Fair Dinkum Television Memories

Since it's Australia Day, I thought I'd look back at some old time Aussie television. Remember The Flying Doctors? Kingswood Country? The Thorn Birds? Yep, a dozen ocker classics. So take a seat, eat some pavlova, and check out the down under tv flashback.*

(*Of course, this list kind of shows my age... but I think television you're exposed to when really young can make a more intense impact, sometimes).

A COUNTRY PRACTICE

What Was It About? Followed the trials and tribulations of Wandin Valley locals. As hinted in the title, a lot of the action revolved around/passed through the medical centre. Most disliked character was old busybody Esme, who constantly caused trouble with her gossiping.

What I Remember Most: The character Molly died of a terminal illness and the whole country had to have counselling.

Interesting Tidbit: The actors who played onscreen couple Molly and Brendan were also married in real life. Oh, and Nicole Kidman guest starred back in the day.

E STREET

What Was It About? The adventures of a group of Sydney inner city residents. A bit of a different premise for Aussie television at that point, since most family dramas and sitcoms of the time were set in the outback, or the suburbs.

What I Remember Most: Being a teenager (barely) when this show hit screens, and deciding that living in a city was the ULTIMATE in cool.

Interesting Tidbit: A young Simon Baker was one of the shows stars, but his screen name back then was Simon Baker-Denny.

KINGSWOOD COUNTRY

What Was It About? Sort of like an early Australian version of Married With Children (but less smutty). Ted liked to sit in his chair, watch the telly, read the paper, and loved his car more than anything. Some complain about his sexist and racist ways, but the truth is, the joke was always on Ted.

What I Remember Most: The poor harried wife, who had the most hilarious lines.

Interesting Tidbit: There was a later spin-off, focusing on Ted in an old people's home, but it didn't rate well.

THE SULLIVANS

What Was It About? The Sullivan family, of course. The show was set in 1939, the beginning of the second World War, so there was a definite sense of gravitas to the story.

What I Remember Most: How beloved the series was, across multiple generations. You would hear people at the shops gossiping about the Sullivans as if they were real neighbours.

Interesting Tidbit: I don't have any. I was only seven when it finished its run, so my memories of it aren't as clear as some of the other programs. (But I do feel it made a very big impact on the industry, as a whole).

PERFECT MATCH

What Was It About? A game show where one contestant would ask three contestants behind a screen a series of questions, before choosing one to date. If you think about it, it's kind of like early internet dating. Without the Internet.

What I Remember Most: When returning from their date (which sometimes lasted for days, if they'd been sent away on holiday), the show would interview the two contestants separately, then get them to sit on the same couch and watch what they had both said about each other... In a word, brutal.

Interesting Tidbit: A 'robot' called Dexter would come out and calculate the compatibility rating of the final couple (before they went off on their date). Naturally (by which I mean ridiculously) he became the most popular thing about the show.

SALE OF THE CENTURY

What Was It About? Contestants would start with a $20 score, then compete to answer questions first (with big buzzers!) receiving $5 for every correct answer. The winner was the person who finished with the highest score, which they could then 'spend' on the prizes. Of course, there were other factors, like the Who Am I questions (which we LOVED). If you guessed the identity of the person, you got to choose from a game board of celebrity faces, all of which offered assorted prizes when spun around.

What I Remember Most: How obsessed it made everyone with general knowledge. Since this was pre-web, encyclopaedia sales surely benefited.

Interesting Tidbit: For some reason, the format really appealed to Australians. The show ran for over two decades, as well as a later reboot that ran for a few more years.

SKIPPY

What Was It About? A kid's show from the sixties often repeated on Australian tv. Skippy was a kangaroo in a national park who made friends with a ranger's son. Cue adventures.

What I Remember Most: The theme song, because "Skippy the bush kangaroo" always sounded as if they were clarifying Skippy was not, in fact, an urban kangaroo(??).

Interesting Tidbit: The main thing I remember about this show is that it had a HELICOPTER. These flying machines were pretty rare back in the day, so every time a storyline included a helicopter appearance, excitement ensued. Yes, we were simple folk. (Or maybe the crime rate was just lower?).

THE FLYING DOCTORS

What Was It About? The title's kind of self-explanatory. Alongside more traditional hospital story lines (including doctor/nurse romances, of course), the challenges of outback medical care provided a lot of story fodder.

What I Remember Most: Learning about the existence of The Royal Flying Doctor Service. I'm guessing the exposure was invaluable for them.

Interesting Tidbit: Check out a young Rebecca Gibney in this clip.

THE THORN BIRDS

What Was It About? A mini-series based on the Colleen McCullough novel. Think family saga, outback setting, and a priest in love. There was also a stellar cast. (Christopher Plummer and Richard Chamberlain are among the illustrious talent in the mix). The sum of these elements equalled massive ratings explosions.

What I Remember Most: Oh, the scandal. A priest in love (and lust)? Shocked was not the word.

Interesting Tidbit: Rachel Ward and Brian Brown met on set and later married.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS

What Was It About? Straight up soapie stuff. Arguing families. Lots of drama.

What I Remember Most: The theme song. It was weirdly catchy, even though some of the lyrics were less than challenging (ie we will find out our sons and daughters are what, we too, were once about...).

Interesting Tidbit: Actress Judy Nunn went on to write many novels, including children's books. I loved them so much when I was little that I wrote her a letter. And she wrote one back!

BRIDES OF CHRIST

What Was It About? A mini-series, set in the sixties, that takes place in a Catholic school. Both the students and the nuns face difficult decisions, cause, you know, times, they are a'changin'...

What I Remember Most: I went to a Catholic school and I can honestly say, this show really humanised the nuns and priests in our eyes. Up till that point, we'd never really thought about their lives prior to joining the church.

Interesting Tidbit: The fantastic cast included a youthful Russell Crowe and Naomi Watts.

BLUE HEELERS

What Was It About? The lives and loves of police stationed in the fictional Australian country town of Mount Thomas. Epically popular in Oz... there's no denying thirteen years is a long time for a cop show to run.

What I Remember Most: My dad was a policeman and he used to say, "Christ, if I was posted to Mount Thomas, I'd be asking for a bloody transfer". This country town saw a WIDE array of HIGHLY unusual crimes. Even the station itself was bombed at one point.

Interesting Tidbit: I remember someone telling me they used to watch Blue Heelers when they were growing up in Ireland, oddly enough.

...So there's the list. Honourable Mentions also to The Henderson Kids, Hey Dad, Prisoner, GP, Police Rescue and Acropolis Now. I could go on, but all this talk of Aussie television has made me want a lamington...