AustLit

A Canadian-Australian co-production.

'Amid the excitement and thrill of the horse world growing up seems harder than ever … Stevie, Carole and Lisa are strong, dynamic young women. Each has very distinct and personal dreams for the future. All have one thing in common - a passion for horses. In forming the Saddle Club the girls promise to remain loyal to each other no matter what, but that promise may not prove to be as easy to keep as they think.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 20/8/2013)

Frequently described as an 'Australian western', Five Mile Creek was based on Louis L'Amour's 1982 novel The Cherokee Trail, with the action moved wholesale to Australia.

A co-production between the Seven Network and the Disney Channel, the program, according to Moran in his Guide to Australian TV Series, 'revolved around two women, Kate Wallace and the American Maggie Scott, who ran a stage way station at Five Mile Creek in New South Wales.' Moran also notes that it 'was the most expensive series ever filmed in Australia up to that time, costing Disney $12 million for the first two series, although this was still thought to be about half of what it would have cost in Hollywood.'

The series did poorly on Australian television but extremely well on the Disney Channel in the United States. According to Moran,

Five Mile Creek was a kind of stunning confirmation that Lew Grade was right all those years earlier in thinking that the Australian outback could be adapted to the genre demands of the western. Indeed in Five Mile Creek the reciprocal parallels and symmetries between America and Australia are pushed in a deliberate and warmly calculating way. The Australian bush is, as it were, transfigured so that it seems intrisically like part of the Old West.

In contrast to this Australian/American fusion that Moran notes in the program's sensibility, he also notes that it had the Disney Channel's 'cultural/commercial values written all over it.'

Another Grundy soap opera, Possession was, like the ill-fated Taurus Rising, designed to challenge the American soaps Dynasty and Dallas, in that it was (to use Moran's description from his Guide to Australian TV series) 'nicely set to gravitate betweem motifs of material wealth and unbalanced, emotionally wrought behaviour'.

Like Taurus Rising, the program was unsuccessful, and was pulled from its 7:30pm slot early in its run, to run out the rest of its episodes in a late-night slot. Moran notes that the program was 'one of a long series of misses' for Channel Nine, as they struggled to find a replacement for The Sullivans and The Young Doctors.

Moran also notes, 'For industry watchers--the serial was producer Eric Taylor's first dip in the waters of commercial television after many years' flotation in ABC TV Drama'.

Based on the novel by Nancy Cato, All the Rivers Run begins in 1892 with young Englishwoman Philadelphia 'Delie' Gordon struggling to the Australian shore after being shipwrecked. Except for crusty old sailor Tom Critchley, the shipwreck kills all the other people on the ship, including Delie's family. Delie is subsequently taken in by her kindly Uncle Charles and termagant Aunt Hester, whose small farm is situated beside the Murray River, near the inland port of Echuca. The narrative follows Delie for the next decade or so of her life. She suffers through the difficulties of adolescent love and rebels against conformity, and eventually marries, has children, and pursues a career on the river. Delie later attains commercial and critical success as a painter and earns her Master's Certificate, becoming the first female riverboat captain on the Murray River.

Set in a small, fictional, New South Wales country town called Wandin Valley, A Country Practice focused on the staffs of the town's medical practice and local hospital and on the families of the doctors, nurses, and patients. Many of the episodes also featured guest characters (frequently patients served by the practice) through whom various social and medical problems were explored. Although often considered a soap opera, the series was not built around an open-ended narrative; instead, the two one-hour episodes screened per week formed a self-contained narrative block, though many of the storylines were developed as sub-plots for several episodes before becoming the focus of a particular week's storyline. While the focus was on topical issues such as youth unemployment, suicide, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS, and terminal illness, the program did sometimes explore culturally sensitive issues, including, for example, the Aboriginal community and their place in modern Australian society.

Among the show's principal characters were Dr Terence Elliott, local policeman Sergeant Frank Gilroy, Esme Watson, Shirley Dean Gilroy, Bob Hatfield, Vernon 'Cookie' Locke, and Matron Margaret 'Maggie' Sloan. In addition to its regularly rotating cast of characters, A Country Practice also had a cast of semi-regulars who would make appearances as the storylines permitted. Interestingly, while the series initially targeted the adult and older youth demographic, it became increasingly popular with children over the years.

