AustLit

Set during World War I, The Lighthorsemen recreates the incidents that led up to the battle for the Middle Eastern city of Beersheba in 1917. The British campaign was stalemated in Palestine when a mere eight hundred cavalrymen rode against thousands of Germans and Turks and captured the desert town, thereby changing the course of history. The story focuses on the heroic deeds of a four-man section of the Australian Lighthorse Regiment and climaxes with the last great wartime cavalry charge. Largely reviled at the time, Wincer's film demonstrates his mastery in shooting equine stories.

Mini-series tracing the history of the Kelly Gang, timed to coincide with the centenary of Ned Kelly's execution.

Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, paraphrases co-author Ian Jones's opinion that 'the mini-series was a perfect narrative vehicle for the Kelly story because it allowed sufficient screen time for the full detail and the general impact of the outbreak to be portrayed. The result on air was an absorbing saga that slowly built in intensity until only Ned Kelly was left to face the hangman'.

Moran also notes that screening the last episode on the exact anniversary of Kelly's hanging one hundred years earlier might have been disadvantageous, since this meant the program ran very late in the ratings season. For whatever reason, the program was not as commercial or critical a success as Pegasus Productions' earlier series, Against the Wind.

In 1798, young Irish girl Mary Mulvane is convicted of stealing by the British court and sentenced to transportation to Australia. During the journey, she falls for fellow convict Jonathan Garrett, and the pair attempt to start a new life in the brutal penal colony.

In 1798, young Irish girl Mary Mulvane is convicted of stealing by the British court and sentenced to transportation to Australia. During the journey, she falls for fellow convict Jonathan Garrett, and the pair attempt to start a new life in the brutal penal colony.

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In the final episode in the series, Ensign Greville uses Mrs Wiltshire's affection for him to gain power in the colony. Jonathan is sentenced to six months' jail for writing a letter to the governor exposing the corruption of the overseers, after he refuses to do as the new 'government' orders. Will is still imprisoned after being turned in for his whiskey making.

The uprising gathers momentum, but the convicts are eventually betrayed. With the British troops too powerful, the uprising fails and retribution begins.

In this opening episode of the television series Against the Wind, Mary Mulvane and her boyfriend Michael are harrassed by British soldiers while out walking. In response to the troops taking over a nearby farm as a supply store, Michael and his mates burn down the house. When the Mulvane family can't pay rent and church tax, the British troops take their cow away as payment. Mary and Michael are discovered as they attempt to retrieve the cow. Michael is shot dead, leaving Mary to stand trial.

'The Assistant Commissioner treats Bluey to a movie ... but it's no comedy. It is news footage, a series of quick shots show a beautiful girl, a left-wing rebel in the new state of Ketua. Shots of James Conder, a mercenary, and adviser to the Government, who captures and interrogates the girl. Shots of her tortured body found an hour later. And now this hired killer, Conder, is here, somewhere in Melbourne!

'It is most probably [sic] Conder is on the run and the last thing Foreign Affairs, Immigration, ASIO, and State authorities want is Conder to be executed in reprisal while he is in Australia.

'Bluey, as usual, gets the dirty job. He has to find Conder and keep him alive long enough to get him out of the country.

'When two further illegal visitors, Henri and Jules, appear hot on the trail of Conder, Bluey realises he is running out of time fast. He calls on his undercover man, Truscott, but even with Truscott's help Bluey cannot prevent Henri and Jules getting the upper hand in the race to Conder.

'Gary, Bluey's assistant, has a far more personal and urgent reason to find this "wild goose" (as mercenaries are known), for Gary's girlfriend, Jo, is missing and it's possible the disappearance is somehow connected with the chase.

'Bluey finds himself fighting a foreign Government, a multi-national and other forces he can't even identify. The odds look just too great - even for Bluey and Department B.'

Source: Synopsis held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection (RMIT).

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

'JAMES CONDER: 30's, English-born, tall, formidable, charismatic. He's been a mercenary for fifteen years and is now the storm-centre of an international outcry over atrocities in a Melanesian civil war. Outwardly, he enjoys the role.

'HENRI: 30's, French colonial, deeply tanned, soldier-like. A lot of charm, but underneath it all, a fairly cold fish.

'JULES: Very much the same mould as Henri. Drives.

'SKATEBOARD KID: About 15, lanky, long-haired, smart as paint and a regular skateboard wiz.

'SOUTH MELBOURNE SGT: A solid, competent policeman.

'NEWSMAN: American, professional, incisive, unemotional.

'ANDREE DELONGES: An attractive 20-year-old French colonial guerilla. We see her only briefly, never hear her speak, but her presence dominates the story.

