Australian tv dramas
Originally intended to be the basis of a "Greatest?" poll, I dropped that once it became clear that only polls which had "The dark knight" as a voting option got approved to go live on this site. So, I've now surpassed the limit of 35 titles for polls to be more exhaustive.
Titles in alphabetical order.
I'm not including series which had a short story arc, like "Janus" and "Phoenix", which appear in my List for Australian mini-series and short run series. Series which may have only run for one or two years and were axed will be included here too.
Some useful links:
http://www.australiantelevision.net/
http://classicaustraliantv.com/
Titles in alphabetical order.
I'm not including series which had a short story arc, like "Janus" and "Phoenix", which appear in my List for Australian mini-series and short run series. Series which may have only run for one or two years and were axed will be included here too.
Some useful links:
http://www.australiantelevision.net/
http://classicaustraliantv.com/
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- StarsSusanne HaworthGary GrayLeoni LesinawiThe story centred on widowed journalist Dan Wells, who is sailing the Pacific with on his 25-metre schooner "Seaspray", with his three children Mike, Noah and Sue, assisted by their Fijian crewman.
- CreatorBevan LeeStarsMarta DusseldorpNoni HazlehurstBrett ClimoSarah Adams returns to Australia post World War II to start anew. She begins working in a hospital, much to the dismay of Elizabeth Bligh, a wealthy matriarch.Wikipedia states that a 3rd series of this show had been commissioned by the Seven Network (according to TV Week magazine) but that they changed their mind and are now axing the show (either that or the TV Week story that the series had been commissioned for a 3rd series was false. TV Week ran both stories!).
- StarsQueenie AshtonOwen WeingottDiana PerrymanA soap opera about a middle-aged woman in a love-triangle with two men.According to Wikipedia, a soap opera having a 156 episode run, which ended in 1959 (!). The National Film and Sound Archive has many episodes of this series.
- CreatorHal McElroyTony MorphettStarsJulie NihillJohn WoodMartin SacksThe series primarily focuses on the daily lives of Victorian police officers working at a police station in the fictional small town of Mount Thomas.
- CreatorJock BlairIan JonesStarsLucky GrillsGerda NicolsonJohn DiedrichBluey was set at Melbourne's Russell Street Police Headquarters (Victoria, Australia), with "Bluey" Hills heading his own squad ("Department B"), due to his inability to work within the existing police squads.
- StarsJames LaurensonKate FitzpatrickDavid GulpililDrama series set in outback Australia about aboriginal policeman Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte. Based on the books by Arthur Upfield.The concept was revived with "Bony", starring...a white Australian! Cameron Daddo, from memory. However, even this original series (based on the novels, presumably, of Arthur Upfield...as in, I'm not sure how closely this series followed the books, if at all, not having read the books) had some controversy...the titular character, an Aboriginal tracker, was played by a New Zealand Maori.
- StarsCameron DaddoTerence CooperChristian KohlundFinding this title at this site I see that it was also a 1990 movie...which Wikipedia states was a "pilot movie".
Starred Cameron Daddo as "Bony". In the novels by Arthur Upfield, Bony is meant to be an Aboriginal. Wikipedia states for this reboot that Bony is a descendent of the original Bony, from the novels.
Even the original series of "Boney" seems to have been somewhat controversial...with the titular character being played by I New Zealand Maori, I believe. - StarsFred BettsKen JamesBarrie BarklaExamines the day-to-day running of Melbourne television station UCV-12, the professional and personal lives of its staff, both in front of, and behind, the camera.
- CreatorTerry StapletonStarsLorraine BaylyKevin MilesChristine AmorSet in the 1920s. A female lawyer faces prejudice when she marries into a influentual family law firm. On top of this she has to bring up three children when her husband is killed in a plane crash.
- CreatorTony MorphettStarsMatthew CrosbyJoan BruceJune Salter
- CreatorTerry StapletonStarsPaula DuncanGregory RossGil TuckerLife in a suburban Australian police station.
- StarsShane PorteousBrian WenzelLorrae DesmondThe highs and lows of the Wandin Valley residents, from the patients and staff at the rural town's hospital, to the locals and their everyday lives.
- StarsGerard KennedyChuck FaulknerFrank TaylorThis series was about the wide variety of cases dealt with by the Criminal Investigation and Uniform branches at Melbourne's fictional Yarra Central police station.
