production. In this case, the programme focused on the fictional Lockhart Productions and its prime-time current-affairs program, Assignment: according to Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, 'although there was no physical resemblance between actor Chris Orchard and real-life current affairs host and company owner, Mike Willesee, nevertheless the reference was clear.' The show was produced in such a way that, according to Moran, its 'format was flexible enough to allow both the presence of ongoing narratives about the principal characters as well as featuring guest characters, narratives and situations arising out of the stories that Assignment was focusing on.'

Unlike The Box, Prime Time was not successful, though Moran emphasises that Channel 9, the network airing the program, 'did much to snatch disaster from the jaws of victory by scheduling Prime Time on Thursday and Friday nights'.

The pilot episode for a crime drama series that was apparently never made: no trace of it exists outside a script held in the National Film and Sound Archive. The NFSA describes it as 'A police and courtroom drama.'

Set in a small, fictional, New South Wales country town called Wandin Valley, A Country Practice focused on the staffs of the town's medical practice and local hospital and on the families of the doctors, nurses, and patients. Many of the episodes also featured guest characters (frequently patients served by the practice) through whom various social and medical problems were explored. Although often considered a soap opera, the series was not built around an open-ended narrative; instead, the two one-hour episodes screened per week formed a self-contained narrative block, though many of the storylines were developed as sub-plots for several episodes before becoming the focus of a particular week's storyline. While the focus was on topical issues such as youth unemployment, suicide, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS, and terminal illness, the program did sometimes explore culturally sensitive issues, including, for example, the Aboriginal community and their place in modern Australian society.

Among the show's principal characters were Dr Terence Elliott, local policeman Sergeant Frank Gilroy, Esme Watson, Shirley Dean Gilroy, Bob Hatfield, Vernon 'Cookie' Locke, and Matron Margaret 'Maggie' Sloan. In addition to its regularly rotating cast of characters, A Country Practice also had a cast of semi-regulars who would make appearances as the storylines permitted. Interestingly, while the series initially targeted the adult and older youth demographic, it became increasingly popular with children over the years.

Spanning the 1890s to the 1950s, Power Without Glory is the story of a man determined to make something of his life. Raised in a Melbourne slum area, John West later gains wealth and power, his influence extending into his business, his political ambitions, and his family life. The events of his life unfold against a backdrop of major historical events, including World War One and the beginnings of the Australian Labour Party.

Episode one of the adaptation of Frank Hardy's novel.

One of Australia's earliest television dramatisations of its gold-rush era, Rush is, as Don Storey points out in his Classic Australian Television, in many ways two entirely separate programs: between series one and series two, the setting shifts from the Victorian goldfields to a New South Wales mining town, and jumps forward from the 1850s to the early 1860s. However, both series take place in the same universe, use the same chronology, and have a clear internal coherence, centred on the continuing character of Sergeant Robert McKellar. Therefore, they are generally treated as two separate series of a single program.

(The differences in cast, crew, writers, and directors between the two series are given in detail in the film details section below.)

With its enormous, intricate, expensive, and accurate sets, costumes, and props, Rush proved extremely popular with viewers, despite series one airing in an awkward weeknight 8pm slot (which, as Storey notes, put it against the second half of the highly successful Homicide in Melbourne). Series one did, however, attract some criticism for being filmed in black-and-white when colour programming was only a matter of months away in Australia.

Series two (which drew on foreign financing to cover its cost, an extremely high--for a domestically produced program--$24,000 an episode) was made in colour. Following Sergeant McKellar (the only character to carry over from series one), series two pushed the character forward through two disillusioning events (the Eureka Stockade, which prompted McKellar's resignation from the Victoria Police, and the death of his wife Sarah) and dropped him into the conflicts of a small New South Wales mining town.

Series two was also extremely popular but, according to Storey, plans for series three were shelved when the new Fraser government instituted (among other things) a hefty budget cut to the ABC.

Series one gained renewed prominence in the 1990s when, like police procedural Bluey, it was re-dubbed and sent up on The Late Show (as The Olden Days).

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

'PETER WATSON: The first "natural victim". Aged 25 with a mental age of about 14. Well-built and good-looking, he has a record for sexual offences against young girls. He is picked up as a suspect by the police, and this experience upsets the balance he has struggled hard to attain. He becomes aware that he is losing his battle against his old urges and tries to warn the police, but he is too inarticulate to make his fears clear to them.

