AustLit

'Charles Ulm and Charles Kingsford Smith were the two of the most important pioneers of Australian aviation. Together they succeeded in a number of record-breaking flights that made them instant celebrities around the world: the first east-to-west crossing of the Pacific and the first trans-Tasman flight. Setting up Australian National Airways (ANA) in late 1928, Ulm’s tenacity and organisational skills made him well-suited to the role of managing director, leaving the public acclaim to Smithy as the face of the airline.

'Charles Ulm reveals Ulm’s valiant attempts to develop the embryonic Australian airline industry and the setbacks experienced with a catastrophic crash on the airline's regular route and the increasing bite of the Great Depression, which forced ANA's bankruptcy in 1933. Desperate to drum up support for a new airline venture, Ulm took a final flight to demonstrate the potential for a regular trans-Pacific passenger service. Tragically, somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii, his plane, Stella Australis, disappeared. No trace of the plane or crew was ever found. His untimely death robbed Australia of a huge talent. While Ulm lacked Smithy's charisma and prowess as an aviator, this fascinating biography reveals him as a visionary and driving force behind the growth of modern global air travel, and as truly deserving of great acclaim in the country’s memory.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Butterfly Island follows the travails of Charlie Wilson and his children, who are determined to retain the tropical beauties and charm of Butterfly Island, but face such difficulties as the competition from nearby resorts, unscrupulous land developers, and shipwrecked boys with mysterious pasts and unwittingly criminal tendencies.

Moran points out in his Guide to Australian TV Series that the program made use of the same locations as its predecessor, Fauna Productions' Barrier Reef, and 'promoted the kind of tourist image of Australia, so much a feature of Fauna's work'. Indeed, he argues,

Butterfly Island was conceived principally in terms of the formula of 'likeness and difference' so much a feature of Fauna Productions in the 1960s and 1970s, with likeness in the form of father, mother, kids, adventures, odd characters, comedy and adventure; and difference in the form of the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays, Australian beaches, outdoor life, sun and sand.

As such, the program relied heavily on location shooting, and was comparatively expensive by Australian standards.

The program employed a local cast, but Moran points to such American actors as Ann B. Davis, Cameron Mitchell, and Susan Strasberg in cameo roles.

Butterfly Island is a small holiday resort - one of the tropical islands of the Great Barrier Reef which fringe the coast of North Queensland. It is owned by Charlie Wilson, who loves the Australian Reef and is determined to preserve its unspoilt beauty. Yet Butterfly is no longer a success - each season the bookings drop and there's no money for improvements. Sally, the eldest of his children, wants to change Butterfly to attract teenagers like herself, but Charlie utterly forbids her schemes.

Soon, however, family conflicts are pushed aside as the Wilsons face a different crisis: their launch, with twelve-year-old Jackie aboard, disappears. When the thief is discovered and brought back to the island, further disasters strike. Yet the thief is Vo Diem, a Vietnamese refugee who is only a teenager himself. In fact, he is innocent of all the other problems which confront the Wilsons. Someone is prepared to go to any lengths to drive them away from Butterfly Island. Ultimately it needs the courage and resource of Vo Diem to save Jackie's life - and the island. (Source: back cover)