australian television information archive

Number 96

Produced by Cash-Harmon Productions

Executive Producer: Bill Harmon

Aired: March 1972–December 22, 1977

Groundbreaking serial featuring high camp dramatics, sex, sin, nudity, and hilarious comic relief. Set in a block of eight flats in inner suburban Sydney, storylines dealt with the residents of the flats while the ground floor wine bar and delicatessen, and near-by Laundrette provided central meeting places for characters. Early storylines detailed the sex and sin aspects, with crime, rapes, murders and nudity. An early storyline was the dreaded 'knicker snipper', a devious intruder who ransacked the women's bedrooms and cut holes in their panties and bras. Later comedy storylines came to dominate though 1974 saw more crime with the horrific 'panty-hose' strangler killing off four young women residents, and 1975 saw four major stars killed off in the infamous 'bomb-blast' episode: a failed attempt to bolster the sagging ratings. Australia's first full frontal nude scene was added during the later episodes but nevertheless, ratings waned and the series eventually ended, with Dorrie and Don the only original characters still around at the end. - R. Lindsay

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