- CreatorSteve KnapmanKris WyldStarsDon HanySusie PorterAaron Fa'aosoEast West 101 is set around the Major Crime Squad in metropolitan Sydney. It is based upon the experiences of actual detectives in a crime unit in Sydney's western suburbs.
- StarsBrian JamesSyd ConabereJudith GoddenOne of the earliest ever medical series, this Australian drama takes place in the Emergency Ward of a hospital, and was an early protype for series such as Emergency Ward 10 and Casualty.GTV 9. 16 episodes (discontinued due to sponsorship withdrawal, according to Wikipedia).
- CreatorForrest RedlichStarsCecily PolsonLes DaymanTony MartinAn Australian soap opera, set in a tough fictional inner-city district called Westside. The stories revolve around the local community there.
- CreatorJohn ClarkeAndrew KnightStarsTerry BaderRichard HealyDebra LawranceTwo private investigators, Bryce and Ken operate a business known as The Excelsior Research Foundation.Comedy drama by the successful writers John Clarke (of "Clarke & Dawe) fame as well as Andrew Knight. Hard to get info on this short run series (19 episodes)...one site mentions one episode being just over 51 minutes in length, making it a candidate for this list over my Australian sit-com list.
- CreatorMichael NoonanStarsRichard DenningJill AdamsAlan WhiteWas unaware of this programme. Only IMDB has information on it:
It's listed as an Australia/UK production and
39 episodes (30 minutes each).
Unfortunately no details on what channel it screened on here, if it did at all. - StarsLenore SmithMaurie FieldsRobert GrubbFollows the lives of a group of medical professions working for the Flying Doctors Service in the remote Australian outback.Finding this entry I see that it was also a mini-series...which I'll have to add to that list of mine as well!
- StarsDenise RobertsMichael CraigMichael O'NeillSet around a fictional Ross St Surgery medical practice in inner Sydney explored both the personal and professional lives of the general practitioners working together, and the other doctors and staff who worked in the clinic.
- StarsGrigor TaylorRebecca GillingElaine LeeSet in a Sydney secondary school located in a tough, under-privileged suburb; Greg Walker, the new English teacher has just transferred in from a country school.
- StarsCallan MulveyLara CoxEmma RocheA crash course in the turbulence of being a teen is always on the schedule for the students at Hartley High School in this 1990s series set in Sydney.
- CreatorHannah Carroll ChapmanBen GannonMichael JenkinsStarsAyesha MadonJames MajoosChloe HaydenA fresh look at Hartley High over 20 years on. With her new friends - outsiders Quinni and Darren - Amerie must repair her reputation, while navigating love, sex, and heartbreak.
- CreatorAlan BatemanStarsRay MeagherLynne McGrangerEmily SymonsThis show chronicles the lives, loves, happiness, and heartbreaks of the residents of Summer Bay, a small coastal town jon the upper Northern Beaches of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- StarsLeonard TealeGeorge MallabyJohn FeganThe cases and crimes actioned by the Victoria (Australia) homicide squad, with many cases based of true events.
- CreatorEllie BeaumontTim PyeDrew ProffittStarsFirass DiraniRhys MuldoonGary SweetThe lives of four Australian men who are raising their children.A comedy drama. Since it poses a problem as to whether put this in my drama list or my comedy series list I'll just introduce this new categorisation rule: comedy dramas which take up an hour long slot on commercial tv go to the drama list and those which take up a 30 minute slot on commercial tv will go onto my comedy list.
- CreatorSarah LambertStarsJessica MaraisMandy McElhinneyMiranda TapsellThe lives of staff and residents at the fictional Kings Cross Hospital and Stanton House in Sydney in 1969.
- CreatorJohn EdwardsClaudia KarvanJacquelin PerskeStarsClaudia KarvanAsher KeddieBrendan CowellA story about a group of thirty-somethings dealing with the ups and downs of life.
- CreatorIan JonesTerry StapletonStarsVic GordonPaul CroninMichael PatePolicing in a small rural town, popular in its day.
- StarsShane BourneAngus GrantPetra YaredMedical Defence Australia, a team of lawyers and doctors who defend doctors charged with malpractice, ranging from Botox injections gone wrong to spinal cord injuries.
