AustLit

Taken aboard as deckhand after he saves a grateful family's child from drowning, a fifteen-year-old orphan soon becomes prime suspect when the boat is sabotaged.

A modernised version of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, set in an Australian country town.

According to Screen Australia, 'The greedy councillors of a small country town have reneged on a deal they made with the Fluteman. They are dismayed when all the children vanish overnight, except one ... a young deaf boy'. (Sighted: 15/6/2012)

A young girl, marooned on a seemingly deserted island, comes face to face with a South American refugee, who is desperate to remain hidden.

A sitcom centred on the culture clashes between an immigrant Italian taxi driver and his wife (both determined to preserve the traditions of their homeland) and their children (all distinctly Australian in their outlook).

For a detailed, episode-by-episode synopsis, see Film Details.

Set in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell during World War Two, The Sullivans follows the lives of Dave and Grace Sullivan and their children John, Tom, Dave, and Kitty. However, the storylines reach beyond the immediate Sullivan family, allowing viewers to see their extended family, friends, and neighbours also struggle through everyday war-time life.

The series also featured war-action sequences involving various characters. Arguably the most dramatic moment, and the event that effectively became a turning point in the series, was the death of Grace Sullivan in a London air raid. The series finished after a seven-year run, by which point most of the original cast had left the series and the remaining characters had settled into a new life in the post-war era.

'Bill Parker has convinced his family that they should leave their home in Yeovil and emigrate to a new life in Australia. They know they must spend their first months at a Migrant Hostel in Sydney but the family have no idea exactly what to expect.'

Source: Radio Times, 11 November 1976, p.45.

Final episode of Division 4.

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

'LLOYD HUGHES: 45. A quiet and respectable clerk who confesses he killed a newspaper delivery boy. Medium height. Balding slightly. Able to drive. Married to ...

'ANNIE HUGHES: 35. Not a strong woman. Her face has some of the qualities of a waif-like little girl. Small fine bone structure ... large eyes ... curly hair style. Lightly built.

'COLIN STAFFORD (COWBOY): 11 ... but undersized. He has an appealing and bright boyish face. Newspaper boy. The poor son of a widow. No dialogue.

'MRS. COLLIER: 35. Smart. Attractive. Warm. The personnel officer of a large engineering company. An able woman who knows her job thoroughly.

'JOHN WALMSLEY: 48/50. A heavily built lathe or drilling machine operator. Cheerful type. Shop steward. Outspoken. Able to drive.

'BOB DEAN: 25-ish. Machine operator. A tearaway with a bad driving record. Worried. Rough speech. Untidy. Loutish.

'MR. SADLER: 45/50. Owner of the newsagency. Plump ... active type. Standard speech.

'MRS. STAFFORD: 40-ish. Working class ... thin ... hard yakka type who looks as though she has been through the mill. The widowed mother of the dead boy.

'MAN: Middle 40's. One scene.

'THE CAR DRIVER: 40/50. He sees Mrs. Hughes in Docker Road. No dialogue. Able to drive.

'NEWSPAPER BOY #2: Young. Normal.'

Comedy episode.

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

'ARTHUR KING: 50-ish. Large and plump. Grand appearance. A very wealthy man living solely on his winnings as a professional punter.

'DAISY KING: His beautiful daughter. In the fairytale style. Sweet ... engaging. Long blonde hair. 20-23.

'MR. CHEESELY: 60-65. The Manager of Apex Finance Company. A doddery old gentleman ... small stature ... Concerned face.

'MISS BENEDICT: 55-ish. His spinster girl-Friday. Thin. Bird-like. Given to quoting biblical matters. Tough. Acid.

'TOM: Mid-twenties ... slim ... too pretty. Mod style. Able to drive.

'DICK: Mid twenties ... too pretty, young executive type.

'HARRY: Mid twenties ... sporty type.

'PUBLIC TUT ATTENDANT: Parking Officer. Father Christmas. 55. Small Working class.

'CHARLES: 26-30. The tall and handsome chauffeur to the King family. Able to drive.

'THREE DRIVERS: Optical types'.

Certain Women began as a short series in 1973 and continued on as a serial until 1977. At the centre of the narrative were six women from three generations of a Sydney family. Dolly has two daughters Freda and Jane. Jane has three daughters Marjorie, Helen, and Gillian.

In a short piece announcing the extension of the series after the broadcast of the first six episodes television critic Valda Marshall said the decision to make further episodes 'should also keep the women's libbers happy ... so far as I know, it's the first TV series made here specifically as a starring vehicle for women'.

Source: Marshall, Valda. 'ABC's 'Women' Given Longer Reign'. The Sun-Herald, 25/3/1973, p. 77.

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

'IAN TAYLOR: 35 years. Tall, slim athletic build. A determined handsome face. Well spoken. Good education. Businesslike manner. A senior shipping clerk who steals a vast sum of money belonging to his employer. He has an air of industrious respectability; is supposedly happily married, but is deeply involved with a young female employee. He is completely ruthless and selfish. Able to drive.

'FRAN TAYLOR: 30/33. An attractive woman with poise and dignity. She loves her husband ... trusts him ... and although she has had doubts about his past behaviour ... overlooks it and tries to deny to herself and others his essential weakness. Well spoken ... good carriage and grooming.

'"FRENCHY" RENAUD: 32/35. Detective Sergeant in Sydney N.S.W. Police. A good friend of Banner's .... a real mate able to see eye to eye with him. He assists Banner in Sydney. He knows Sydney ... its characters ... its criminals. It's his town. He was born and raised there. Physically tough ... mentally sharp ... and a happy Australian nature. Not taller than Banner. Able to drive (N.S.W. Licence).