'When Detective Sergeant Ralph Blakely returns to Russell Street, he finds the red carpet is laid out by everyone except his old adversary, Bluey Hills. Monica and Gary are not alone in believing Bluey's condemnation of the man totally unfounded and bordering on petty, professional jealousy. Bluey finds himself without support in his vendetta against Blakely.

'Blakely is assigned to the Vice Squad at his own request and starts an incredible clean-up campaign on the massage parlours until Bluey interferes - preventing an arrest and getting into serious trouble with the Assistant Commissioner.

'In order to win Bluey's respect, Blakely helps Department B catch an escapee. Bluey returns the favour by transferring Gary to Blakely's department as it seems that Gary is much more interested in the Vice Squad's activities than those of Department B.

'Bluey continues his investigations into Blakely and discovers there is an organization which has Blakely in a stranglehold. In his attempts to foil the organization's plans, Bluey's own life is at risk.'

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):

'DETECTIVE SERGEANT RALPH WINSTON BLAKELY: 35 years old. Handsome, charming. Should have been a film star, not a policeman. But he can turn this charm on and off like a tap. If you looked a little deeper behind this facade, you would find the sparkling overbright personality of a junkie. He should be a love/hate personality with us feeling genuinely sorry for him in the end. Must drive.

'JAMES R. RANKIN: 45 years old. Looks a respectable businessman, perhaps a little hard but that's business. He is a user of people and will go to any length to achieve the power he wants.

'ALICE COLLINS: 40. A friendly "Madam", been through the mill but it hasn't hardened her heart. She likes Bluey a lot and realises that police have their job to do.

'LESLEY ARNOLD GREEN: 30. An escaped convict, perhaps ten cents short in the dollar. A born loser.

'SANDY, JENNY, PAMELA: Young, sexy, massage parlour girls.

'TRUCKIE: Typical rough diamond.

'ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER'S DRIVER: Stiff upper lip type.

'THREE POLICEMAN EXTRAS:'.

'Bluey, the man who usually has to dig through both his pockets to find enough to buy his round of drinks, is suddenly head-longed into an investigation where the unsuspecting have been ripped-off to the tune of two million dollars and a value of $250,000 is placed upon the life of a kidnapped young girl.

'Eric Holloway, a developer whose deceit won him the rip-off of millions - but very few friends amongst investors - has served his time and is released from prison. On the day of the release Holloway's 19-year-old daughter, Karen, is snatched before the terrified eyes of her parents. A demand of $250,000 is made for her safe return.

'At first sight, it is an obvious case of revenge in an effort to secure retribution. Ron Nelson is one of several who lost about that amount in the Holloway swindle. He has good and valid reasons to square the account.

'It becomes evident to the criminals who are holding Karen that she is a far more valuable property than their remuneration promised for the job would suggest. They decide to move into the stand-over business on their own behalf. But they lack the nous of the master-mind who originally planned the snatch.

'Things quickly get out of control and end in a disastrous show-down.'

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

The script for this episode held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes:

'ERIC HOLLOWAY: 50 years old. Business man, land developer, a smooth type. He plays the concerns father with seeming genuineness, but the man of steel emerges when required. Must drive.

'MARGARET HOLLOWAY: 48 years old. Well born, went to the best schools, has slightly more class than her husband, who probably married her for her money. She is aware of this, and of his philanderings, but she still loves him and would do anything to keep him, except give him more money. She has strength of character and knows how to handle hired hands and this is exactly what the police represent to her.

'ALAN BREWSTER: 40 years old. A soft man, but he manages to hide this behind a brusque front until he thinks Karen has been murdered. Then he is lost. Must drive.

'KAREN HOLLOWAY: 19 years old. A soft, pretty girl but with a brain. She can play things coolly if she thinks she has a chance of achieving a positive result.

'SAM CARRUTHERS: 35 years old. An Englishman. A smooth type, would never think of himself as a common criminal. It's just an easy way to make money. Very cool, always controlled. Must drive.

'FRANK REYNOLDS: 35 years old. An Englishman. Similar type to Carruthers, but quieter. He's quite happy to let Carruthers do the talking. Very cool, always controlled.

