AustLit

'A cop show without a cop, My Life is Murder is a contemporary mystery series with a complex, charismatic and compelling investigator who can’t help fighting the good fight – whether it’s solving murders or combatting the small frustrations of daily life.'

Source: Screen Australia.

'A character drama set in 1969 in Kings Cross; the time and place Australia came of age and the new generation broke all the rules. It was the Summer of Love. Mick Jagger was in town, Australia was glued to the telecast of the moon landing and American sailors clashed on the street with anti-Vietnam war protesters. We follow Joan Millar, 28, a maverick midwife returning to Australia and five young pregnant women, whose choices for their babies and own lives exemplify the radical changes at the heart of the cultural and sexual revolution. Their lives intersect between a maternity hospital, a home for unwed mothers and the wild streets of Darlinghurst.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 13/2/2014)

'Dr Lucien Blake, a keeper of secrets, a solver of mysteries, returns home to 1959 Ballarat after a 30-year absence to take over his deceased father's medical practice, and starts solving crimes.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 19/4/2013)

'[This] series centres on four young families with one thing in common: the men are in charge of raising the kids.

'It's the beginning of a new school year and recently retired Lewis (Gary Sweet) finds himself in the unfamiliar role of stay-at-home dad to Tilda, his daughter with nurse Gemma (Julia Morris).

'Gemma works at the hospital with her best friend Abi (Natalie Saleeba) whose husband Mark (Rhys Muldoon) is juggling a return to part-time work and looking after five-year-old Poppy.

'Mark's brother-in-law Kane (Gyton Grantley) is in a relationship with Tom (Tim Campbell), raising Tom's orphaned niece Stella.

'When dropping their daughters off on the first day of school, the three men meet Justin (Firass Dirani), a former AFL star who, thanks to his bad boy ways, has seen his career and family walk out the door. He is now facing the fight of his life to win custody of his twin boys Zac and Jacob and eight-month-old daughter Angie.

'Finding themselves severely outnumbered by all the mothers at the school drop-off zone, the four men band together and help each other along as they face the challenges of raising a young family.'

Source: Channel Nine website (http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8469113) (Sighted: 17/10/2012)

When three homeless children discover that the country biggest television personality is actually a robot, they realise they can turn this to their advantage, promising to keep his secret in return for moving in with him and posing as his children.

'The territory of Cops: L.A.C. covers the inner city, the harbourside and the eastern beaches of Sydney, from lowlifes to high society and everything in between. Their brief is to fight and control crime on their turf. From shoplifting to murder, small-time drug deals to major organised crime, these cops see it all every day.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 19/4/2013)

'Michaelis is 10 and from Kalymnos. He wants to be Australian not Greek but even more he wants a television so he can watch Robin Hood and be accepted into the gang at the milkbar. It's 1958.' (Australian Television Information Archive website)

This British/Australian co-production comedy/adventure series spins off the character of the robotic dog K9 from the British television series Doctor Who. Because the programme is not a BBC production, it cannot make direct references to Doctor Who. Similarly, K9 was radically redesigned for this show, because although Bob Baker (creator of K9 and co-creator of the original character) owns the character rights to K9, the BBC owns the rights to the original character design.

The concept for K9 was developed by Australian writers Shane Krause and Shayne Armstrong, who also serve as primary writers for the programme. Other Australian writers involved in the show include Queensland-based writer Jim Noble and comedian Ian McFadyen.

The programme is filmed and produced in Brisbane, Australia, but set in near-future London.