'JIM FLOYD : 27/29. Detective in Sydney, N.S.W. The same physical build as Taylor. (He must wear Taylor's suit) Renaud's offsider. Friendly. Tough. Willing Australian.

'LILY "REID": A dear old darling duck of a twister. Late middle aged. A shrewd faggot who deals in pornography and forgery from her Sydney studio home. She is "awfully far-out English" ... could be the bishop's wife ... is eccentric ... the oldest flower girl in Sydney. Like Elsa Lanchester doing her "thing".

'MR. CLAYBURN: 50/60. Small .... fat ... pompous ... useless and dithering shipping office departmental manager.

'KAREN BAXTER: 26/28. Very attractive female in shipping office. Sexy flirt. Good full figure. Speech good. Intelligent. Good leg appeal. An affinity with Taylor which causes her to be suspect.

'SARAH ROBERTS: 17/19. A young typist in the shipping office. She looks like a sweetly innocent girl not long out of school; not yet fully developed physically. She seems shy ... gauche ... but she possesses the cunning to fool everybody; to conceal the fact she is heavily involved with Taylor. Unscrupulous. Stupid.

'NEIL BRYANT: 19/20. Assistant cashier in shipping office. Not physically large. Quiet ... well spoken. Nervous. He handles the cash; is escorted and robbed and assaulted by Taylor.

'CHIEF PURSER: 45/50. He waits to receive the money on his ship ... the "Madrigal". No dialogue. Hefty appearance.

'KITTY: 25/30. A photographic model with a stunning figure. Able to strip and pose convincingly. She poses for Lily's porno art.

'BERT: 25/35. A stud bull type. Photographic model with a good physique. He poses for Lily's porno art.

'TWO RED DE LUXE TAXI DRIVERS: ... Actual Sydney cabbies. Try for one female to make a change. (Red de luxe is the Sydney tie-in company). No dialogue.

'ALEC PERRY: 40/45. Friend of Detective Sergeant Renaud. Owns small boat. Finds attache case stolen by Taylor. Australian. Cheerful type. Healthy extrovert.

'MRS. FINNEY: 50/60. Owns boarding house where Taylor stays. A rugged individualist ... cheerful ... Australian. Must have been a doll.

'TWO OR THREE ACTUAL UNIFORMED N.S.W. POLICE: ... If available and co-operative. No dialogue.'

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

'PHILLIP REID: 25/27 Well spoken. Middle class. Able to ride motor cycle. Copies method of stealing learned in Italy. 5'7" to 5'10"

'SAMANTHA YOUNG: 22/24 No dialogue. Good young female face. Long fair hair. Should be able to ride pillion passenger in simple scenes.

'MAMA RUFFINI: 45/50 Italian born. English good. Hotel cook. Able to ride motor cycle ... 5'7" to 5'10"

'GIOVANNI (JOHN) RUFFINI: 20/25 Italian born. English good. Hotel cook. Able to ride motor cycle ... 5'7" to 5'10"

'DONALD MORRIS: 20/25 Australian. Boards with Ruffini's. Working class cook. Able to ride motor cycle. 5'7" to 5'10"

'BILL BROWN: (STAN MARSHALL) 20/25 Australian. Working class. 5'7" to 5'10" Able to ride a motor cycle. More dominant than Green.

'JOHN GREEN: (ALEC MASON) 20/25 Australian. Working class. 5' 5'10" [sic] Weaker than Brown.

'EDWARD FINCH: 45/55 Middle class business man. Well spoken.

'MR. KAVANAGH: 40/50 Commerical traveller type.

'LOSER: 30/40 Young executive type. Few lines.

'MR. FINDLAY: Young. Medium height, need not be able to ride. No lines.

'MR. JOHNSON: Young. As for Findlay. No lines.

'MARIO RUSSO: 35/40 Slight Italian accent. Working class.

'MARIA RUSSO: 30/35. Stronger Italian accent.

'MRS HAWKE: 40/50 Tough working class Australian.

'MRS GIBBONS: 55/66 Frail and small. Pensioner type.

'FIONA: Young. Healthy Australian bird type. Does not have to be able to ride bike.

'LOIS: Young. As above.

'MAN READING NEWSPAPER: 40/60. Working man. No lines.

'PEDESTRIAN: 50/65. Working on pensioner type.'

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.

Running for twelve years and a total of 510 episodes, Homicide was a seminal Australian police-procedural program, set in the homicide squad of the Victoria Police. According to Don Storey in his Classic Australian Television, it represented a turning point for Australian television, prompting the development of local productions over the purchase of relatively inexpensive American dramas. Indeed, Storey quotes Hector Crawford as saying that his production company intended three outcomes from Homicide: demonstrating that it was possible to make a high-quality local drama series, counteracting criticism of local performers, and showing that Australian audiences would watch Australian-made dramas.

As Moran notes in his Guide to Australian TV Series, the program adopted a narrative structure focusing on crime, detection, and capture, rather than on character studies of the lead detectives. The early episodes were produced by a small crew (Storey notes that the crew was frequently limited to four people: cameraman, grip, director, and assistant director), requiring some degree of ingenuity to achieve a polished result (including, in some cases, the actors performing their own stunts). However, the program received extensive support from the Victoria Police (who recognised, in its positive portrayal of police officers, a valuable public-relations exercise) and, as its popularity grew, from the public.

The program's cast changed extensively over its twelve years on the air, though it remained focused on a small group of male detectives, with the inclusion of irregular characters such as Policewoman Helen Hopgood (played by Derani Scarr), written on an as-required basis to reflect the involvement of women in the police force. In Moran's words, 'The other star of Homicide was the location film work. These ordinary, everyday familiar urban locations were what gave the series a gritty realism and familiarised audiences with the shock of recognition at seeing themselves and their milieus on air'.