'SUSIE BILLINGS: Late 30's. An attractive woman, good at business but has the same hidden softness as her brother, Alan Brewster.

'DINGO FERRIS: 30's. A hardened criminal, can commit murder when required, but only for money. Rides a motorbike.

'REGGIE BISHOP: 40's. An overworked businessman.

'TAXI DRIVER: 40's Typical loud mouth.'

'MAN: )

'WOMAN: ) Both elderly.'

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.)

A spin-off from Crawford Productions' Matlock Police, Solo One transferred motorcycle officer Gary Hogan from the fictional town of Matlock to the real town of Emerald in the Dandenong Ranges, where the program was filmed on location.

The program, an attempt to capitalise on Gary Hogan's popularity with child viewers of Matlock Police and less adult in focus than its predecessor, wasn't renewed for a second season, after Cronin moved on to Crawford's war-time drama, The Sullivans. Don Storey, in his Classic Australian Television, notes that the program 'was very successful and received much critical acclaim', but Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, counters that 'Cronin, though lovable both to Crawford's and the Victorian Police, who were advisors on the series, was far too long in the tooth to be playing this kind of role'.

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

'BILL BENSON 70 Years old [sic]. Known locally as "Strike Me Die" Benson, also known for his penchant for malapropisms. An old royalist and member of the ninth division in the first world war [sic]. He tries to appear stern and ornery most of the time but this is just a cover for a lonely old man. He loves his dog "Sergeant" but tries not to allow this to show, he treats him like a soldier of the lower rank.

'HARRY RILEY 45 years old. From Melbourne. A mean, weasly, sour-faced looking individual. Flashily dressed, he thinks all country people are hicks. Only one thing in life is important and that's Harry Riley.

'VERA RILEY 40 years old. From Melbourne. A plain looking woman, would probably still be single except that she decided that Harry was better than having no husband at all. She is completely dominated by him.

[...]

'SERGEANT Benson's dog. A large animal, slightly scruffy looking. Probably an Alsation cross breed.'

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

'SERGEANT JOAN PALMER: 35. A woman detective assigned to Yarra Central to investigate missing females.

'RALPH MORRIS: 45. A respected Yarra Central Councillor. Also the masked rapist.

'ROSS FARREL: 35. When his wife disappears he is suspected by Police of murdering her.

'JENNIFER FARREL: 30. 1st victim. She is abducted by the rapist and left to die in a storm water sewerage drain.

'KATHY BISHOP: 25. Ross Farrel's secretary. She and Ross had an affair in the past.

'CINDY MORRIS: 20. Ralph's daughter. A go go dancer.

'SUE CHAPMAN: 25. 2nd Victim. She is rescued by Police before the rapist can abduct her.

'CLAUDE: 60. A derelict. Works part time for the council sweeping streets. At one stage is suspected of being the masked rapist.

'MRS GRAY: 50. Jennifer Farrel's mother. She tells the Detectives of Ross's affair with his secretary.

'MRS TAYLOR: 60. Witnesses 2nd attack. Feels helpless.'

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

'MICK CONDON: 35 years old. Tall, dark, handsome, reckless Aerial Agriculturist. Matlock's most eligible bachelor. A local hero, he wins the Matlock Aero Club Cup every year. He is constantly at war with the Department of Transport, D.O.T., calls them the Department of Trouble. He always avoids prosecution for breaking flying rules, because all the witnesses were "IN THE TOILET" at the time. He is used to having his way at all times. A winner. Life is one continual competition and game to him.

'BOB TEMPLE: 35 years old. Nicknamed "SHIRL" because of his name and his blonde curly hair. A little bloke, he is Mick's best friend, partner and mechanic. He is the real worker of their Aerial Spraying Business. He follows Mick around like a little puppy, checking all is well and rolling out the red carpet when necessary. Mick "PROTECTS" Shirl like a brother and woe betide anyone who picks on his little mate.

'MONICA PEARSON: 30 years old. A tall, beautiful girl, her beauty is a great foil to Mick's good looks and he is well aware of the fact. She is his girlfriend and lover but refuses to marry him until he reforms some of his reckless ways.

'KEITH FORBES: 45 years old. A dairy farmer. He has a dry sense of humour, likes Mick Condon, and is "IN THE TOILET" when required.