'TWO DRINKERS: A couple of the local lads who can handle themselves in a fight -- usually.

'POLICE CONSTABLE #1: Young, straight, competent. Clobbered by Conder.

'1ST BARMAN: Normal country barman.

'2ND BARMAN: " " ".

'3RD BARMAN: " " ".

'IDENTIKIT BLOKE: Good-natured, professional.

'FARM BOY: About 10, smart, clean-cut, country kid.

'FARM WOMAN: About 30. His mother. Attractive, believeable as a widow running a farm.

'COUNTRY BAR PATRONS: Three.

'FRENCH COLONIAL TROOPS: Two.

'DIVVY VAN POLICE: Two.

'THE VOICE OF VKC'.

According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian Television Series, Bluey (and its Sydney-based rival, King's Men) 'constituted an attempt to revive the police genre after the cancellations of Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police'.

Don Storey, in his Classic Australian Television, summarises the program as follows:

Bluey is a maverick cop who breaks every stereotype image. He drinks, smokes and eats to excess, and therefore is rather large, but it is his unusual investigative methods that set him apart. He has bent or broken every rule in the book at some stage, to the point where no-one else wants to work with him. But he gets results, and is therefore too valuable to lose, so the powers-that-be banish him to the basement of Russell Street Police Headquarters where he is set up in his own department, a strategem that keeps him out of the way of other cops.

Moran adds that 'Grills, Diedrich and Nicholson turned in solid performances in the series and the different episodes were generally well paced, providing engaging and satisfying entertainment.'

The program sold well overseas, especially in the United Kingdom. But though it rated well domestically, it was not the success that the Seven Network had hoped for, and was cancelled after 39 episodes.

Bluey had an unexpected revival in the early 1990s when selections from the video footage (over-dubbed with a new vocal track) were presented during the second series of the ABC comedy The Late Show as the fictional police procedural Bargearse. (The Late Show had given ABC gold-rush drama Rush the same treatment in series one.)

Set in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell during World War Two, The Sullivans follows the lives of Dave and Grace Sullivan and their children John, Tom, Dave, and Kitty. However, the storylines reach beyond the immediate Sullivan family, allowing viewers to see their extended family, friends, and neighbours also struggle through everyday war-time life.

The series also featured war-action sequences involving various characters. Arguably the most dramatic moment, and the event that effectively became a turning point in the series, was the death of Grace Sullivan in a London air raid. The series finished after a seven-year run, by which point most of the original cast had left the series and the remaining characters had settled into a new life in the post-war era.

'Detective Sergeant Bluey Hills has been transferred in and out of every branch of the Police Force. He is as rough-as-guts, master of every trick in the book and a few that aren't even in there yet. Is it any wonder he is called in when David McIntyre, a second generation policeman, is blasted to death as he turned the key in the ignition of his car.

'It is Bluey's first job since transfers have left him with no alternative but to form his own department - Department B - "B" for BLUEY, hidden away in the basement of Russell Street Police Headquarters.

'Bluey's task is seemingly complicated by his new assistant, Detective Gary Dawson. Gary, in spite of the fact that he is a top graduate of the Police Academy, arrives late for work the first day and, much to Bluey's disgust, quickly displays a fetish to dot every "I" and cross every "T".

'In spite of this handicap, Bluey launches himself headlong into the investigation. He turns up a bikie who was heard threatening the dead McIntyre. He uncovers a possible case of mistaken identity. He clashes with a belligerent club-owner named Petrakis and discovers an associate of Petrakis, Martin Gruman, has something to hide.

'A savage assault on Gruman's girlfriend, Karen Wallace, further compounds the urgency to find the killer before other people die violently.

'Frustrated by Bluey's failure to immediately bring the assassin to justice, McIntyre's father, now retired from the Force, takes matters into his own hands and starts a private investigation. And McIntyre Senior's experience is vast enough to keep him uncomfortably close to Bluey all the way through the inquiry. In fact, it develops into a neck and neck struggle to see who will unmask the killer first - or, if indeed either of them will before the murderer makes good his escape from the country.'

Source: Synopsis held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection (RMIT).

One of the scripts for this episode (the copy modified to reflect a Melbourne setting) held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes:

'TRUSCOTT: Forties, forgettable, a highly talented undercover cop who has become an accepted part of the crim scene. One passion in life. Fishing. DRIVES.

'PETRAKIS: Forties, Greek, a successful businessman who has made his pile out of gaming and girls. No "Mr. Big". A seasoned professional who does what has to be done.

'GEORGE FOWLER: Thirtyish, tough, a thoroughly nasty, personal assistant and standover man for Petrakis. He may have some good points, but we don't get around to seeing them. DRIVES.

