australian television information archive

Bastard Boys

Australia: May 13 and 14, 2007 (ABC)
Produced by ABC, Flying Cabbage Productions Pty Ltd
Executive Producer: Scott Meek
Producers: Ray Quint and Brett Popplewell
Director: Ray Quint
Writer: Sue Smith

On April 7th 1998, at 11.30pm under the cover of darkness and in total secrecy, security men wearing balaclavas, carrying batons and leading dogs, invaded the docks of every port in Australia and forcibly ejected the entire unionised workforce. The subsequent stand off between the head of Patrick Stevedores Chris Corrigan and the wharfies, lawyers and unionists who oppose him will divide the nation.

Starring: Jack Thompson, Colin Friels, Justine Clarke, Rhys Muldoon, Lucy Bell, Geoff Morrell, Daniel Frederiksen, Dan Wyllie, Anthony Hayes, Justin Smith, Helen Thomson

Available on DVD from Chaos.com

Call Me Mum

Australia: May 06, 2007 (SBS)
Produced by Big and Little Films
Producer: Michael McMahon
Writer: Kathleen Mary Fallon
Director: Margot Nash

Kate, a white Australian foster mother, is on a plane taking Warren, her 18 year-old Torres Strait Islander foster son, to meet Flo, his birth mother, who is gravely ill in a Brisbane hospital. Flo hasn't seen Warren since she took him to the hospital on Thursday Island when he was a toddler and the white authorities took him away. But as Warren, Flo and Kate all prepare themselves for the reunion, Kate's parents, Dellmay and Keith, are planning a different kind of reunion.

Starring: Catherine McClements as Kate, Vicki Saylor as Flo, Dayne Christian as Warren, Lynette Curran, Ross Thompson

Curtin

Australia: April 22, 2007 (ABC)
Produced by Apollo Films
Producers: Andrew Wiseman and Richard Keddie
Director: Jessica Hobbs
Screenplay: Alison Nisselle

Recounts the dramatic stand-off between Australian prime minister John Curtin and his British counterpart Winston Churchill to have Australian troops returned from Burma to protect Australia after the Japanese attacks on Darwin during World War II. It quickly becomes a monumental battle of wills with Curtin fighting both Churchill and members of his own government. Curtin's health deteriorates rapidly as he desperately seeks support. This is a raw and intimate story of a driven and inspirational leader - a man who struggles to battle his own personal demons while serving and protecting a country at war.

Starring: William McInnes as John Curtin, Noni Hazlehurst as Elsie Curtin, Geoff Morrell as Ben Chifley, Bille Brown as Robert Menzies, Dan Wyllie as Don Rodgers, William Zappa as Gen. Vernon Sturdee, Frank Gallacher as Jack Beasley, Asher Keddie as Elsie Jnr, Brian Meegan as Frederick Shedden

East West 101

Australia: Dec 2007 - Jan 2008 (SBS)
Produced by Knapman Wyld Television
Producers: Steve Knapman and Kris Wyld
Director: Peter Andrikidis
Writers: Kristen Dunphy, Kris Wyld, Michael Miller, Kris Mrksa, Michelle Offen

A 6-part miniseries about the investigations of the Major Crime Squad in Metropolitan Sydney. It is the story of two detectives - one a Muslim, the other Anglo-Australian, and the battle between them for survival. In a post 9/11 world, it is also a metaphor for the fear that exists between East and West when two men search for love, approval and forgiveness, as their destinies collide.

Joanne Lees: Murder in The Outback

Australia: March 12, 2007 (Ten)
Ratings: 1.06 million viewers
Produced by GC Films Pty Ltd
Executive Producers: Sue Masters, Andy Harries
Producer: Sue Masters, Andy Harries
Director: Tony Tilse
Writer: Kate Brooke

This telemovie follows the dramatic story of Joanne Lees, from the night in July 2001 when she stumbled from the edge of the Stuart Highway into the path of an oncoming road train. Driver, Vince Miller, was sure he had killed her but when he stopped and inspected, he found her alive, small, pale and very, very scared. And so follows a dramatic true story, climaxing in the trial of the man accused of abducting Lees and murdering her boyfriend.

Starring: Joanne Froggatt, Richard Carter, Bryan Brown, John Wood, Laurence Breuls, Asher Keddie, Tom Long

Available on DVD from Chaos.com

The King: the Story of Graham Kennedy

Australia: May 20, 2007 (TV1)
Produced by Crackerjack Productions
Producer: Jason Stephens
Director: Matt Saville
Writers: Kris Mrksa & Jaime Browne

The King is the story of Graham Kennedy, Australia's first and greatest home grown TV superstar. It traces his rise and rise, from working class Balaclava kid, through radio, TV, film, and back to TV again. But against this backdrop of professional success it also tracks Kennedy's personal tragedies ­ the loneliness, the unrealised ambitions and the terrible pressures of being a gay celebrity in the 1950s and 60s. But The King is not just about a man - it's also the story of the birth of television, a cultural phenomenon that has helped define a nation, and make us who we are today. For air in 2007.

Starring: Stephen Curry as Graham Kennedy, Garry McDonald as Nicky Whitta, Shaun Micallef as Colin Bednall, Steve Bisley as Harry M. Miller, Stephen Hall as Bert Newton, Jane Allsop as Noeline Brown, Bernard Curry as John Wesley

Available on DVD from Chaos.com

Rain Shadow

Premeire: Sun, October 7, 2007
Executive Producer: Scott Meek
Producers: Gus Howard
Writers: Tony Morphett and Jimmy Thomson
Network: ABC

Dr Kate McDonald (Rachel Ward) is married to the small farming community of Paringa, where she's been the vet for 15 years. For most of that time she's been hiding a secret, and as a result, refuses to allow anyone to get close to her. Needless to say, she has problems keeping an assistant, something she desperately needs.
Kate's newest assistant, Dr Jill Blake (Victoria Thaine), is 24 and keen to widen her veterinary experience with farm animals. She's 'by the book', enthusiastic, and ready to try new techniques.
But it doesn't take her long to realise that she's made a huge mistake in leaving the city for Paringa. Her boss is the rudest person she's ever met and Paringa is not exactly the idyllic country town of her dreams. Somehow, these two opinionated women must find a way to come to terms with each other and the difficulties they encounter in supporting the failing district and Kate's overstretched veterinary practice.

Starring: Rachel Ward, Victoria Thaine