AustLit

'When their country is invaded by a large hostile force, a group of teenagers fight for their family and homeland. Based on the era-defining novels by John Marsden.'

Source: Screen Australia.

'Sisters of War is a tale of strength, survival and forgiveness. It is inspired by the remarkable true story of two extraordinary Australian women, Lorna Whyte (Sarah Snook), an army nurse and Sister Berenice Twohill (Claire van der Boom), a Catholic nun from New South Wales. Although they were two very different women, their friendship would survive the incredible events of World War II.

'In January 1942, the Japanese war machine thundered across South East Asia. In its path lay a tiny Catholic mission station Vunapope, on the island of New Britain. Here a handful of Australian nurses, led by Matron Kay Parker (Susie Porter) took refuge along with a number of wounded Australian soldiers. Abandoned by their commanding officers, they were left to face the Japanese alone.

'When the Japanese arrived at Vunapope, the nurses and their patients were saved from massacre by the mission's leader, Polish-born Bishop Leo Scharmach (Gerald Lepkowski). This astonishing man bluffed the Japanese into believing that he was a personal friend of Hitler and that the mission was Hitler's property.

'In the dark days that followed, Sister Berenice and Lorna found themselves facing starvation, beatings and torture. Their beliefs were constantly tested, as was their friendship. Sister Berenice idolised Bishop Scharmach: Lorna was convinced he was a collaborator. The tiny mission became a setting for betrayal, heroism and death. And all the normal rules of war were broken.

'After six months, Lorna and Sister Berenice were separated. The Australian nurses were sent to Yokohama as part of a prisoner exchange. But the exchange program collapsed and the nurses found themselves trapped in war-time Japan, freezing and ravaged by disease. At the same time Sister Berenice, Bishop Scharmach and the nuns were taken to a dark, uninhabited jungle valley where they would be safe from air raids.

'Sisters of War is adapted from the wartime diaries and interviews with Lorna Johnston (nee Whyte), Sister Berenice and others who survived. The story of their captivity, their friendship, their will to survive and their extraordinary courage has never been told.'

Source: ABC1 website, http://www.abc.net.au/
Sighted: 09/11/2010

'Follows the events surrounding the disappearance of Margaret Wales-King and her husband Paul King. Seen through the eyes of her five children, highlighting their intense and private feelings of grief and shock as they seek the truth about that fateful evening.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 5/4/2013)

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 story of a father who is suffering from Alzheimer's and his three estranged sons who reluctantly draw together to find institutional care for him. The father wrestles with the demons of the past as buried memories of World War II percolate disturbingly through the mundane reality of his daily care. Woven through this are the stories of the sons as they struggle to come to terms with the roles they have played as brothers, sons and men.'

Source: Screen Australia.

'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)

'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)

'About a group of 20-somethings living in the urban environs of St Kilda. They have yet to make it, but know it's just a matter of time.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 28/11/2013)

Adaptation of Jill Ker Conway's The Road from Coorain, focusing on her childhood at a remote sheep station and her secondary and tertiary education in Sydney.

'Jane Halifax is summoned to investigate a murder in a high security prison. Five suspects and an impenetrable wall of silence. When the director of the Unit disappears, Jane's task is to work out what is holding them together and break the code of silence before it's too late.'

Source: Screen Australia

'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)

'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)

'Keith is the only son of Vin and Marge Shipley. They live above a fish 'n' chips shop in South London and things are tough. Keith's parents are misery gutses and he is convinced that the only way for the family to regain its former happiness is for him to make his parents smile again. Keith embarks on a mission to cheer his parents up. He buys a brilliantly coloured tropical fish from Australia, where the sun shines all the time, the sea is full of fish and coconuts just fall into your hands. When all his efforts to cheer his parents up fail spectacularly, Keith decides he must somehow get his parents to Australia. People couldn't be unhappy in a paradise where fish sparkle like rainbows and it's sunny and warm all the time. Or could they?'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive

In a post-apocalyptic future, a group of children search for the mythical New Eden, reputed to be the last unpolluted place on Earth. But the Doom Troopers and their maniacal leader Dr Kao are also searching for New Eden, and won't let a group of children stand in their way.

Written by American script-writers Barney Cohen and Ken Lipman, Doom Runners was produced by Posie Graeme-Evans's production company, Millennium Pictures: Graeme-Evans acted as both story editor and script editor.

An edgy and off-beat crime series that relies heavily on humour, contemporary music, and a touch of the bizarre, centring on the character of Elvis Maginnis. An ex-cop from the wrong side of the tracks, Maginnis now runs his own dry-cleaning business but still finds himself drawn into the shady side of life.

'Elvis Maginnis is in trouble and it's his family (as usual) who have put him in it. This time, he's suspected of master-minding an armoured van robbery that netted 1.8 million dollars. Why? Because the overalls the bandits wore came from his drycleaning business and because the MO is identical to a previous robbery--one that the police suspect his cousin Declan of committing. That was also a case that Elvis had investigated while a member of the Armed Robbery Squad. Coincidence, or is Elvis just plain unlucky?'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive (http://www.australiantelevision.net/ggbg/series1.html). (Sighted: 7/9/2012)