Telemovies & Miniseries

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Barnaby and Me

Year: 1978
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Trans Atlantic Enterprises
Executive Producer: Gene Levitt
Producer: Matthew Herman
Writer: James Heenerson
Director: Norman Panama

International con-man Leo jumps ship in Sydney. Posing as a zoologist he strikes up a relationship with Jennifer, and her koala Barnaby. On a treasure-seeking adventure they stumble upon a mysterious valley where the natives worship the koala and are 'extraordinarily happy'. Leo discovers a money making bonanza, a special native confection which when eaten produces a happy euphoria. He decides to go into business, however their confection has a most unpleasant side effect.

Cast: Sid Caesar, Juliet Mills, Sally Boyden, John Newcombe, Rangi Nichols, Hugh Keays-Byrne

Bit Part

Year: 1978
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Producer: Eric Taylor
Writer: Colin Free
Director: Eric Taylor

Tommy Trainer is an aspiring actor, and has been for most of his life. Struggling to support himself, he plays the club circuits and accepts the bit parts while he waits for the big breakthrough. When his chance finally comes to play opposite one of England's top actors, Tommy's life takes a turn that is more real and dramatic than any script.

Cast: John Meillon, Jennifer Claire, Max Cullen, Wendy Playfair, Noni Hazlehurst

Death Train

Year: 1978
Produced by Gemini Productions
Producer: Robert Bruning
Writer: Luis Bayonas
Director: Igor Auzins

A dead man is discovered at the bottom of a garden. At first it looks as if he has been hit by a train. But no train has run along those tracks in years... unless it is a ghost train!

Cast: Hugh Keays-Byrne, Ingrid Mason, Max Meldrum, Ken Goodlet, Brian Wenzel, Colin Taylor, Aileen Britton, Ron Haddrick, Geraldine Ward, Justine Saunders, Diana Davidson

Harvest Of Hate

Year: 1978
Produced by South Australian Film Corporation
Producer: Matt Carroll, Jane Scott
Writer: Wal Cherry, Gil Brealey
Director: Michael Thornhill

Wealthy, urbane winery owner John Camden sends ruth, a young lawyer, and Peter, a geologist, to appraise a supposedly deserted farm he owns. They find themselves prisoners in a secret arab terrorist training camp. They are the bait in a trap to catch an agent who has infiltrated the camp, and whom Camden feels sure will attempt to rescue the prisoners and reveal his identity once he finds out that Peter is a Jew. (73min)

Cast: Dennis Grosvenor, Robert Helpmann, Kris McQuade, Moske Kedem

The Mismatch

Year: 1978
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Producer: Eric Taylor
Writer: Barry Donnelly
Director: Ken Hannam

The marriage of Marsha and Richard is on the rocks. He is a successful actor, she, a dedicated modern teacher and mother. When they establish new relationships, she with Courtney, the school's Head, and he with his producer's wife, all is not well. Courtney sells out, and the producer's wife has Richard sacked from the series. Richard tries to reestablish his position with his family. This is not without problems but Richard's final heroics earn Marsha's renewed love.

Cast: Jane Harders, Stephen O'Rourke, Michael Aitkens, Margo Lee, John Bluthal, Michael Caulfield, Jennifer Claire, Alfred Bell, Bronwyn Clark, Nerida Clark

The Plumber

Year: 1978
Produced by South Australian Film Corporation
Producer: Matt Carroll
Writer: Peter Weir
Director: Peter Weir

Jill and husband Brian are academics living on campus. Jill works on her thesis at home, when one morning she opens the door to the plumber. She is puzzled. There is nothing wrong with their plumbing. The plumber thinks differently and begins to take their bathroom apart searching for an elusive fault. What follows is five days of hell and mental torment for Jill that will change her life, and the plumber's. She opened her door to a nightmare.

Cast: Judy Morris, Ivar Cants, Robert Coleby, Henri Szeps, Candy Raymond, Yomi Abiodon, Beverly Roberts, Meme Thorne, David Burchell, Bruce Rosen, Pam Sanders

Ripkin

Year: 1978
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Producer: Frank Arnold
Writer: Colin Free
Director: Frank Arnold

An industrial chemist, involved in high security research, suspects his wife of infidelity. But she also has her suspicions. In devious attempts to outwit each other, and gain the upper hand, they discover the shocking and unexpected truth- leading them into a nightmare that changes their lives.

Cast: David Nettheim, Olivia Hamnett, Vince Martin, Belinda Giblin, Keith Lee, John Clayton, Garick Mather

The Rock Pool

Year: 1978
Produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Producer: Eric Taylor
Writer: Colin Free
Director: Chris Thomson

Ernie Jenkins farms in the back country, where he lives in the old family home with his spinster cousin, Toddy. When Ernie's brother, Milton dies, his widow, Myra decides to come to Australia on a 'widow's pilgrimage'. Her arrival significantly disrupts the even rhythm of Ernie's life.

Cast: Ed Devereaux, Lyn James, Bunney Brooke

Roses Bloom Twice

Year: 1978
Produced by Gemini Productions
Producer: Robert Bruning
Writer: Tony Morphett
Director: David Stevens

A widow's attempts to begin life again, the humorous side as well as the poignant.

Cast: Glynis McNicoll, Diane Craig, John Allen, Michael Craig, Jennifer West, Lyndon Harris, Frank Taylor, James Moss, Reg Gilliam, Alister Stuart, Elsa Baring

The Scalp Merchant

Year: 1978
Producer: Roger Mirams
Writer: Ian Coughlan
Director: Howard Rubie

A private investigator is hired by an insurance company to recover a strongbox hidden by a prison escapee in a remote timber town.

Cast: John Waters, Elizabeth Alexander, Margaret Nelson, Ron Haddrick, Ric Hutton

Secret Valley

Year: 1978
Producer: Roger Mirams
Writer: Terry Bourke
Director: Howard Rubie

A group of schoolchildren turn a ghost town into a weekend holiday camp for city children to save an old man from being evicted from his property.

Cast: Michael McGlinchey, Miles Buchanan, Simone Buchanan, Samantha Ashby, Toby Churchill-Brown

Weekend of Shadows

Year: 1978
Produced by South Australian Film Corporation
Writer: Peter Yeldham
Novel: Hugh Atkinson
Director: Tom Jeffrey

Drama set in an Australian town in the 1930's about a hunt for a murder suspect. The hunters are men, mainly brickworkers, from the town. The suspect is an itinerant Polish farmworker. although his pursuers barely know him, they are convinced he is guilty of killing a woman on an isolated farm. As the hunt progresses one of the hunters increasingly identifies with the hunted — he too is different. This story is an exploration of relationships between men and women... and of the hatreds that keep men apart.

Cast: John Waters, Wyn Roberts, Graham Rouse, Melissa Jaffer, Keith Lee, Bill Hunter, Kit Taylor, Barbara West, Les Foxcroft, Graeme Blundell, Bryan Brown