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==Ep 4. ''Tilley Landed On Our Shores''==
==Ep 4. ''Tilley Landed On Our Shores''==
Written by [[Pat Flower]]. Produced by [[John Croyston]].
⚫
Written by [[Pat Flower]]. It won the 1967 Dame Mary Gilmore Medal.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237356937 |title=Gilmore prize presented |newspaper=[[Tribune (Australian newspaper)|Tribune]] |issue=1551 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=27 March 1968 |accessdate=18 February 2019 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} </ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237356436 |title="Tilley" lands Gilmore TV prize |newspaper=[[Tribune (Australian newspaper)|Tribune]] |issue=1544 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=7 February 1968 |accessdate=18 February 2019 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} </ref>
===Plot===
===Plot===
A comic account of Governor Phillips's 1788 landing in Australia.
A comic account of Governor Phillips's 1788 landing in Australia. It is set in the modern day on the mythical island of Extrania, where Lieut. Tilley has been sent to establish a penal colony.<ref name="bull"/>
===Cast===
===Cast===
*Michael Boddy
*Michael Boddy
Line 67: Line 67:
*Tom Farley
*Tom Farley
*David Cameron
*David Cameron
*Ric Hutton
*[[Noel Ferrier]]
*Donald MacDonald
*[[Ruth Cracknell]]
*[[Don Crosby]]
*Barry Lovett
*Lou Vernon
*Edward Howell
*[[Pat Bishop]]
*Colonel Crint and His Regiment of Foot and Mouth Deserters.
===Production===
⚫
Before the production aired, the script won the 1967 Dame Mary Gilmore Medal awarded in March 1968.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237356937 |title=Gilmore prize presented |newspaper=[[Tribune (Australian newspaper)|Tribune]] |issue=1551 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=27 March 1968 |accessdate=18 February 2019 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} </ref> Judges called it "a superbly funny comment with a strong Australian history allegory on present attitudes to domestic and foreign affairs. A rare dramatic event — a satirical script. It has style in the best sense of the word. It hides unexpected social comment beneath well-constructed fun. The humour is visual as well as verbal, the TV medium is an integral part of its being."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237356436 |title="Tilley" lands Gilmore TV prize |newspaper=[[Tribune (Australian newspaper)|Tribune]] |issue=1544 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=7 February 1968 |accessdate=18 February 2019 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} </ref>

It was the first self contained drama by the ABC to be shot entirely on film with no videotaped segments. More than thirty people were in the cast and above-the-line costs were estimated to be somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000.<ref name="bull">{{cite magazine|magazine=The Bulletin|first=Sandra|last=Hall|title=Who’s filming what |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1640348320|date=15 February 1969|page=42}}</ref>
===Reception===
The ''Sydney Morning Herald'' said "never have so many done to much for so little. It was a laboured hour of TV. There is only one word for it. Ouch."<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald |date=November 16, 1969|title=Tilley lands flat|page=126}}</ref> The same paper later called the production one of the worst shows of 1969.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|title=Safe, steady 1969|date=28 December 1969|page=77]}</ref>


==Ep 5. ''The Torrents''==
==Ep 5. ''The Torrents''==

Revision as of 11:56, 19 April 2020

Australian Plays
Genreanthology
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes6
Production
ProducerEric Taylor
Running time60 mins
Original release
NetworkABC
Release1969

Australian Plays is a 1969 Australian anthology TV drama series that aired on the ABC. It consisted of six original Australian dramas.[1] It was the first Australian anthology series since Australian Playhouse and was described by the ABC as "representative of contemporary Australian writers and the development of Australian television drama today." It was produced by Eric Taylor. It was meant to be followed by a series Company of Eight which will have a regular repertory company of eight actors.[2] Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[3]

Ep 1 - Dynasty

Written by Tony Morphett based on his 1967 novel; became a 1970–71 TV series directed in Melbourne by Oscar Whitbread. [4]

Plot

Inventor Jim Richards (Terry Norris) seek financial backing from the Mason Corporation for his new machine. He finds himself in the middle of a power struggle for control of the corporation, including a family dispute.

Cast

Reception

The Herald called it "the best thing the ABC has done in a long, long time."[5]

Ep 2. Voyage Out

Written and directed by John Croyston.