'BARBARA O'BRIEN: The second "natural victim". A schoolgirl of 15 or 16 at odds with the world because of a disturbed home background. She senses the dangerous element in Watson's make-up and is attracted to it - "playing with fire." She even has a subconscious knowledge that one day he may kill her, and some compulsion draws her towards this end.

'BRIAN LANE: Age 29-33. About the same build as Watson. A sexual psychopath, but with a non-descript exterior. He seems the average, suburban family man. Fairly smooth and glib. Car driver.

'MR. O'BRIEN: Age 40-45. Barbara's father. He has a business dealing in second-hand furniture. Interested mainly in beer and his greyhounds. Dislikes his wife, indifferent to his daughter. Curses the day he ever got married.

'MRS. O'BRIEN: Age 40-45, but she has let herself go and looks older. The marriage has turned her into a neurotic and nagging shrew. Pretends to care for Barbara but in reality uses her simply as a bone of contention with her husband.

'DENISE WRIGHT: Age 15-16. Attends school with Barbara. A nice, shy, ordinary kid, perhaps even a little young for her age. She becomes Lane's last victim.

'MRS. WRIGHT: Age 35-40. Denise's mother. She becomes worried when Denise goes missing and later has to take the news that she has been raped. A neat, nice sympathetic woman.

'SHOP ASSISTANT (MISS WEST) Age 23 -30. Average looks. Mousy personality. Mr. O'Brien's mistress.

'LESLEY MITCHELL. Age 14-16. Early victim. She has to try to identify her attacker in a line up.

'PROPRIETOR OF CAFE. Age 22-30. Camp and pleasant to all customers. Sympathetic to Mrs. Wright when she comes to the cafe looking for her missing daughter.

'MARY. Age 15-16. Denise's friend, but cheeky and knowing in constrast to Denise's shyness. One scene only.

'YOUTH. Age 18-20. Chats to cafe proprietor. One scene, ordinary all-Australian type.

'PARKIN. Age 29-33. Would help if he had a fleeting resemblance to Brian Lane, because he is wrongly identified as Lane in a line-up.

'TRUCK DRIVER. Any age. Bass singing voice. A big, friendly man who finds Denise after she has been attacked. One scene, driver.

'ANGRY MOTORIST. Age 25-40. Has a minor collision with Lane's car and gets very worked up about it. One scene. Driver.

'HOSPITAL DOCTOR. Age 23-27. Brief scene with Vickers. Dialogue.

'SCHOOLGIRL VICTIM. Age 14-16. Fails to identify anyone at the line-up. No dialogue.

'TEENAGE GIRL. Seen at a distance taking her dog for a walk in the park. One scene. No dialogue.

'FOUR MEN FOR LINE-UP. No dialogue. One scene.'

An anthology series produced at the ABC studios in Melbourne. Ten episodes aired in 1972.

Nothing is currently known of the plot of this episode.

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

'EDDIE PARRISH: Age 45-50. A former policeman who was sacked from the force. Since then he has used his knowledge of crime and criminals to make himself rich by standing over half the criminals in Melbourne. A big, ruthless, [sic] brute of a man. When he was younger, he had quite a reputation as a footballer and this, plus his wealth, has given him some friends in high places. Banner is determined to crush him. He is equally determined to ruin Banner. Main part.

'DAVE PARRISH Age about 20. Eddie's son but nothing like his father. Eddie is irritated with him for seeming "sissy like" and having no real stomach for the brutality that is an essential feature of Eddie's life and business.

'KAREN CORMACK Age 30. Eddie's girl. Always expensively, if vulgarly dressed. Average intelligence, devoted to Eddie. The greatest worry in her life is that she will grow older, less attractive, and so lose him.

'BURNS Age 40's. Eddie's leading thug. Some dialogue.

'TWO THUGS Any age. Little or no dialogue in two or three scenes.

'ARTHUR JONES Age about 60. Together with Eddie Parrish, he has biggest vote in the play. Arthur is a former Welsh miner, with a lung disease caused by the coal dust. He is an eyewitness of a brute fight between Parrish and Aldo Frascatti, and gives evidence against Parrish in court. Subsequent developments lead to his attempted murder at Parrish's hands. A sympathetic character.

'MADELEINE WREN Age 25-30. Arthur's daughter and his reason for being in Australia. A very attractive woman but with exorbitantly expensive tastes. This aspect of her character causes trouble for her husband John Wren. About 10 scenes.

