AustLit

'It’s 1947 and in the remote South Australian town, Honiton, a skeleton is discovered encrusted in salt in the middle of the dry, Lake Beauty, that borders the town. Newly arrived sergeant, Sam, and his wife, ex-policewoman, Annie, have to battle local prejudices, post war domestic tensions, pressure from senior police and a lake that occasionally fills and then dries to a thick salt crust, to solve the mystery.

'Lake Beauty reveals a world that no longer exists – one where rural societies were independent and in self-sustaining. Where people shared phone lines, printed their own newspapers, baked their own bread, made their own furniture and where the GP and the local hospital were the only source of medical treatment and expertise. It was also a world in which damaged men returned from war to find their community had changed while they were away and their old attitudes challenged.' (Publication summary)

'Funny, fast and furry - the WOODLIES are kobolds (small troll-like creatures) that are nuttier than a squirrel's lunch, on a mission to protect their forest from Uglies (the Woodlies call all humans Uglies) and get their paws on the greatest stash of food they can find!

'Big job when you're not much bigger than a squirrel ...

'Fearless FIREHEAD, gentle SEVENPOINTS and Curious NINEEYES are a mischievous crew with two rules. Rule number one? Never be seen by Uglies. Rule number 2? Never be seen by Uglies while stealing their food or sabotaging their weird Ugly plans.

'But when streetwise MIA and her nature-loving dad WELLIE take over a run-down campsite nearby, they bring with them disasters in the form of clumsy campers, greedy developers and a mean cat with a real taste for Woodlies!

'Think that's bad? A gang of renegade Woodlies known as the SWAMP RATS, led by WHITETAIL and his obnoxious cronies - FOULTOE and GNARLYBUTT, are determined to take over the forest and all the food in it. And they're not about to let a bunch of do-gooder Tree Saps get in their way ...

'As if that's not enough, nature itself serves up a menu of freezing blizzards, searing droughts and loads of creatures ready to make the Woodlies their next main course!

'So when NineEyes breaks the number one rule and becomes friends with Mia, it seems like things couldn't get any worse. Is this the end for the Woodlies?

'One thing's for sure... life's about to get a whole lot more interesting!'

Source: Flying Bark Productions (http://www.flyingbark.com.au/?portfolio=the-woodlies). Sighted: 12/4/2012

Silversun follows the journey of the titular spacecraft, two years into a ninety-year journey to a distant, Earth-like planet, intended for colonisation. The colonists are in cryogenic status, and the ship's crew is largely teenagers, who will take over the primary roles as the adult crew ages.

The program's focus was a combination of the coming-of-age/interpersonal relationship storylines typical of a teenage show and the type of ethical dilemmas common to science-fiction story-telling. Among the latter were such issues as whether or not a crew member's clone was human, and what effect long-distance interstellar travel would have on the human mind and emotions.

Season two of the program ended on a cliffhanger, and no plans have been made to revive the program.

'Enter the world of Medical Defence Australia, a medico-legal organisation that exists to defend doctors and where necessary compensate patients. All cases at MDA combine elements of law and medicine so each case is managed by a doctor and a lawyer who agree on how to proceed. It's a unique organisation that delves into morally complex and emotion filled relationships between doctors and patients.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive (http://www.australiantelevision.net/mda/mda.html). (Sighted: 22/2/2013)

When a young boy's mother moves to a remote island of the coast of Australia for work, he struggles with the notion of leaving behind his friends and girlfriend. But, surrounded by the ocean, he learns that he is connected with a long line of selkies--ancient Scottish creatures with power to turn themselves into seals.

"SBS TV series that tells the story of three orphans, Danny, Frances and Paulie, who together are on a quest for happiness."

Source: South Australia Made Showcase.

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.'

'Two kids contrive to bring love to an unlikely older couple.'

Source: Screen Australia.

In the 1920s, Shawn Hofner is growing to manhood, while battling to survive and save his family from poverty. In order to help bring in money, he leaves the family farm to take a job working on the steamboat The Lazy Jane.

A doctor treats an Indigenous Australian patient who admits to having defied a tribal taboo and visited a sacred cave. After the encounter, the doctor begins to experience strange dreams, and finds herself drawn into a 200-year-old mystery.

Children's television program focusing on thirteen-year-old Sammy, who runs away from his grandparents (and guardians) to live with his father Oscar, a stuntman. Pursued by a 'bumbling' private detective hired by Sammy's grandparents, the two disguise themselves and go on the run, while also rescuing friends and bringing criminals to justice.

According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, 'The series cost $1.2 million and the ten episodes were shot over a three-month period'.

'Jessica, a beautiful young woman alone on an isolated outback farm, becomes the unwilling participant in a series of dangerous games with three shooters.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 7/8/2013)