- StarsEssie DavisNathan PageHugo Johnstone-BurtA female sleuth sashays through the back lanes and jazz clubs of Melbourne in the late 1920s, fighting injustice with her pearl-handled pistol and her dagger-sharp wit.
- CreatorShaun MicallefTim PyeJason StephensStarsShaun MicallefKat StewartJonny PasvolskyThe series follows the adventures of married couple Nicola and Charlie Buchanan, who run an industrial cleaning business while solving the most baffling murder mysteries.See "House husbands" for why this comedy drama makes this list instead of "comedy". The fact that I don't know whether this show got renewed also complicates matters...as in perhaps it should go into my "mini-series/short series" list? If the show got axed, it goes here, but if it was designed as a short run series then perhaps I should put it in my other list (i.e. "short series").
- CreatorReg WatsonStarsStefan DennisAlan FletcherJackie WoodburneAustralian soap opera exploring the lives and relationships of the residents of Ramsay Street in a suburb of Melbourne called Erinsborough.
- CreatorDavid SaleStarsPat McDonaldJeff KevinJoe HashamFollows the lives and relationships of residents in a Sydney apartment building, exploring adult themes and featuring risky content like sex scenes.
- CreatorDebra OswaldImogen BanksJohn EdwardsStarsAsher KeddieKat StewartRichard DaviesThe story of the impossible loves of 30-something obstetrician Nina Proudman and her fabulously messy family.
- CreatorDon BarkhamMichael CraigStarsAndrew KeirSascha HehnHerbert TiedeCharlie Cole and his grandson Pete Jarrett travel around outback Australia in a beaten-up ute, finding itinerant work along the way. In each place they befriend locals and become involved in an adventure, culminating in their solving a mystery, crime or local conflict.
- CreatorBevan LeeStarsRebecca GibneyErik ThomsonMichael CatonMeet Dave and Julie Rafter: just your average Australians with three adult children. On the eve of their 25th wedding anniversary it seems that they're about to have their house to themselves at long last.
- StarsElspeth BallantyneBarbara JungwirthBetty BobbittFollows the lives of inmates and staff at Wentworth, a high-security women's prison in Australia, exploring their backstories, daily struggles, and interpersonal relationships within the harsh realities of incarceration.a.k.a. "Prisoner Cell Block H" in overseas markets...oh, "Caged women" too! Saucy Canadians!
N.B. this series has been 'rebooted' in recent years as "Wentworth" and that is near the end of my list here, due to alphabeticising this list. - CreatorImogen BanksJohn EdwardsStarsBrenna HardingAshleigh CummingsSean KeenanTeen best friends Debbie and Sue grow up and find love and freedom on the beaches of Sydney's Sutherland Shire during the tumultuous 1970s.Not to be confused with the earlier movie of the same name.
- CreatorPeter DuncanRichard RoxburghCharles WaterstreetStarsRichard RoxburghMatt DayKate BoxCleaver Greene is a drug addict who has a massive gambling debt with some very shady characters and is in love with a prostitute. He's also a very good criminal lawyer, capable of winning unwinnable cases.
- StarsWayne BlairLeo StrippRichard GreenThe troubled lives of struggling indigenous Australians in the tough, rundown neighborhood of the inner suburb of Redfern in Sydney.
- CreatorMichael LaurenceStarsRebecca GillingJames SmilliePeta ToppanoGlossy Australian soap opera, where the beautiful, dynamic Stephanie Harper battles her enemies to gain sole control of the family company, Harper Mining Limited.Not to be confused with the successful mini-series which prompted its serialisation.
- StarsTy HardinSue CostinJonathan SweetA charter boat operator who happens to be an American is also a bit of a Private Investigator!I searched Wikipedia for Jackie Weaver's work and this came up. Unfortunately it had no information on this show...the link to it was for the wrong show (linked to a decades later US show of this name).
Wikipedia states:
"The show featured foreign actors and a foreign producer, similar in approach to The Outsiders"
as well as the reception for the series being lukewarm, meaning it wasn't renewed. - StarsJohn WatersMax MeldrumAlain DouteyStories of the lives of people living in and around the goldfields in the Australian bush during the 1850's.Set during the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s.
- CreatorChristopher LeeJohn EdwardsStarsRodger CorserCallan MulveyNicole da SilvaThey are trained to be smarter, tactically superior and technologically advantaged - Melbourne's answer for a cutting edge trend in policing worldwide.Modern police drama.