'JOHN WREN Aged about 30. He is the manager of a car park which is robbed of its takings. Late in the play we discover he was involved in the robbery. A handsome but weak minded man. A main supporting role.

'ALDO FRASCATTI Age 25-30. A crim, of Italian descent but without a strong accent. Rather fly, slick young man who is terrified of Eddie Parrish. Substantial role.

'CARMELO FRASCATTI Age 40-45. Aldo's older brother. Strong accent, more belligerent than Aldo. Smaller part.

'GEORGE MANSELL Age 55-65. Eddie Parrish's solicitor. Professional looking. A little dialogue in the one scene in which he appears.

'TERRY SLATER Any age. Petty criminal who keeps a boarding house. Three or four scenes.

'EMILY GREEN Any age. Working class mother. Appears in one scene only. Has dialogue.

'BILL GREEN Appropriate as Emily's husband. One scene. No dialogue.

'PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER One scene only. Some dialogue.

'POLICEMAN Stands on guard outside supreme court [sic]. One scene only. No dialogue.

'THREE OR FOUR BYSTANDERS Extras in one night scene. (Possibly actual)

'CONSTABLE GRICE As previously cast.

'SUPREME COURT JUDGE Five scenes. Dialogue.

'JUDGE'S ASSOCIATE Five scenes. Dialogue in one.

'PROSECUTING COUNSEL Five scenes. Dialogue.

'6 JURY 6 SPECTATORS Same extras. Doubling as Jury and spectators in five scenes.

'REV. CLAUDE PITT-SMITH 65 or older. A retired clergyman who appears as a witness for the defence in one scene. Oxford accent for his dialogue.

'RAY Constable at Yarra Central police station. A little dialogue.

'PHIL Another constable - extra.

'BARMAN (GEORGE) Age 30-40. Barman at smart hotel and confident [sic] of Eddie Parrish. Medium sized part with substantial areas of dialogue.

'TWO OR THREE DRINKERS Extras, well dressed, in the smart pub.

'INSPECTOR HOGAN Police inspector who investigates allegations of perjury. A hard, tough, inquisitor.'

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

'ARTHUR DEAKIN: Age 40-50. A large, shambling Welshman who has won international fame as a poet. He is a flamboyant character, often drunk, fond of a fistfight whenever he gets the chance. He uses language as a weapon to bluster his way out of tight corners. But all the hammy bluster conceals an insecure personality. He feels himself disintegrating since his wife divorced him. He has even lost the capacity to write. He comes to Melbourne determined to get her back at all costs.

'ELLEN DEAKIN: Age 30-40. An attractive down-to-earth woman. She divorced Arthur because she could see no hope of a reasonable life for herself or her son. But she is still deeply in love with him. So much so that she runs for her life whenever he appears because she knows he can and will talk her round into returning to him. Car driver. Some kind of English accent.

'COLIN CLARK: 30-40. Ellen's current fiancé. Good-looking. He owns an art gallery. Rather pompous with a deep streak of meanness. Car driver.

[Note: The accent in 'fiancé' has been added in black ink.]

'HERBERT MORGAN: 60-70. Petty thief and down-and-out. Arthur befriends him and Herbert repays the friendship with an unswerving loyalty to Arthur. Very sympathetic character.

'JEAN PAISLEY: 22-25. A once attractive girl whose life has been destroyed by mental illness. She breaks into Colin Clark's gallery and slashes several paintings belonging to a valuable international collection.

'GIL SUMMERS: 35-50. Professor of English Literature at a local university. A liberal thinking man who is a little out of his depth in trying to handle Arthur.

'BARMAN: Any age.

'WILSON: / CARTER: Smart-Alec petty crims who refuse Herbert a loan. Both are quite young.

'T.V. INTERVIEWER: 30-40. Interviews Arthur on television.

'FLOOR MANAGER: Has a tussle with Arthur and is very upset when making his complaint at the police station.

'T.V. CAMERAMAN: No dialogue. Resists Arthur's attempt to take over the camera.

'PRESS REPORTER: Interviews Arthur in one scene.

'PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER: Takes photograph.

'WOMEN NEIGHBOUR: Two good film scenes. She protests when she sees Arthur breaking into Ellen's house.

'TWO SCHOOLBOYS: They point out a body to the police. No dialogue.

'EXTRA (FEMALE): Elegant looking, well dressed hotel guest.

'CUSTOMER (MALE) Age 50-60. Prosperous and well-spoken.

'TAXI DRIVER'.