'MARTIN GRUMAN: Forties, a prosperous Jewish clothing manufacturer with two weaknesses - gambling and Karen Wallace.

'KAREN WALLACE: Twenties, attractive, an emotional derelict who has been a gambling club hostess for Petrakis and, on occasions, a fringe benefit for his bigger-spending patrons. That's how she met Martin Gruman.

'"MAC" McINTYRE: About 60, a former policeman-mate of Bluey, retired through ill-health, embittered to the point of obsession by the death of his only son and by the precious few comforts a lifetime of honest police work has won him.

'WAYNE HUMPHRIES: Early twenties, a former bikie builders labourer. Trying to go straight, but you'd never know. RIDES A MOTOR CYCLE.

'MR GOLDMAN: Jo's father. In the rag trade. Does not approve of Jo's taste in the choice of gear in her Jeans Boutique. A pleasant straight concerned father. DRIVES.

'TIM: An effeminate helper in Jo's shop.

'ANNIE: Was to have been old Mac's daughter-in-law, which will now never happen. In total sympathy with Mac, and a strength for him.

'MRS. GRUMAN: A traditional Jewish wife. Has possibly known of Gruman's association with Karen Wallace, but only now has it confirmed.

'CONSTABLE DAVID McINTYRE: Pleasant young constable.'

Another Crawford Productions soap opera, The Box was set in a Melbourne television-production studio. According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian Television Series:

The setting for the continuous drama was a television station populated by a series of familiar types. These included Sir Henry Usher, chairman of the company; Max Knight, the harrassed station manager; Tony Wild, the egotistical star of the station's on-air detective series; the inevitable tea lady; Paul Donovan, a harrassed station executive, and many others. Most memorable of all was a wonderful bitch-figure in the person of reporter Vicki Stafford.

Like Number 96, The Box was designed for a late-night timeslot, and so focused on 'adult themes', including adultery and bisexuality.

Moran also suggests that The Box was 'very important to Crawford's in generating a cash flow at a time when they were losing the contracts on their police dramas' and that writers used the character of television police officer Tony Wild as 'an opportunity to settle the books against the egotism of some of the actors in Crawford's police series'.

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

'ALEX WATSFORD: Late 30's. A small man, short-sighted, fairly ineffectual but useless without his glasses. His life has become a safe, regular pattern. He longs to break out, to find adventure. Required for night filming. Must be able to drive.

'CHRIS GREEN: Early 20's. Long-haired, nicely shaped. Not a hippie but easily acceptable as one. Aware of her own sexuality and uses it as a way of life. Required for night filming.

'RICK BRISTOW: Mid-twenties. Tall, well-built, physical. Works any kind of racket for a fast buck. No compassion. Main concern is always himself and what's in it for him. Required for night filming. Must be able to drive and ride a motor-bike.

'SERGEANT DAN FARRADY: Experienced Sergeant in the Vice Squad.

'HARVEY: 40's. Well-dressed victim of a racket using a girl as bait, somewhat nervous about bringing the police in and the possible consequences.

'NEIGHBOUR: Male, married. Any age.

'MRS. WALKER: Early thirties. Pleasant. Reports her husband missing.

'HOWARD WALKER: 36. Corpse.

'MANAGER: Runs a none-too-reputable car yard. Supplies cars for prostitutes on the side. Should be able to turn on death-adder charm and also be demolished effectively.

'JENNY ROBINSON: Prostitute. Young, brazenly attractive.

'PHOTOGRAPHER:

'DESK SERGEANT:

'SENIOR CONSTABLE BILL HARRIS:

'MOBILE CONSTABLE:

'GARAGE MAN:

'WAITRESS - MOTEL (BENALLA):

'WAITRESS - SERVICE STATION (BENALLA): Actual.

'GENERAL MANAGER: Of Boot Factory.

'FIRST LAIR:

'SECOND LAIR:

'SERGEANT (BENALLA):

'BYSTANDERS: Actual.'

Ryan focused on the titular Michael Ryan, a private detective with a stringent code of ethics and a background as a soldier, police officer, and social worker. Ryan's work doesn't focus on divorce and domestic problems, but on serious crimes that, for some reason, the victims are unwilling to take to the police. He is supported by his secretary Julie King (who often becomes involved in fieldwork), cab driver and later assistant Tony Angelini, and police liaison Detective Sergeant Dan Cullen.

According to Don Storey in Classic Australian Television,

'The production standards of Ryan are very high -- good writing, solid acting performances, smooth direction and excellent camera and editing work combined to form a polished and professional product. And Ryan was very successful overseas -- proportional to the number of episodes made, Ryan has probably done better overseas than most other Crawford shows. Yet it was the first Crawford show not to do well locally'.