- CreatorDeb CoxAndrew KnightStarsJohn HowardSigrid ThorntonKerry ArmstrongA big city lawyer is prompted to undergo a 'seachange' with her children and becomes the magistrate at the small coastal town of Pearl Bay, where the family comes to love its people and the quality time with each other.
- CreatorJohn EdwardsAmanda HiggsStarsDeborah MailmanDavid TredinnickSamuel JohnsonThis iconic Australian series follows eight people living in St Kilda, Melbourne who are all looking for the same things: love, sex, romance, success, and anything else that's worth pursuing.
- CreatorRon McLeanRoger MiramsStarsGrigor TaylorDeryck BarnesTony Wager"Silent Number" was an Australian television series about a police doctor played by Grigor Taylor.Not much information via Wikipedia but there is an extensive entry on classicaustraliantv.com.
- CreatorLee RobinsonDennis HillStarsEd DevereauxTony BonnerKen JamesSonny and his kangaroo Skippy live in Waratah National Park in New South Wales. Matt Hammond, Sonny's father is the park ranger. Skippy saves the day in many adventures.
- StarsTracy MannKaren DavittNicholas BellA short lived Australian drama series centered around a community policing squad. Due to the high volume of female officers the squad is nicknamed "Skirts".Wikipedia statest that this series about female police officers (the "skirts") was not renewed after its first series.
- CreatorTerry StapletonJock BlairStarsKylie MinogueBill StalkerKen JamesPacific International Airport has five million passengers a year, and 800 people who work there; with Paul MacFarlane who is in charge.
- CreatorRon McLeanRoger MiramsBrian WrightStarsJack ThompsonPeter SumnerRedmond PhillipsAustralian Intelligence Officers during World War 2.Perhaps this series should be in my mini-series List. Wikipedia lists this as being Jack Thompson's first lead role and also had a seven year old Russell Crowe make a brief appearance in one episode. Fact based series.
- StarsJames CondonDiana PerrymanStewart GinnSoap about the life and adventures of a clergyman.Wikipedia states:
Seven Network soap opera, 156 x 15 minute episodes. The National Film and Sound Archive has a large number of episodes from this series and "Autumn affair". - StarsPaul CroninSteven TandyReg GormanFollows the Sullivan family from Melbourne, Australia during the Second World War.
- CreatorTim GoodingJohanna PigottStarsTracy MannDavid ReyneRic HerbertA young band, The Takeaways, try to succeed in the music business.20 x 30m episodes on ABC TV. An account of the fictional music band "The takeaways" which features music by the likes of Deborah Conway and Sharon O'Neill, according to Wikipedia. Actors pretended to sing some of those songs though. The album of the series went platinum in Australia (70,000 sales).
- CreatorStephen M. IrwinNathan MayfieldLeigh McGrathStarsCharlotte BestMarco PigossiAaron JakubenkoAfter an ex-con returns to her fishing village, a dead body leads her to uncover the secrets of the town and its half-siren, half-human residents.Wikipedia states: "Tidelands is an Australian web television series. The eight-part series is written and created by Stephen M. Irwin and Leigh McGrath, and is produced by Hoodlum Entertainment. It was released on 14 December 2018 on Netflix".
- CreatorJudi McCrossinAmanda HiggsStarsJustine ClarkeShane JacobsonWilliam McInnesThe lives of family and friends who go through a variety of ups and downs.
- CreatorReg WatsonLara RadulovichStarsKate AtkinsonKatrina MilosevicRobbie MagasivaThe confronting look into the lives of the inmates and prison staff of Wentworth Correctional Centre as they navigate the ups and downs of their lives in the prison system.a.k.a. "Wentworth prison". The 'reboot' of "Prisoner".
- CreatorMichael NoonanMichael PlantStarsPeter GravesTony WickertRobert TudawaliThe story of American Christopher Cobb and his foundation of Australia's first coach-line, which he established in the colony of New South Wales, Australia.Wikipedia states: "Whiplash is a British/Australian television series in the Australian Western genre produced by the Seven Network, ATV, and ITC Entertainment, starring Peter Graves. Filmed in 1959-60, the series was first broadcast in September 1960 in the United Kingdom followed by Australia in February 1961".