Plot

A woman, Kathy, discovers her husband Robert is dead.[6]

Ep 3. The Cheerful Cuckold=

Date 23 November 1969. Written by Alan Hopgood directed by Oscar Whitbread. It won the Awgie Award.[2][7]

Plot

It was about a young university lecturer (Hopgood) who is cuckolded by his wife (Sue Donovan).

Cast

  • Alan Hopgood as Gareth
  • Sue Donovan as Sybil
  • Joseph James as Max
  • Robin Ramsay as Tony
  • Lyndell Rowe as Shirley
  • Michael Duffield as Professor Garraway

Reception

One critic called it "the most painful Australian production I have seen since television started."[8]

Ep 4. Tilley Landed On Our Shores

Written by Pat Flower. Produced by John Croyston.

Plot

A comic account of Governor Phillips's 1788 landing in Australia. It is set in the modern day on the mythical island of Extrania, where Lieut. Tilley has been sent to establish a penal colony.[9]

Cast

Production

Before the production aired, the script won the 1967 Dame Mary Gilmore Medal awarded in March 1968.[10] Judges called it "a superbly funny comment with a strong Australian history allegory on present attitudes to domestic and foreign affairs. A rare dramatic event — a satirical script. It has style in the best sense of the word. It hides unexpected social comment beneath well-constructed fun. The humour is visual as well as verbal, the TV medium is an integral part of its being."[11]

It was the first self contained drama by the ABC to be shot entirely on film with no videotaped segments. More than thirty people were in the cast and above-the-line costs were estimated to be somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000.[9]

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald said "never have so many done to much for so little. It was a laboured hour of TV. There is only one word for it. Ouch."[12] The same paper later called the production one of the worst shows of 1969.[13]

Ep 5. The Torrents

Written by Oriel Gray based on her 1955 play, directed by Oscar Whitbread]

Plot

It was about a town having to shift from gold mining to agriculture. The cast included Ken Shorter, Barbara Stephens, Harold Hopkins, Alan Hopgood, Mark Albiston, Lyndel Rowe.

Reception

One critic called it "a beauty".[14]

Ep 6. Fiends of the Family

Written by Pat Flower based on her 1966 novel, directed by Oscar Whitbread. Aired 19 November 1969.[15]

The ABC bought the rights to the novel in November 1967.[16]

Plot

Three middle-aged sisters are repressed by their mother.

Reception

It won the 1970 Awgie for best script.

Second Series

There was a second series whose plays included The Juggler (1970) and Chimes at Midnight (1970 play) (1970).

References

  1. ^ "Australian plays on ABC-TV". The Canberra Times. 27 October 1969. p. 15. Retrieved 29 July 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ a b Marshall, Valda. "Six Australian Plays in ABC Series". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 121.
  3. ^ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  4. ^ "Characters tend to mar power concept". The Canberra Times. Vol. 42, no. 11, 873. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 16 December 1967. p. 10. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Aust Play an ABC Winner". Sydney Morning Herald. 26 October 1969.
  6. ^ "TELEVISION Frank in colour". The Canberra Times. Vol. 44, no. 12, 462. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 November 1969. p. 17. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "No title". The Canberra Times. Vol. 44, no. 12, 464. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 10 November 1969. p. 15. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "TELEVISION". The Canberra Times. Vol. 44, no. 12, 484. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 4 December 1969. p. 29. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ a b Hall, Sandra (15 February 1969). "Who's filming what". The Bulletin. p. 42.
  10. ^ "Gilmore prize presented". Tribune. No. 1551. New South Wales, Australia. 27 March 1968. p. 8. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ ""Tilley" lands Gilmore TV prize". Tribune. No. 1544. New South Wales, Australia. 7 February 1968. p. 8. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Tilley lands flat". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 November 1969. p. 126.
  13. ^ {{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|title=Safe, steady 1969|date=28 December 1969|page=77]}
  14. ^ "TELEVISION". The Canberra Times. Vol. 44, no. 12, 490. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 11 December 1969. p. 33. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "television". The Canberra Times. Vol. 44, no. 12, 472. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 19 November 1969. p. 28. Retrieved 23 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "SOCIAL ROUNDABOUT". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 35, no. 30. Australia, Australia. 20 December 1967. p. 10. Retrieved 23 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Australian_Plays&oldid=951886851"