'My Place, the much loved Australian children's classic, tells the story of the children who live in one place over 130 years. In Volume One, meet Laura who's struggling to own up to her actions. It's 2008 and the Prime Minister is trying to do the same with her mob. Mohammed is into cricket, when he can't join the boys' team he ends up on the girls' side and they're a force to be reckoned with. ' (Source: TROVE)

'Set in the scenic Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, THE FALLS mixes warm and idiosyncratic characters into a complex, plot-driven mystery. Seduced by the smell of eucalyptus, and against her ex-husband’s advice, Joni Ferguson buys an almost-derelict bed and breakfast and moves there with her 15-year-old son Mitch. The murder mystery that unfolds a year after their arrival becomes a surprising catalyst for new understanding between mother and son.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 19/4/2013)

In the not-so-distant future, Australia suffers permanent drought. Potable water is a sought-after contraband item and the fire department has risen to control every other branch of the emergency services, even the police. But in a world in which water is so scarce, what happens when a firestorm threatens metropolitan Sydney?

'The Strip is the hub of the Gold Coast. Its allure attracts those who have it, those who want it, and the criminals who will take it if they can. Keeping an eye over the Strip is the elite Paradise CIB, headed by Inspector Nelson Steele. Detective Tully, a local, is partnered with Detective Cross, a tough cop from the south, trying to patch up a broken marriage with DPP Prosecutor Marcia Cross. They are supported by plain clothes Constable Mackay, a forensics investigator who moved across to the CIB unit, and fast talking rookie, Moretti. Everyone wants a piece of Paradise. Especially the crooks.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 13/6/2013)

Based upon the novels by Western Australian author Tim Winton, the series revolves around 12-year-old Lockie Leonard, a surf rat whose family moves to the most remote town on Earth, Angelus. Lockie's convinced that this is a total disaster. He has no friends, a new school, and a house that is truly in danger of disappearing into a swamp. But then Lockie spots the one thing that makes it all okay. This weird little town has the best surf he has ever seen.

'A young woman's body is discovered in a national park. For Detective Jack Kempson's offsider Sam, details of the crime mirror the disappearance of her friend Hannah, who vanished without trace some years ago. In Kempson's pursuit of the truth Sam is forced to face the sordid secrets of her past.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 19/4/2013)

'Two sisters, raped years ago, have kidnapped the man they believe to be responsible. Taking the law into their own hands, they present Jack with a dilemma: will he choose truth - or justice?'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 19/4/2013)

The Cooks, a 13-part series made for Network Ten, centres on the relationships between the staff of rival restaurants. The series first went into production in October 2003 after the screening of the telemovie Temptation, on which it is based, in August. Episode one was screened on Network Ten 18 October 2004. Only one season of the series was produced, the final episode was screened 2 July 2005. The series was also screened in Canada.

'The Cooks begins with the return of Gabe Francobelli (Toby Schmitz) a young hot-shot chef who comes back to Sydney's inner-west after a year away working in the top kitchens of Europe. Gabe is shocked to find his family restaurant has closed down, having lost the battle to rival restaurant "R & R" run by Rita (Rhondda Findleton) and Gabe's former classmate and lover Ruth (Kate Atkinson). With help from two of his best mates Sachin (Nicholas Brown) and Dishpig (Leon Ford), Gabe reinvents his family restaurant renaming it "Snatch and Grab" and throws down the gauntlet to the girls. The battle of the restaurants begins: Classmate vs Classmate. Lover vs Lover. Boys vs Girls.'

Source: Network Ten publicity, October 16, 2003 (Sighted 27/01/12)

'The detectives of the Kingsway Major Crime Squad fight to preserve their Pacific Paradise. Crime knows no boundaries—from the Miami-like streets of Sylvania Waters, all dark glass and pontoons, to the towering cranes on the Container Wharves of Botany Bay, bordered by the white beaches and blue water between Monterey and Hungry Point. This is our world. It's tough. It's beautiful. Dangerous. A contradiction.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 12/6/2013)

'In one day successful city lawyer, Laura Gibson's world falls apart. Suddenly she realises she no longer knows her husband, her children, or where her all-consuming career is going. On a whim, Laura grabs at a position as magistrate in the small coastal town of Pearl Bay and with two bewildered kids in tow sets off to change their lives forever.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 18/9/2012)

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.