'HARRY: Thirties. Loves a beer, a fight and a bird, in that order.

'SCONER: Thirties. Loves a beer, a fight and a bird, in that order also.

'BARNEY: Thirties. Loves a beer, a fight and a bird, in that order. These three went to school together, now work together. A team. Great minds think alike. No one could break up their mateship.

'PETER NELSON: Ten/Twelve years old. A lonely child and because of this he is an expert at making up games.

'MRS. NELSON: Thirties. A worried mother. Concerned for her child's welfare.

'FARMER#1: Forties. Dry. Always been on the right side of the law but is an expert at avoiding questions.

'FARMER#2: Forties. Similar type, but perhaps less of an expert at lying.

'TWO AMBULANCE ASSISTANTS:

'MILK TRUCK DRIVER:

'PILOTS: Actuals from the Police Aero Club and the Lilydale Aero Club.'

The Matlock Police series (originally simply titled Matlock) was commissioned from Crawford Productions by ATV-0, in response to the popularity of rival-network police dramas such as Homicide and Division 4. Crawford's was initially reluctant to create another police series, but ATV-0 pressured the company for some time. Eventually, Ian Jones and Terry Stapleton devised the concept of a regional (Victorian) police series to provide viewers with something different. The more relaxed atmosphere of the country-town setting also allowed the writers to delve into the private lives of the main characters, rather than focusing heavily on big-city organised crime. In this respect, the series was situated somewhere between Homicide/Division 4 and Bellbird. The series did, however, cover typical rural policing, including such issues as break and enters, domestic issues, itinerant workers, brawls, petty crime and robberies, road accidents, the occasional homicide, and cattle rustling. On other occasions, the Matlock police also assisted Melbourne police in locating criminals on the run (among other problems). The idea behind the show was to reflect the causes of crime in a small community and show the effects on both the community and the officers themselves.

The fictional town of Matlock (loosely based on Shepparton in Victoria) is situated inland on the Central Highway, approximately 160 kilometres north of Melbourne. Although the town's population is only seventeen thousand, this increases to around seventy-five thousand when the district is included. The Matlock Police Station is typical of a Victorian country town, with a Uniform Branch and a Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). The CIB is headed by Detective Sergeant Vic Maddern, who grew up in the Matlock district and is an accomplished bushman. Second in command is Detective Allan Curtis, aged in his mid-twenties. Previously from Melbourne, Curtis has just been sent to his first country posting (against his will) when the series begins. Head of the Uniform Branch is Sergeant Bert Kennedy, an Englishman who migrated to Australia in 1950. A thorough but also easy-going man with a good sense of humour, Kennedy is married to Nell and enjoys the country life in Matlock, so much so that he has knocked back promotion to avoid moving to Melbourne. Several constables are attached to the Uniform Branch, but the most prominent is a motorcycle cop, Constable Gary Hogan, who performs a wide variety of duties. Hogan is about thirty, a friendly, easy-going person who grew up in the country and is always willing to help in whatever work is going.

Division 4, which Don Storey notes in Classic Australian Television was 'the only drama series on Australian television to rival the popularity of Homicide', was created as a vehicle for Gerard Kennedy, who had risen to popularity playing the complicated enemy agent Kragg in spy-show Hunter, after Tony Ward's departure left Hunter's future in doubt.

According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian Television Series:

The series differed from Homicide in being more oriented to the situation and milieu of a suburban police station staffed by a mixture of plainclothes detectives and uniformed policemen. This kind of situation allowed Division 4 to concentrate on a range of crimes, from major ones such as murder to minor ones such as larceny.

Though set in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Yarra Central, 'Sets were constructed that were replicas of the actual St Kilda police station charge counter and CIB room, with an attention to detail that extended to having the same picture hanging on the wall', according to Storey.

Division 4 ended in 1976. Storey adds:

Division 4's axing was a dark day for Australian television, as within months the other two Crawford cop shows on rival networks, Matlock Police and Homicide, were also axed. It was widely believed, and still is, that the cancellation of the three programs was an attempt by the three commercial networks--acting in collusion--to wipe out Crawford Productions, and consequently cripple the local production industry.